Madness, indeed
We are ever so close to the start of college basketball's season. No we do not count the play-in games.
Sure we understand it. Although, we think all the 11 seeds should be in Dayton. Last four in should be the first four to play. Let all the 16 seeds get to go to the big arenas, do the shoot-arounds, chat with the big-shot media types and talk about how they are going to be the first 16 to beat a 1.
Speaking of last four in, let's remind folks about our little contest around these parts. If you want to be a winner, enter the "Madly Marching through the March Madness: Last In/First Out Contest." It's easy, email to jgreeson@timesfreepress.com the double-digit seed you think will last the longest and the No. 1 seed you think will be bounced first. (Reminder on scoring: The double-digit guess is worth 1.1 points; the bounced 1 seed is worth 1 point.)
We have almost 30 players but still have room for more.
As for the double-digit seeds who could make a run - and one of them will - we covered that in Tuesday's edition.
As for the 1 seeds, well, let's examine them shall we.
Kansas. We love their senior leadership and what Bill Self has been able to do during the regular season in Lawrence is mind-boggling. But this is the tournament, and Kansas has had the occasional maddening Madness moment. Since winning it all in 2008, Kansas has more second-round exits (three) than Final Fours (one). That said, we do not see a team deep enough to give the Jayhawks a serious challenge before they see Duke or Michigan State in the Midwest Regional Final.
Villanova. The Wildcats are smooth and guard-oriented, which is always a plus come tournament time. Playing their first two games in Pittsburgh is a nice bonus, but the No. 1 seeds should get benefits such as location whenever possible. We think 'Nova is the biggest swing team among the No. 1 seeds for this simple reason: When they are making shots, No. 9 seed Alabama is as good as anyone. That's a dangerous potential match-up in round two. Yes, West Virginia can really guard and the Mountaineers likely will be there in the Sweet 16. In truth, we think Villanova has the easiest draw of all the one seeds.
Xavier. This is where we originally were leaning, and tall and athletic Missouri - if the Tigers clear FSU in round 1 - could be an issue. The Musketeers have never been to a Final Four and have made three trips to a regional final in 27 tournament appearances. According to the ESPN analytics folks, Xavier is the third weakest team to receive a 1 seed since 2008 according to the Basketball Power Index.
Virginia. Yes, the Cavaliers are a unanimous No. 1 in the AP poll. They have been the best team start to finish during this warm-up called the regular season. But is this bunch ready for the program's first Final Four run since 1984. (Olden Polynice was a star on that team, and whenever you get the chance to mention Olden Polynice, well, you have to take it, right?) Yes, the Cas can really guard and defense never slumps. But, did you know that since 1995, Virginia is 8-8 in the tournament with one trip beyond the Sweet 16? Now, add the toughest 4 and toughest 5 seeds in Arizona and Kentucky waiting on the first part of the second weekend, and to be the No. 1 overall seed, Virginia got little concessions from the committee.
Giddy-up.
Yahtzee
NFL teams were rolling the dice - and rolling out the cash - on Tuesday as news of deal after deal hit the airwaves.
It was like an old-school breaking news feeding frenzy.
As soon as the Packers announced they were adding Jimmy Graham (loved that move) it became knowledge that they were releasing Jordy Nelson. (Side note: Some where in the NFL bylaws it is written that since Nelson is a white wide out, the Patriots get the right of first refusal on him. Side question: Did you know that Nelson is 6-foot-3? Yeah, me neither.)
Yesterday we reviewed a lot of the early moves and how it altered the draft possibilities of a few teams. Well, with all the moves made yesterday, there still were a few monster question marks left. Let's explore:
What were the Titans thinking? OK, we appreciate signing former Patriots for their habits and experience in big games. But no sooner had the Titans waived DeMarco Murray did they back the truck up for running back Dion Lewis, who has had a hard time staying healthy. The four-year, $23-million deal only has $11.5 million in guarantees, but you want to know what this feels like? The Saints signing Adrian Peterson last year at this time, then drafting Alvin Kamara and realizing they had too many running backs. You can't tell me a second-rounder on Sony Michel or any of the other explosive - and inexpensive - backs and using that cap space somewhere else is not more intriguing. Yes, Titans GM Jon Robinson has hit a lot of right buttons so he gets the benefit of the doubt for sure. But now add in a monster deal -five years, $61 million - for former Patriots corner Malcolm Butler and you have to wonder if the Titans are putting too much value on pedigree. And it's hard to wonder where Butler falls, considering he's a little undersized at 5-11 and could very well come in and be no better than the No. 3 corner considering Logan Ryan is a ball player and Adoree' Jackson who showed flashes of being a legit shutdown edge defender. Did you know that Butler got the ninth-highest free agent deal ever given to a cornerback? That seems like overspending for a potential nickel guy on a team that has some real pressing issues if it wants to continue its upward trajectory?
Have you noticed that the year-in, year-out best team in the NFL almost never makes a splash in free agency? The Patriots always seem to lose players who go elsewhere, get paid and become invisible. (Quick, name the most high-profile Patriots' free-agent defection that seemed to come back to haunt them. Exactly.) Now Nate Solder, the team's starting left tackle may be the exception the Pats end up paying big dollars to.
Are the Vikings ready to win the Super Bowl? That's the only thing that can be considered a success considering what the signing of Kirk Cousins will cost over the next three years in terms of dollars and cap casualties.
QB worlds turning
What happens now with the quarterbacks during the draft?
This one is intriguing.
Let's look at the teams that were in need of or rumored to be interested in drafting a quarterback after last season.
Cleveland traded for Tyrod Taylor. We think they will still look at spending a high draft pick this year on one of the hot shots, but maybe not.
The Giants pick second and appear to be committed to a few more years of Eli Manning, although they could still be looking. (That said, if Saquon Barkley is there, here's betting he's not there for long.)
Denver signed (overpaid?) Case Keenum to a multi-year deal. So the Broncos likely are looking elsewhere at No. 5.
The New York Jets signed Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater to one-year deals. They assuredly appear to be in the QB market with the No. 6 overall pick.
Picks 7-through-10 (Bucs, Bears, 49ers and Raiders) all appear to have quarterbacks to which they are committed.
The Dolphins at 11 could be in play for a QB. And the Bills, who traded with the Bengals to get pick 12, are definitely in the market, especially if one of the big four of Allen, Rosen, Darnold and Mayfield fall that far. And with the moves of Tuesday, that appears quite likely to be honest.
The Cardinals signed (overpaid?) Sam Bradford for roughly $20 million. It was another one-year deal, so the Cardinals are likely still in the QB market at 15.
Of course, A.J. McCarron and his chest tattoos are still on the market as well.
The three biggest moves among QBs Tuesday were Drew Brees resigning in New Orleans for two years and $50 million, Kirk Cousins going to Minnesota for $28 million per season guaranteed for the next three years to replace Keenum.
Brees was a no-brainer and he even said as much after last season.
As for the three-ring circus, who got the better deal?
Washington got Alex Smith. He's 33, led the league last year passer rating and has a four-year deal averaging $23.5 million per.
Minnesota got Cousins, who is 29 and threw for more than 4,000 yards last year for the third straight season. His $28 million a year is fully guaranteed.
Denver signed Keenum to a two-year, $36 million deal. Thoughts?
And finally, speaking of quarterbacks, here's a best-guess assessment:
Green bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers is not only going to win the MVP next year, dude is going to put up crazy numbers. Consider the following items:
The Packers added Graham, a gifted athlete with size who is comfortable in the middle of the field. Rodgers is coming of a frustrating, injury-plagued season. He enters a contract year seeing that Kirk bleepin' Cousins just got three years, $84 million fully guaranteed. And here's betting that the Packers are looking at, say a Calvin Ridley in round one and a versatile running back in round two.
That all means Rodgers is going 5,000-plus and 50 TDs next year.
This and that
- Speaking of happy quarterbacks, considering the poo-poo platter Mitchell Trubisky had to throw to last year, the additions of Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel and tight end Trey Burton must have made Tuesday seem like Christmas.
- Online betting site Sportsbet.com.au is offering an interesting prop bet. It's giving 13-to-1 odds to players willing to bet Tiger Woods will return to the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings.
- Speaking of March Madness, here's TFP ace sports columnist Mark Wiedmer on UTC coach Lamont Paris and his Dancing memories.
- Well, the decision to skip some of the smaller bowl games by college football players looking to stay healthy for the draft has come to the hardwood. USC leading scorer Chimezie Metu is sitting out the Trojans' NIT visit to avoid potential injury as he gets ready for the NBA draft. Yes, the decision is even more puzzling for a player ranked on ESPN.com as the No. 34 draft-eligible prospect available. Thoughts?
- LeBron James set a personal career high with his 14th triple-double of the season as the Cavs rolled Phoenix. James afterward said he's like a "fine wine" and he gets better with age. Somewhere Stewwie is itching to say James is full of lots of fine whine on almost a game-by-game basis.
- The AP has reported that Steven Hawking has died. Smart dude.
- Here's an interesting update on the transfer status of Ole Miss quarterback Shae Patterson and the rest of the former Rebels who left after the NCAA rulings.
- Wowser, take a look at the palace Elin Nordegren - Tiger's ex-wife - is selling. Asking price? A cool $47.5 million
Today's question
You in the March Madness contest? Tick-tock, tick tock.
Also, which team got the best quarterback deal Tuesday, Minnesota, Denver or Washington?
On this day, March 14, Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin. At that time it was one of the true game-changing inventions in the world.
Nice list of birthdays today. Michael Caine and Quincy Jones are 86. Kirby Pucket would have been 58 and Steph Curry is 30.
Maybe it was somewhat fitting that Albert Einstein was born and Hawking died on Pi Day (3/14), huh?
With that in mind, what's the Rushmore of pie, and let's keep it out of the ditch, shall we?