Bucknell Back in Big Dance

Bucknell fought off a Lafayette run and with the help of Mike Muscala, win the Patriot League Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Muscala had 20 points and 11 rebounds with 6 key points stemming a Leopard run in the second half and much like 2 seasons ago, The Bison defeated Lafayette to gain entry into the NCAA Tournament, 64-56. It was the 1 versus 2 seed in the Final.

                                             Mike Muscala

Joe Willman added 14 points in the victory for Bucknell.

The Patriot League is no stranger to upsets in the NCAA Tournament. 15th seeded Lehigh upset Duke in last years Tournament while Bucknell took out Kansas in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. The Bison look to do it again this season with a team who will not be an easy out.

It was a physical game as both teams knew each other well having split both regular season games. Bucknell was able to gain a lead at 13-10 and though the game remained fairly close, Lafayette were never able to gain the lead again.

Thanks in part to Muscala, the Bison held the rebounding edge at 33-28 with 11 offensive rebounds. They went to the free throw line 23 times, knocking down 18 of those.

With the game played on Bucknell's home court, the student section rushed the court in celebration after the game. The Bison now await news of their opponent which will be released on Sunday.

Predictions Update

For those of you following along, Andy Coppens and Mike Holder made Championship Week predictions for all the tournaments, in Championship Week Central. Since Andy lives in Wisconsin and Mike lives in North Carolina, there is some Barbeque, Brats and Cheese on the line.

The scoring system for the predictions are as follows:

If Champion is picked = 10 points
For each win by a Sleeper picked = 5 points
If Sleeper wins Championship = 10 points plus 5 for each game won

Going into Wednesday, Mike held a 145 to 105 lead. The Patriot League was the only Championship decided. Bucknell won the Championship. Mike picked Bucknell while Andy picked Lehigh. Both had Army for their sleeper. So Mike picked up a total of 15 in the Patriot, while Andy picked up 5. Here are the updated standings after The Patriot League Championship.


Mike 160 points

Andy 110 points

At the end of each day, as tournaments crown their Champions, we will be updating our results, so check back and see how you fared against our picks.

Rumors continue to swirl on new Big East makeup

We're in the midst of the Big East tournament - the final in it's current status - but that hasn't stopped the rumors of the "Catholic 7" (who will be keeping the Big East name) adding teams and making a really deep Catholic based league.

On Wednesday the New York Post is reporting that long suspected targets Butler, Dayton, and Xavier will be joining the league for it's first season as an all Catholic league. Yes, hard to believe that Dayton is actually a Catholic school, huh?

That would give the league a very strong presence from the Northeast to the heart of the Midwest as well, but the new Big East may not be done there as the report also states that Creighton and Saint Louis could be added for 2014 to make it a 12 team all Catholic league.

Top 5 Big East Tournament Moments

As a pure college basketball fan this week is going to be bittersweet to say the least. One of the greatest tournaments and a true catalyst for "March Madness" - the Big East tournament - is wrapping up it's final chapter as the conference splits following this season.

Yes, the Big East will stay around in name and some of it's original members will still be involved in the new version of the Big East, but just like the new "retro" versions of classic muscle cars, it's just not the same. Well, as a result it's time to take a small trip down memory lane and as folks that love history, we here at the Sports Intelligentsia present our Top 5 Big East Tournament Moments.

Now, this list isn't limited to just specific plays from the tournament or players or games themselves - it's all about moments - you know things that will last a lifetime in the memory banks of those of us who love the game and it's rich history. With that in mind we give you the Top 5 Moments in Big East Tournament History:

Insiders Predictions Update

For those of you following along, Andy Coppens and Mike Holder made Championship Week predictions for all the tournaments, in Championship Week Central. Since Andy lives in Wisconsin and Mike lives in North Carolina, there is some Barbeque, Brats and Cheese on the line.

The scoring system for the predictions are as follows:

If Champion is picked = 10 points
For each win by a Sleeper picked = 5 points
If Sleeper wins Championship = 10 points plus 5 for each game won

There were three Championship Games on Tuesday. Mike came into the night with a 100-75 lead. In the Northeast Conference neither Andy or Mike picked the Champion (Mike had Robert Morris and Andy had Bryant) but Mike's sleeper won the tournament, LIU-Brooklyn. So Mike picked up 25 points. Meanwhile, Andy's sleeper, Mt. Saint Mary's won 2 games so he picked up 10 points.

In the Horizon, Andy and Mike had identical Champions and Sleeper. Neither picked the Champion but their sleeper, Green Bay, won two rounds so each got 10 points in this conference.

In the Summit League Tournament like the Horizon, Andy and Mike each had the same Champion and Sleeper. Both picked South Dakota State who won the tournament so each got 10 points, but their sleeper Oakland, did not fair so well, eliminated in the first round giving them 0 points.

After all was said and done on Tuesday, here are the updated standings:


Mike 145 points

Andy  105 points

At the end of each day, as tournaments crown their Champions, we will be updating our results, so check back and see how you fared against our picks.

JackRabbits hit Summit

The JackRabbits of South Dakota State have punched their ticket to the Big Dance after defeating North Dakota State 73-67.

Nate Wolters had a huge game with 27 points 6 rebounds and 6 assists to lead SDSU to the win.

                                                        Nate Wolters

The game was competitive throughout going back and forth in the first half but the Jackrabbits gained an advantage in the second half and were able to keep the Bison at arms length.

The game feature two teams who won more than 24 games on the season. SDSU enters the NCAA Tournament with a 25-9 record.

The Jackrabbits made hay at the free throw line in this game shooting 21-23 from the strike, 91.3 percent. They won the rebounding battle by a margin of 27-23 including 6 offensive rebounds.

Jordan Dykstra chipped in 18 points and 7 rebounds while Tony Fiegen had 12 in the contest.

The Jackrabbits finished the season strong, entering the NCAA Tournament with 4 straight wins and having won 14 of their last 17 games.

SDSU should be prepared for the quality of the NCAA Tourney having played Alabama, Minnesota, Belmont and New Mexico in out of conference play this season.

Valpo Pulls out crazy Horizon League Final

The 2013 Horizon League tournament was full of drama and fun, so it was fitting that the final provided both to those in attendance and watching at home. Valpo took home the title and the automatic bid that goes with it in a 62-54 win over Wright State.

Valpo fans can thank Erik Bruggs and his 22 points for helping this win happen from the jaws of defeat as he led all scorers in the game.

If you were like some and turned it off after Valpo routed the Raiders in the first half, up 36-25, you could be forgiven. On the other hand you missed one of the craziest finishes to one of the craziest tournaments this season.

Why? That's because Wright State, down 11 at the half, went nuts to start the 2nd half. In fact they went on a 22-6 run, eliminating the Valpo lead in under 8 minutes, and taking their own lead at 45-42 with 9:28 remaining in the game.

It would stay close for the rest of the half with the Raiders taking their largest lead of the night at 50-44 with just 5:42 left and the momentum clearly on their side.

But, hey this is the Horizon League tournament and anything and everything goes. So, instead of Wright State taking it to the home Crusaders, Valpo dug down deep and found a way to overcome the deficit and get to the point where the final minute was a foul and pray situation for Wright State.

Their prayers weren't answered as Valpo calmly sunk 8 of the final 8 free throws in the last 53 seconds of the game to seal it away and let the court storming begin.

With the win the Crusaders are back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since a 2004 appearance. I wonder how many times we'll see Bryce Drew's shot this year.... Since he's their head coach and all now.