Bryan Rose's NBA Basketball fan blog

What a difference a night can make. Going into last evening the Big Ten looked like it was pretty much a lock in terms of who was going to the dance and who was out and who was riding the bubble.

Then last night happened and now everything is turned on its head. Northwestern goes into West Lafayette and knocks off the Boilermakers in stunning fashion and suddenly the Wildcats are, take a breath, polishing up their NCAA tournament resume.

It is hard to believe this once doormat of the Midwest, who was off the radar much of the season could now be crawling its way on to the bubble but they certainly deserve to be in the discussion. With wins over top conference teams like Purdue and Michigan State along with an out of conference victory against Florida State, Northwestern can certainly make the case.

Continue reading "Big Ten Picture Just Got Cloudier"

The Maryland Terrapins and coach Gary Williams came close to punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament last night but fell short to Wake Forest by two points at home.  That means the Terps will have to impress the committee in the upcoming ACC tournament by going deep through the talented pool.

The bottom line is it looks like Maryland may be NIT bound which is a shame. Not because Maryland’s record cries out for them to be lock for the tournament or that they have had a Cinderella season. It would be a shame because of what Williams has gone through this year.

In his 20thseason at Maryland, Williams came under fire early in the season as rumors floated that he may be on the chopping block. This for a guy who has amassed a record of 397-215 and grabbed a national title and numerous post-season appearances.

Continue reading "Time to Back Off Gary Williams and Maryland"

What a time to start a blog about college basketball? Talk about your baptism by fire. The conference tournaments get started this week, there are so many teams on the bubble it is about burst and NCAA and NIT Tournaments are on the horizon.

I thought I would start out with an easy one since this is my first time and just give you a few impressions I have on the college basketball season so far:

1)      The Big East is a monster. That goes without saying. I like though how the conference, after being ravaged by the ACC for football schools a few years ago, said “they want football. Fine. We will take them in basketball.” While the ACC is strong this year as well, I don’t think they have the same weight the Big East does, literally. With so many teams in the Big East and so many teams at playing at a high level, the Big East easily wins this battle. I have always love the Big East tournament (I would come home from school and there would be a basketball game on television that really left a mark). But this year is going to be a tournament to surpass all other tournaments.

Continue reading "Welcome to My NCAA Blog"