5-at-10: Tips for filling out your bracket, Mocs dancing, NCAA hoops and NFL worries

Morning. Remember the mailbag – and to enter the hoops contest.

Yes, that’s two things to remember, so Spy may need one of those strings to tie around his finger.

From the “Talks too much” studio, if the madness hits the mad does that make them normal? Discuss.

College hoops

We have mulitple points for today:

First, well that didn’t take long. Everyone expects UTC coach Will Wade to be a hot commodity on the coaching market sooner rather than later. Not sure any of us expected it to be this serious, this soon. Here’s UTC ace Mean Gene Henley’s story on Wade being a contender for the Charlotte job.

We know this, if Charlotte wants Wade they better strike now because after next year, he’ll be bigger than the 49ers.

Second, we will host and play in the fifth annual “Method to the Madness: Last-in, First-out Challenge.” The rules are easy, pick the first No. 1 seed to get bounced and the last double-digit seed to be left in the dance. Since there are more double-digit seeds in the draw, in the case of a split tie (one has the double-digit and one has the No. 1 seed correct), we’ll give extra credence to the double-digit seed. If we still have a tie after that, we’ll let the Electric Elite Eight Shootout challenge serve as a second tie-breaker. (The Electric Elite Eight Shootout is when you pick two players alive in the second weekend and the pair that scores the most total points wins. We’ll get to that next week.)

We have about 10 so far, but we’re missing some of you regulars. Who wants to win stuff?

Finally, let’s dive into some NCAA tournament numbers for early bracket tips for everyone:

Here are the 10 favorites in Vegas’ view (or Kentucky and the next nine):

Kentucky: Even money ($100 wins $100)
Wisconsin 8/1
Duke 8/1
Villanova 10/1
Arizona 10/1
Virginia 12/1
Gonzaga 22/1
Notre Dame 25/1
Iowa St 30/1
North Carolina 30/1

Round-by-round tips (from RJ Bell at presume.com)

First round

TIP: Don’t be shy picking upsets with #12 through #9 seeds.
#12 seeds have won at least one game 24 of 26 years (won 3 of 4 last year)
#9 seeds have a winning record against #8 seeds

Second round
TIP: Advance #1 seeds into Sweet 16 in almost all cases.
88% of #1 seeds advance to the Sweet 16

TIP: Keep advancing any #12 seeds you picked to win in Round One.
#12 seeds have won 20 of 44 times in Round Two
#12 seeds have the same number of Sweet 16 appearances overall as #7 seeds
A double digit seed has made the Sweet Sixteen 28 of 30 years

Sweet 16
TIP: Advance exactly THREE #1 seeds into the Elite 8.
70% of #1 seeds make the Elite 8
(that’s a higher percentage than #5 seeds that win a single game!)

Elite 8
TIP: Advance no team worse than a #9 seed to the Final Four.
Only 3 of 144 Final Four teams (since 1979) have been seeded worse than #9

Final Four
TIP: Do NOT advance TWO #1 seeds to Championship game
Since tournament seeding began in 1979 #1 seeds have face off in the finals only 6 times

Title game
TIP: Pick a #4 seed or better to win it all.
25 of 26 years the champion has been a #4 seed or better (last year was the exception)

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UTC women dancing

The wait was interesting.

UTC was the 61st team of the field of 64 that heard its name called. UTC had a for sure ticket with a conference title, so the wait was not about if but about who. And where.

Now we know, and the Mocs are headed to Knoxville, a good-and-bad scenario that means a host of UTC backers can make the trip for Saturday’s 11 a.m. tip against Pittsburgh. It’s bad, at least in our view, because the Mocs deserved better than a 7, and, if they survive round 1 will have a rematch with UT on Monday.

As we wrote in this morning’s TFP this is part of the ascension process, taking steps along the way and making your mark with each passing year.

We believe this UTC program can be a regular among the national rankings – it spent the back half of this season in the polls, and with a talented crew returning, could start the season close to being ranked next year.

The Mocs fashioned a resume that likely would have gotten them in if they had not won the tournament. That’s progess.

Now, they need to win Saturday – they are the higher seed after all – and that, too, would be progress.

Then, come this time next year, maybe they move a spot or two in the eyes of the committee. And possibly, as David Blackburn hinted in our column this morning, maybe they become a regular hosting spot for the opening rounds.

It’s progress, and some times it may be slower than we want.

So it goes.

Side note: UTC coach Jim Foster will be on Press Row today. Still working on a time, and we’ll update when we know more.

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Another concussion question

Here’s another chapter in the trend that the NFL must be wringing hands over behind closed doors.

This is second-year linebacker Chris Borland retiring because he is worried about head injuries.

Dude is 24 and used the word “proactive” about concussions in his retirement announcement.

He also made a very clear and direct point that is genius in its obviousness.

Borland said: “I just honestly want to do what’s best for my health,” Borland told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.” “From what I’ve researched and what I’ve experienced, I don’t think it’s worth the risk. I feel largely the same, as sharp as I’ve ever been. For me, it’s wanting to be proactive. I’m concerned that if you wait till you have symptoms, it’s too late. … There are a lot of unknowns. I can’t claim that X will happen. I just want to live a long healthy life, and I don’t want to have any neurological diseases or die younger than I would otherwise.”

Wow. “If you wait till you have symptoms, it’s too late”

This is a guy who was a stud as a rookie who led the NFL in tackles for the last nine games of the season once he became the starter. And he just said thanks but no thanks to a six- to a seven-figure payday who was going to be a starter next year – ironically replacing Patrick Willis who retired at 30 for similar reasons.

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This and that

– As TFP SEC ace David Paschall tells us here, the Georgia Bulldogs start a spring with a slew of new faces in strange spots.

– Is this the biggest single swing of the pendulum about today’s state of? Yep, Rory McIlroy is now on the cover of the PGA Tour video game that Tiger has graced since pre-2000.

– Heat top Cavs in a game that had a nice energy to it. Dwyane Wade’s place, considering all the injuries, is going to be an interesting discussion among the game’s greats. When healthy and at his apex he frequently stated a case as a top-five 2 guard in the history of the league – a more athletic version of Dennis Johnson. But the wear and tear – and the extreme pace with which he played – has left his collection of work some what tattered.

– Pete Rose has asked new MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to review and lift his lifetime ban from the game. Here’s more. This is not a surprise, and likely could be Rose’s last chance to be re-instated during his lifetime.

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Today’s question

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Hope you are wearing green, since, well you know about the whole pinching thing. Well, unless you’re into that, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

So in honor of St. Patty’s Day, let’s do a Rushmore of green.

Whatcha got?