Shanoff’s Wake-Up Call: Play-In Game Madness!

By Dan Shanoff
Today’s Calls: Mount St. Mary’s vs. Coppin State, UConn vs.
Tennessee, Rockets vs. Celtics, Celtics vs. Spurs, Gilbert Arenas vs.
Himself, LeBron James vs. Dwight Howard, Yankees vs. Virginia Tech, Dice-K vs. Japan, Michigan Athletics vs. Michigan Academics, Billy Donovan vs. Florida players, 2008 vs. 1986, BracketCaster vs. Shanoff and More!
The Opening Pitch: I admit it -- I love the NCAA Tournament “Play-In” Game.
64 vs. 65 in Dayton, Ohio, on the Tuesday before the Tournament really starts: That weird double-team line paired with the No. 1 overall team has become a Tourney tradition.
I love that the outcome is so meaningless that the bracket games and office pools don’t even bother to ask who you think will win.
I love that the game is always in hoops-crazy Dayton, as if they were settling some Eastern European peace accords, not playing hoops.
I love that one team’s Madness is over before the Tournament even really starts -- but in a Devil’s bargain, they get the whole nation to themselves tonight.
And I love that no matter how you gauge its meaning (or meaninglessness), it signals the start of the NCAA Tournament.
Mount St. Mary’s vs. Coppin State: I’ll take Coppin, for being the only sub-.500 team in the field, for breaking the 20-loss barrier for an NCAA Tournament team and for nostalgia for their classic 15-over-2 win over South Carolina in ‘97.
Coming tomorrow: My picks, game-by-game.
Just asking: Is there anything more worthless than being the No. 1 team in the final Top 25 poll before the NCAA Tournament begins?
Women’s NCAA Tournament: UConn is the No. 1 No. 1 seed, and unlike UNC on the men’s side, I AM picking the Huskies to win it all (much as I want to pick Rutgers, which was dumped in UConn’s region).
To round out the Women’s Final Four, I’ll take Maryland, LSU and Tennessee. I am picking 1-seed UNC to not make the Final Four -- just like the men’s team!
Rockets Streak Watch: 22 straight, coming off a win over the best-in-West Lakers, with the best-in-East Celtics coming to Houston tonight. How can you pick AGAINST the Rockets at this point?
I’m still trying to figure out whether they are more like the Rockies -- improbably streaking to a pennant...
...Or the A’s -- using statistical analysis to earn an improbable edge, only to fall short in the short season of the playoffs. Given Rockets GM Daryl Morey’s analytical forte, I’m inclined to say the latter.
Meanwhile, the Celtics are coming off a huge comeback win last night over the Spurs in San Antonio (Pierce 22, KG 21). Now the C’s have to face The Streak without a night off? I like Houston here.
(And, suddenly, the Spurs seem vulnerable; they have lost 4 in a row. I still say they are the team to beat in the playoffs, but the opening is there.)
More from last night: Orlando beats Cleveland. If I had to invest in one team’s playoff future over the next 3-4 years, I would take Dwight Howard’s Magic over LeBron’s Cavs. And while LeBron (30/9/6) appears to already be at the top of his game, Howard (23/13) is only getting better.
Will Gilbert Arenas return this season? “I don’t know,” he says. I think he will return, be the “assist man” he insists he will be and lead the Wizards to a surprisingly deep run in the East playoffs.
(That said, the Wizards -- without Arenas -- lost to the Hawks, who are suddenly in the 8th spot in the East. That would mean playoffs, an even more remarkable turnaround than the Celtics, who everyone KNEW would get better with the addition of KG and Ray Allen.)
Kudos to the Maloof Brothers for going on “Oprah’s Big Give” and giving away a suitcase of their cash -- with the caveat it must be spent philanthropically within 24 hours.
MLB Spring: Dice-K to start for Red Sox in Japan. No! You don’t say! It might earn higher baseball TV ratings in Japan than any broadcast in the US in history.
MLB Storyline of the Day: Yankees at Virginia Tech. Credit the Yankees for donating their time, effort and star power (in addition to money) to help out the Hokie community.
Goodbye, Dodgertown.
HGH may not give athletes the boost they think, according to a new study. But the study didn’t account for the way cheating athletes mainline the stuff -- and I’m more likely to believe the baseball statistics in the books over a controlled experiment.
Michigan athlete academic scandal: I agree with those who say it knocks Michigan off its high horse; I agree with those who say this is epidemic in college football; I agree with those who say, “Who cares?”
Terrelle Pryor would make a huge mistake by announcing his college choice on Thursday or Friday, when everyone’s attention is on college hoops. Pryor should do it tomorrow or wait until next Tuesday. (By the way: If you read the coverage linked here, does Rivals’ Mike Farrell sound like an “analyst” or some teen’s mouthpiece? Creepy.)
NIT starts tonight: What, like you aren’t in a high-stakes NIT office pool? I looked at the bracket yesterday, and it is impossible to predict, given the historical way NCAA snubees tend to either go all the way in a rage -- or flame out early. Screw it: I’m picking Florida. (Billy Donovan exiled the team from the practice facility and won’t let them wear Gator gear? All the better.)
Jason Taylor’s “Dancing” debut: Apparently, it was a success last night, putting him right in the mix to follow in the footsteps of the dynastic run by athletes on that show.
Strat-O-Matic 1986 Update: As many of you know, I have been managing the 1986 Chicago Cubs into the ground through SN’s Strat “Take Two” initiative. Apparently, the Cubs pitching in ‘86 was every bit as bad as I remember it.
Here’s the better news: The game is now open to anyone, and it’s free. And they run 3 games a night, so the season is over in 2 months. So get together with 11 friends and re-live your glory days of the mid-80s.
The Last Word: I’m a little obsessed with the BracketCaster. SportingNews.com’s new Tournament toy is a great way to kill a few hours at work -- not to mention unnerve you about your picks.
One reader sent me a screenshot of one iteration of the bracket where basically every single one of my picks was wrong.
Combine that with the folks who think I’m crazy for picking against UNC and/or Kansas and/or Memphis (well, not so much Memphis), and it’s enough to make the toughest Tourney tout second-guess himself.
Dan Shanoff writes The Wake-Up Call every weekday morning for SportingNews.com and blogs daily at DanShanoff.com. Got any comments, questions or feedback? Email Dan at shanofftsn-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com.↵