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An unbiased summary of why everyone should buy my book
I wrote a history of Catholic college basketball that starts with Naismith and ends with the 2020 tournament being canceled. The book opens with an interview of Sister Jean on the day after her 100th...
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This Final Four is all about shot volume, except for the historically heavy...
Outliers. (gozags.com) If the first weekend of the 2021 NCAA tournament taught us anything, it’s that nobody knows anything. So here’s one more reckless assertion quite possibly doomed for the ash...
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Updated tournament wins this century
The win total now clocks in at 17. Not bad! (Photo: Darron Cummings) Counting NCAA tournament wins in this century is little more than a blinkered exercise in setting arbitrary and subjective...
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Coaching hires and coin flips
Can an athletic director who was merely repeating what Vanderbilt had just done still serve as trailblazer for college basketball hiring decisions? Absolutely. (AP/Paul Sancya) On May 13, 2019, John...
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Why Gonzaga’s beatable even though its shooting isn’t
(Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review) On February 22, 2020, Gonzaga lost 91-78 at BYU. Mark Few’s team would rally from that defeat and finish the season 31-2 with a WCC tournament title and a...
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The professional hazards of coaching
Peck Hickman left Louisville at a time entirely of his choosing, a professional norm that’s eluded subsequent occupants of the job. Louisville dismissed Chris Mack as head coach of its men’s...
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These are the teams taking the most or least shots in 2022
The Big Ten places a premium on shot volume. The Big 12 not so much. (uwbadgers.com) Wisconsin is ranked No. 11 in the AP poll and the Badgers are currently being projected as an NCAA tournament No. 3...
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Age and college basketball
In terms of roster age, Duke’s as young as past one-and-done-heavy teams. What that will mean when pretty much the rest of Division I is older than normal remains to be seen. (goduke.com) The...
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How the entire season will benefit from bringing selection out of the dark ages
(NCAA.com) The selection process for the NCAA tournament predates the shot clock and the three-point line. While the members of the NCAA men’s basketball committee are conscientious and, happily, they...
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Stop worrying about “top 25 in both offense and defense at KenPom”
How did this happen? (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty) As conference tournaments take over the calendar, a different rite of March entirely is with us once again. All during Champ Week and especially next week...
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The trouble with committees
Until last night, you could subscribe to a Whig history of NCAA tournament selection and seeding even if you doubted the wisdom of using a committee for that process. Yes, the history ran, there was a...
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Your 2022 bracket should be shot volume-aware
Keegan Murray gets many chances to score. (Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com) Iowa is an offensive juggernaut despite the fact that the team did not shoot as accurately from the field as Purdue in...
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Villanova’s quest for free throw glory
Harvard’s Bob Ferry, right, defends Duke’s Johnny Dawkins in 1984. (Sean Kardon/Associated Press) The one guaranteed source of drama in Villanova’s round of 32 game against Ohio State today will be...
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Let’s never speak of shooting backgrounds again
Brady Manek is averaging four made threes per tournament game on 47 percent shooting. He is the exception to the rule in 2022. (Maggie Hobson, goheels.com) The Superdome is about to welcome the Final...
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Hoping for a bare minimum of official reviews
(NCAA.com) Any worthwhile Final Four preview should provide an informed forecast of events. This will be the first Final Four in three long years with fans. Jim Nantz loves referencing past Final Four...
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Your updated rankings for tournament wins in the modern era
(kuathletics.com) We have now seen 37 “modern” NCAA tournaments played to completion. All but the first one in 1985 used a shot clock. All but the first two, in 1985 and 1986, featured a three-point...
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Expand the field
Sam Owens/Courier & Press [NOTE: This was posted three hours before the NCAA Division I transformation committee published its recommendation to create larger championship fields.] When expanding...
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How the postseason can value the regular season
The value of the regular season can depend on your conference. (unipanthers.com) Recent talk of potentially expanding the NCAA tournament bracket has produced at least three instances of salutary...
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Houston’s historically mighty shot volume
Marcus Sasser is afforded many opportunities to score. (uhcougars.com) The No. 1 team in the AP poll is 27-2 and riding the nation’s sixth-longest active win streak. Said team also sits atop KenPom’s...
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On the size, strength, and selection of the field
Where have you gone, Harold Olsen? Tonight the 2023 NCAA tournament will open with a matchup ranked No. 10 for KenPom Thrill Score on an evening when there are just 10 Division I men’s basketball...
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