NCAA tournament
Gang, you have about 24 hours to enter the "Last-In, First-Out" Bracket challenge.
It's pretty simple. Pick the double-digit seed you think will be around the longest and the No. 1 seed you believe to be bounced first. We have about 20 so far (and we'll list them below) but we also wanted to reveal some bracket tips as we go.
First, always remember that no 16 has ever topped a one. Book those to advance. Also, remember to maximize upset picks and try to find lower seeds that you believe can win multiple games. In today's college hoops, the matchups are way more important than the seeds.
Notice where the games are being played, and remember that teams like Duke and Kentucky are going to have what feels like home-court edges all the way to Phoenix. Finally, remember that while everyone wants to be the person that picks MTSU over Michigan State - and that's cool - most years, the teams standing at the end are the ones that are most familiar.
Case in point, the only sheet of more than 60 in last year's TFP pool that had the then-15th-seeded Blue Raiders downing the Mighty Spartans did finish in the money. It got its entry fee back for finishing last.
Contest entries (round 1 - deadline is noon on Thursday)
5-at-10 - Gonzaga/Xavier
Mrs. 5-at-10 - Villanova/MTSU
Mark W. - Gonzaga/MTSU
Skip - Gonzaga/ETSU
Michael P. - UNC/MTSU
Trevor H. - Kansas/Wichita State
Scott H. - Gonzaga/MTSU
Steve T. - Gonzaga/Vermont
Chris J. - Gonzaga/Oklahoma State
Mark S. - Kansas/Rhode Island
Jason T. - Gonzaga/Rhode Island
Ted P. - UNC/VCU
scole023 - Gonzaga/Nevada
Patty H. - Villanova/ETSU
Tennessee quarterback Josh Dobbs is seen in a drill at the 2017 NFL football scouting combine Saturday, March 4, 2017, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)Dobbs' prospects
Former Tennessee quarterback Josh Dobbs was a guest on Press Row on Tuesday and he was excellent, as you would expect.
If you missed the interview, the podcast is here and the Q&A from TFP SEC ace David Paschall is here.
The biggest question facing Dobbs now is one that even with his intellect he can't answer. Does he have an NFL future?
It's an interesting debate, and in a lot of ways, Dobbs is going to be more of the example than the exception moving forward as more and more college teams incorporate spread principles.
Dobbs is very athletic and made some of his most disruptive plays on the run. That's a positive thing, until it's not. Quarterbacks who are run-first, run-most-often guys are like dogs that chase cars and PGA players regularly trying to make 10-footers for par. There's seldom a long-term future in it for any of three.
Dobbs' biggest question marks will be about his mid-range accuracy. He has a strong-enough arm, there will be a lot of talk about his consistency and ability to deliver in tight windows. We believe the change in QB culture will help Dobbs. For example, if you are a Seattle, Tennessee, Carolina, Dallas or even a Green Bay and have systems in which the quarterback is asked to move, Dobbs' skill set is taylor-made to be a back-up in that offense.
Of course, he may just end up going to New England, and the Patriots will develop him into a player they will try to trade for a first-round pick in four years.
What else you got?
Well, Racehl Maddow revealed the Al Capone's vault of this generation last night.
And worse than that, she actually kind of took the info from another source. Here are the details of the big Trump Tax Reveal that turned out to be a social media firestorm and as hollow as a Halloween Jack-O-Latern.
We understand that everything involving Trump - election, stories, Tweets, lunch boxes, you name it - generates more attention. He's such a lightning rod, he's actually done what a lot of us believed was impossible and made Saturday Night Live relevant again.
Well, Maddow took to Twitter to announce 90 minutes before her show that she had Trump's infamous tax returns.
That led to ripples and by the time her show aired, here was the breaking news take away.
In 2005, Donald Trump made more than 99.9999 percent of the country and paid more taxes that year than we'll ever see.
Film at 11.
This and that
- Excellent commentary by TFP ace sports columnist Mark Wiedmer on UTC women's basketball coach Jim Foster. It is worth your time.
- Percy Harvin has retired from the NFL. Again. This time he says its for good. In a lot of ways, Harvin's NFL career was rather disappointing, but that was a bad, Bad, BAD dude at Florida.
- Golden State is in a strange place in which the Warriors needed a monster fourth quarter from Draymond Green to sneak past the 24-43 Philadelphia 76ers.
In other NBA news, LeBron James posted another triple-double - 16-11-12 - as the Cavs rolled, and Russell Westbrook posted his 33rd triple-double of the season - 25-12-19 - in the Thunder's 122-104 win at Brooklyn.
Today's questions
Are you in the bracket challenge? Why not?
Will Josh Dobbs be an NFL player?
On this day in 1985, the first internet domain name was registered. In a mild upset it was not porn or college football recruiting, or done by Al Gore, who we all know invented the interweb. It was symbolics.com.
On this day in 1968, the 5-at-10's parents were hitched. God bless.
Ceasar died on this day, 2061 years ago.
Rushmore of Julius. Go