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.

t-birds' dax crum to appear on espn today.

From Southern Utah's Athletics Web site:


Dax Crum to Appear On ESPN2’s First Take

CEDAR CITY, Utah, Feb. 11 – Southern Utah University basketball player Dax Crum, who is a scholarship Division I athlete despite being born without a right hand, will appear live on ESPN First Take Tuesday morning.

The program runs daily on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD from 8-10 a.m. (Mountain). Crum's segment is scheduled to air at approximately 9:40 a.m.

First Ron Hunter, now Dax Crum. The Summit League is getting some good PR of late. I have to admit...I didn't even pay any attention to Crum when I saw him play a couple weeks ago. He came in toward the end of the IUPUI game at Indy on 31 Jan (The Jags won 88-66). He took a three-point shot later in the second half. I turned to the SID and said, "boy, he's got a weird release!"

"That's because he's missing a hand," retorted the SID, in an are you an idiot?? tone. Obviously, I am. I didn't even pay any attention to that. To Crum's credit, he scored five points in that game.