ESPN College Gameday: How it Went From Transcendent to Unwatchable

September 7, 2019 By Leave a Comment

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Republishing from 9-16-17

To pinpoint what’s so wrong with ESPN College Gameday in 2017, there are a couple different places from which you can start. You can begin with ESPN’s horrible bungling of the Jemele Hill and Robert Lee situations, and go from there. The same principle, that of “let’s try to never hurt anyone’s feelings ever, no matter what the cost, because hurt feelings means upset sponsors” applies across the board.

ESPN should have never apologized for what Jemele Hill said about Donald Trump.

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Filed Under: Business, College Basketball, College Football, Duke Blue Devils, Entertainment/Media, Illinois Fighting Illini, Kentucky Wildcats, Michigan State Spartans, Michigan Wolverines, Nebraska Cornhuskers, North Carolina Tar Heels, Northwestern Wildcats, Notre Dame, Ohio State Buckeyes, Purdue Boilermakers

March Madness is Big Business, How Big? Try $10 Billion

March 22, 2019 By 2 Comments

brackets

We’re in the midst of what many declare the greatest four days on the American sports calendar- the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Colloquially (and trademarked) known as “March Madness,” it’s a Thursday-Sunday span that sees a field of 64 college basketball teams swiftly reduced to 16.

In order to make this happen, the games start in late morning and run until very late in the evening. It’s a time when work productivity is at its lowest because, at least for these three weekends, just about everybody is a college basketball fan. The sport only enjoys a very tiny niche following the rest of the year, but for this month, it’s front and center.

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Filed Under: Business, College Basketball, Duke Blue Devils, Kentucky Wildcats, Michigan State Spartans, Michigan Wolverines, North Carolina Tar Heels

How to Pick March Madness Upsets: Top Predictive Trends of Last Decade

March 18, 2019 By Leave a Comment

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Last St. Patrick’s Day, University of Maryland-Baltimore County shocked Virginia 74-54 to become the first No. 16 seed in the history of the NCAA tournament to ever beat a No. 1 seed.

And with that upset, the Retrievers became media darlings, lovable underdogs, breakers of brackets all over the world. Thanks to UMBC, there were just 25 perfect brackets remaining among the tens of millions submitted before March Madness began.

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Filed Under: Business, College Basketball, Duke Blue Devils, Kentucky Wildcats, Michigan State Spartans, North Carolina Tar Heels, Purdue Boilermakers

Big Ten Has Three National Title Contenders, but None are Among the Favorites

March 18, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Lots of college basketball pundits have deemed the Big Ten the strongest conference in the nation this season, and the numbers seen to verify this. From top to bottom, it’s the strongest conference in the country, but it’s strongest teams aren’t among the elite of the elite nationally.

The Big Ten has three teams, #6 Michigan State, #10 Michigan and #13 Purdue that have a legitimate shot of winning it all, but none are likely to earn a #1 seed on Selection Sunday. You won’t find any of that trio among the top favorites to be crowned kings of March Madness either. In short, the Midwestern based league, headquartered in Chicago, is just not top heavy enough.

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Filed Under: College Basketball, Duke Blue Devils, Kentucky Wildcats, Michigan State Spartans, North Carolina Tar Heels, Purdue Boilermakers Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Michigan-Michigan State the Next North Carolina-Duke? Tom Izzo, John Beilein Opine

March 18, 2019 By Leave a Comment

michigan vs michigan state

Before Michigan and Michigan State played for the Big Ten Tournament title, in what was their third meeting this this season, both head coaches discussed the growing significance of their heated rivalry. Both Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo and Michigan head man John Beilein opined on the idea of MSU-Michigan being/one day becoming on par with North Carolina-Duke.

Playing for the third time in a span of just three weeks, the Michigan-Michigan State blood feud is becoming more relevant and entertaining by the year.

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Filed Under: College Basketball, Duke Blue Devils, North Carolina Tar Heels Tagged With: , , , , , ,

#9 North Carolina Tar Heels vs #19 Kentucky Wildcats: Game Preview with @DaggumRoy

December 19, 2018 By Leave a Comment

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Saturday brings the CBS Sports Classic, a college basketball double header featuring four of the sport’s most storied programs, to the United Center in Chicago. It’s UCLA vs. #15 Ohio State in the undercard (game preview at this link), tipping off at 2pm CST. The heavyweight bout is the #9 North Carolina Tar Heels vs. the #19 Kentucky Wildcats; tipping off at 4:15 local.
Now there are plenty of industry standard game preview articles out there for this headliner match-up, but we decided to go in a different direction. You already know how most head coach press conferences go- lots of cliches, platitudes and corporatespeak.
But what if you were able to do a Q&A with North Carolina Tar Heels Head Coach Roy Williams, and he had absolutely no filter at all during it?

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Filed Under: College Basketball, Kentucky Wildcats, North Carolina Tar Heels

College Sports Fans Beware the Nefarious Influence of the Recruiting-Industrial Complex

August 28, 2018 By 1 Comment

It’s really astounding when you think about it- in an era when almost no one is willing to pay for news content, recruiting services can survive and thrive off a subscription-based business model.

The year-round extensive coverage of college recruiting, at every step in the process, has destroyed media coverage of college sports. It’s not just the rise of the recruiting-industrial complex itself that ruined it. Recruiting sites flourished at the same time social media exploded and these two phenomena fed off of each other to concoct a toxic cocktail.

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Filed Under: Business, College Basketball, College Football, Duke Blue Devils, Entertainment/Media, Illinois Fighting Illini, Kentucky Wildcats, Michigan State Spartans, Michigan Wolverines, Nebraska Cornhuskers, News and Current Events, North Carolina Tar Heels, Northwestern Wildcats, Notre Dame, Ohio State Buckeyes, Purdue Boilermakers, Social Issues, Tech

Pick the North Carolina Tar Heels in Your Bracket? Why or Why Not

March 13, 2018 By Leave a Comment

north carolina basketball

Toying with the idea of betting on the North Carolina Tar Heels to win it all in your bracket pool? Well, wagering on March Madness is certainly one of the greatest games of chance that a person can play. Entering a NCAA Tournament pool is like going to Situs Judi Online, it’s always extremely exciting as you just don’t know if the ball will bounce your way, and if luck will be on your side.

Well, there’s a strong case both for and against betting on the Tar Heels, and we’ll explore each side of the coin here.

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Filed Under: College Basketball, North Carolina Tar Heels

Man United vs Man City, Duke vs North Carolina: By the Numbers, Honors

March 2, 2018 By Leave a Comment

manchester derby

Tonight brings the next edition of the greatest rivalry in the sport of basketball as #9 North Carolina visits #6 Duke. Just 10.5 miles separates Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium (where the game will be held) and the Dean Dome (home to the UNC Tar Heels).

This bitter feud reminds of us another rivalry that’s heating up- the Manchester Derby.

Of course, it goes without saying that Liverpool-Manchester United is the truest rivalry of soccer/football/futbol, but the Man United-Man City bloodfeud is definitely becoming more acrimonious. Just 15 miles separate Old Trafford (United’s home ground) from The Etihad (City’s home venue), so it’s similar to UNC-Duke in that regard.

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Filed Under: College Basketball, Duke Blue Devils, Football/Soccer, Manchester United, North Carolina Tar Heels

Krzyzewskiville Overcomes Epic Flu Season, Ready for Carolina Clash

March 1, 2018 By Leave a Comment

krzyzewskiville

Flu season has hit us all very hard this winter, and Krzyzewskiville on the campus of Duke University was no exception. The tent city of Duke students, images of which evoke the Hooverville shanty towns of The Great Depression, was closed down the very first week of February due to one of the worst flu seasons in recent memory.

Krzyzewskiville may resemble a homeless community upon first glance, but it’s populated entirely by students attending a school that costs $53,744 a year, with a $72,710 estimated cost of attendance. The tent community, which has WiFi and a highly regulated, heavily monitored set of rules, is definitely “roughing it” by design.

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Filed Under: College Basketball, Duke Blue Devils, North Carolina Tar Heels

#9 North Carolina Tar Heels Upset by Miami Hurricanes: Greatest Regular Season Game Ever?

February 28, 2018 By 1 Comment

To paraphrase His Airness Michael Jordan, the ceiling was truly the roof. The #9 North Carolina Tar Heels hosted the unranked Miami Hurricanes on Senior Day (which this year also fell on James Worthy’s birthday), and the result was as wild and as memorable as one you could imagine.

It was the final home game for a quartet of seniors who have already won a national title, and three Final Four weekend games. It’s a group with one final March Madness run coming up, and the outcome last night was very reminiscent of the 2016 national title game.

Take a look:

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Filed Under: College Basketball, North Carolina Tar Heels

Matt Painter Reflects on Historical Coaching Carousel that Established Him

December 3, 2017 By Leave a Comment

matt painter

Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter reflected this week on being a part of the biggest coaching carousel in the history of college basketball.

“Sometimes the world flips around differently, and you get opportunities,” Painter said about the 2003 coaching changes that had numerous ripple effects beyond several high major and mid major programs.

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Filed Under: College Basketball, Illinois Fighting Illini, North Carolina Tar Heels, Purdue Boilermakers
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