HE SAID WHAT?
“He just wasn’t a good person.” — Warrick Dunn on former Falcons coach Bobby Petrino after the veteran running back returned to the Buccaneers last week
ON WASHINGTONTIMES.COM
D1scourse: Patrick Stevens prepares you for Thursday’s first-round NCAA tournament action.
TAKE YOUR PICK ” WHO got A BAD DEAL from the selection committee?
A: Wisconsin - The Badgers (29-4) finished with a better record than three of the No. 2 seeds (Georgetown, Duke and Texas) and swept their league’s regular-season and tournament titles (unlike any of the No. 2 seeds) only to be relegated to a No. 3 seed.
B. Virginia Tech - Sure, the Hokies (19-13) were 0-4 vs. the ACC’s power trio of North Carolina, Duke and Clemson. But anyone who saw the scare Virginia Tech gave UNC on Saturday knows they’re one of the 33 best at-large teams in the nation right now.
C. Tennessee - Let’s see, the Vols (29-4) were No. 1 two weeks ago, beat Memphis in its own building and topped the RPI and strength of schedule for the entire season … and they get rewarded with the worst No. 2?
Our take: Nobody got hosed like the Vols … not even close. You look at the seedings Georgetown, Wisconsin and Duke received, and it appears the selection committee placed more emphasis on teams’ body of work than conference tournaments. Yet Tennessee does basically everything right during the regular season before flaming out in the SEC tournament semifinals, and the committee punishes it by giving it a road to the Final Four littered with Butler, Louisville and overall No. 1 seed North Carolina … in Charlotte. Wow. All we can say is we pity the angst-ridden whuppin’ in store for American on Thursday in Birmingham, Ala.
TWT NINE - Torrid Tiger
Dating to last August, Tiger Woods has been virtually unstoppable, collecting eight victories and a runner-up finish in nine starts. Here’s a closer look at the streak:
Tournament (Date)FinishScore (to par)Margin
Bridgestone Invitational (8/05/07)Win272 (8-under)+8
PGA Championship (8/12/07)Win272 (8-under)+2
Deutsche Bank (9/03/07)T2270 (14-under)-2
BMW Championship (9/09/07)Win262* (22-under)+2
Tour Championship (9/16/07)Win257* (23-under)+8
Buick Invitational (1/27/08)Win269 (19-under)+8
Dubai Invitational+ (2/03/08)Win274 (14-under)+1
Accenture Match Play (2/24/08)Windef. S. Cink 8&7*NA
Arnold Palmer Invitational (3/16/08)Win270 (10-under)+1
Avg. Score: 67.06 (118-under); *Tournament scoring record; +European Tour event
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