...best of all, no oral roberts in either dance.

It was nice to see North Dakota St. put up a spirited fight against the defending champion Kansas Jayhawks. No disrespect to the Bison, but I picked KU in my bracket. It had less to do with talent and more to do with experience.

I went 23-9 in the first round and 13-3 in the second. Not too shabby, although I expect better of myself than dropping nine like that.

Over on the women's side, congrats to South Dakota State for advancing to the second round of the women's Big Dance™. They'll take on tenth-seeded Baylor tomorrow night.

Most of all—and I don't mind saying this—it was nice to see someone other than Oral Roberts in either tournament.

You heard me. No, I'm not an objective bystander. :-)

championship tuesday predictions.

Championship Tuesday is all set for the Summit League today.

Women's Championship
Oakland vs. South Dakota State University at 3 p.m.

Men's Championship
Oakland vs. North Dakota State University at 7 p.m.

The women's match-up might be the most intriguing of the two. OU's Beckie Francis is no stranger to championship-round basketball. Same goes for SDSU's Aaron Johnston. While conventional wisdom might suggest SDSU should win, I've got a hunch OU is going to pull this out.

On the men's side, it could be a real dog fight. Both teams surged into the tournament, with NDSU leading the way in its first year of post-season eligibility (in the conference). I think North Dakota gets the edge in this one based upon a few factors:
* Home Court. Perhaps not as stark as the previous four years in Tulsa, but they're playing in the Dakotas. More NDSU fans will make the trip.
* Player of the Year. Ben Woodside led the conference in scoring. But OU counters with Erik Kangas, who was No. 2 in scoring.

The game might tip on defense, where NDSU seems to hold slight advantages. But don't count out OU. Statistically speaking, they're not too far behind in defensive categories.

I think OU cuts down at least one set of nets today, but not two. I think it's going to be Oakland on the women's side and North Dakota State on the men's side.

Just a hunch.

jaguars knocked out.

Well, that was quick. For the first time in its D-I-eligible history, the IUPUI Jaguars were knocked out in the first round of conference tournament play. It's not too terribly surprising, given that this really turned out to be a rebuilding year for Ron Hunter's team.

So, the perennial favorites (and last year's championship game teams, IUPUI and ORU) are out. That leaves a wide open tournament on the men's side of things. My money's on North Dakota State prevailing, but Greg Kampe has a way of getting his Oakland team to play inspired basketball in the conference tournament.

Over on the women's side, it's going to be tough to stop South Dakota State. But the only team to hand them a conference loss (Oakland) is alive and kicking in this tournament.

We'll see who can survive the second round tomorrow night.

DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD!!

It's only been a year since my last entry here. What could awake the sleeping giant? The fact that Oral Roberts University got KNOCKED OFF in the opening round of the Summit League Championship Tournament!!

Which team? The men's team? The women's team?

BOTH!!!

That's right. ORU is already on a bus heading back to Tulsa.

Nothing could be finer than a quick exit for the team that was the benefactor of the most negligible home court advantage in the championship tournament over the past four years.