Moni's 2013 NCAA Women's B-Ball Bracket

In honor of Women's History Month, in 2008 I started doing an NCAA women's tournament bracket similar to what I was doing for the men. 

My readers who are women's basketball fans like me loved the idea so much I've continued what has become an anticipated TransGriot tradition in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Unlike the menz, The Lone Star State is well represented in this edition of the NCAA women's tournament, and one of the teams involved just happens to be the defending champs.  Baylor compiled an unprecedented  40-0 unbeaten record enroute to knocking off Skylar Diggins led Notre Dame for the 2012 NCAA women's basketball title and keep that trophy in Texas.   The other Lone Star State schools besides 32-1 Baylor participating in this 64 team tourney are SEC tournament champ Texas A&M, SWAC tourney champ Prairie View A&M and Texas Tech. 

Prairie View has the misfortune of once again facing the overall number one seeded Lady Bears and Brittney Griner in the opening round of the tournament.

Speaking of the Lady Bears, can they send my Houston homegirl Brittney Griner out in her senior year a winner as a repeat NCAA champion?  Will she dunk in the title game or sometime during the tournament? 

Will Chiney Ogwumike and her Stanford teammates spoil the title coronation and hang another loss on the Lady Bears?  

Will Skylar Diggins and Notre Dame in her senior year finally get the NCAA title she and the Fighting Irish have come so close to winning twice? 

Does UConn have a long NCAA title run in them?  Or will some new contender to the women's basketball throne spring some upsets that send them all the way to New Orleans?

The road to the 2013 NCAA Women's Final Four in New Orleans starts on March 23 with the title game happening April 7-9 

Oklahoma City Region

Ist Round
Baylor, Florida State, Louisville, Purdue, Oklahoma, UCLA, Syracuse, Tennessee

 Sweet 16
Baylor, Louisville, Oklahoma, Tennessee

Elite Eight
Baylor, Tennessee

Oklahoma City Region Champion 
Baylor

Spokane Region

1st Round
Stanford, Villanova, Iowa State, Georgia, LSU, Penn State, Texas Tech, California 

Sweet 16
Stanford, Iowa State, LSU, California

Elite Eight
Stanford, LSU

Spokane Region Champion
Stanford


Norfolk Region

1st Round
Notre Dame, Miami, Colorado, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas A&M , Oklahoma State, Duke

Sweet 16
Notre Dame, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Duke

Elite Eight
Notre Dame, Texas A&M

Norfolk Region Champion
Notre Dame

Bridgeport Region

1st Round
Connecticut, Vanderbilt, Michigan St., Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Dayton, Kentucky  

Sweet 16
Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky

Elite Eight
Connecticut, Kentucky

Bridgeport Region Champion
Connecticut

Final Four Teams
Baylor, Stanford, Notre Dame,Connecticut

Championship Game
Baylor, Notre Dame

2013 NCAA Champion
Baylor


     

Moni's 2013 NCAA Men's B-Ball Bracket

March Madness is upon us once again and for the 75th year the NCAA men's basketball tournament is being contested.   68 teams begin playing for that trip to the ATL April 6-8 and for the opportunity to be the last ballers standing on the floor of the Georgia Dome.

They have the dream they want to make a reality of  cutting down the nets and holding up the NCAA championship trophy. 

For the first time since 1977, none of those 68 teams including my beloved UH Cougars will be from Texas.   Kentucky, who won it all last year won't be in the tournament either and they have to deal with the fact that the hated Louisville Cardinals travel that 70 miles on I-64 east to open their 2013 NCAA tournament run at Rupp Arena .  

All that one and done recruiting finally caught up with the Cats this year (snicker, snicker)   

For the ones that did make it, it's time for me to try to pick in a wild year on the collegiate men's basketball side who will be the champion.   Last year I picked the eventual NCAA men's champion in Kentucky, but even the Geico caveman could see that coming.   

Here's my March Madness Men's B-Ball picks if you want to see how well I did (or didn't do) in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011

So let's get busy with this year's edition of Moni's NCAA men's brackets.

First Four Games
St Mary's, North Carolina A&T, Boise State, James Madison 

Midwest Regional

Second Round
Louisville, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Saint Louis, Memphis, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Duke

Third Round
Louisville, Saint Louis, Michigan State, Duke

Elite Eight
Louisville, Duke

Midwest Regional Champion
Louisville

South Regional

Second Round
Kansas, North Carolina, VCU, Michigan, UCLA, Florida, San Diego State, Georgetown 

Third Round
North Carolina, Michigan, Florida, Georgetown

Elite Eight
North Carolina, Georgetown

South Regional Champion
North Carolina


East Regional

Second Round
Indiana, NC State, UNLV, Syracuse, Butler, Marquette, Illinois, Miami 

Third Round
Indiana, Syracuse, Marquette, Miami

Elite Eight
Indiana, Miami

East Regional Champion
Indiana

West Regional

Second Round
Gonzaga, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Arizona, New Mexico, Notre Dame, Ohio State

Third Round
Gonzaga, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Notre Dame

Elite Eight
Gonzaga, Notre Dame

West Regional Champion
Notre Dame

Final Four Teams
Louisville, North Carolina, Indiana, Notre Dame

Championship Game
Louisville, Indiana

2013 NCAA Champ
Louisville

2012 Olympics Watch-The Drive For Five Is Golden!

The USA women's ballers used a devastating 19-0 third period run to blow the gold medal game wide open and cruise to a comfortable 86-50 win over France and their fifth straight gold medal since 1996..

It was also their 41st consecutive win in Olympic competition dating back to the bronze medal game of the 1992 Barcelona Games, with the last time the USA lost on the women's side being to the Unified Team AKA Russia in the semifinals.

While I'm happy to see the sustained excellence of the USA women, I worry that the IOC will yank the sport out of the Olympic program for the same reason they pulled softball because we're dominating it. 

Hey world, all I have to say on that is ramp up your level of play like we've had to do in the sports you dominate.  .    

2012 Olympic Watch-London Blowout

Team USA's mens b-ballers are 2-0 in Group A play and despite a comfortable 98-71 win over France and a 110-63 win over Tunisia, there were two things I had been worried about with this team.

I'd been concerned about the slow starts of the starting five players, who were being majorly outscored by the bench brigade 180-10 and the abysmal three point shooting so far. 

The new FIBA 3-point line is a foot shorter than the NBA distance and I was wondering if that was impacting them  After yesterday's record setting 156-73 game against Nigeria that tore up the Olympic basketball record books, I'm not worrying about their three point shooting abilities for the rest of this tournament.  

Their winning margin of 83 points beat Team USA's previous Olympic best of 72 points against Thailand set during a 101-29 win in 1956.   Kobe Bryant got an initial 13-0 scoring run started with a three ball on the opening possession of the game as the USA lit up a Nigerian team that started the game packing the paint with a record setting 29-46 barrage from 3 point range (63 percent) and shot 71 percent for the game.

Team USA scored 49 points in the first quarter, had 78 by halftime, passed the 100 point mark midway in the third quarter and after Andre Igoudala hit another (ho hum) three pointer with 4:37 left in the game to give them a 139-68 lead, they surpassed the previous Olympic record 138 points Brazil scored in a 1988 game with Egypt. 

The 78 first half points broke the old Olympic record of 72 scored by that same 1988 Oscar Schmidt led Brazilian team against China. 
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Oh yeah, considering FIBA basketball quarters are only 10 minutes long, unlike the 12 minute ones you get in the NBA, the numbers are eye popping to say the least. 

Carmelo Anthony's 37 points in 14 minutes of work thanks to 10-12 three point shooting broke the 31 point US Olympic record set by Stephon Marbury against Spain in 2004. 

The 2012 Team USA even one-upped the 1992 Dream Team. The 83-point margin of victory eclipsed the 79 point spread that the Dream Teamers put on Cuba when they beat them 136-57.

But playtime is over for Team USA with games against Lithuania on Saturday and Manu Ginobili-led Argentina waiting for them on the schedule.   

2012 Olympic Watch-USA Women's Teams Continue To Win

In this Olympic Games which is being contested during the 40th anniversary year of Title IX, it's been interesting to note how well the USA women's team sports are doing vis a vis their male counterparts.  

This is the first ever USA Olympic team that has more female than male competitors, and one of the reasons for it was there were American women's teams that qualified for field hockey and soccer and our men's teams fell short of doing so.

That's a nice segue into doing some updates on how the various women's team sports are doing.  

The USA women's soccer team clinched Group G with a 1-0 over North Korea at Manchester United's  iconic home park of Old Trafford thanks to Abby Wambach's 141st international goal in the 25th minute and her seventh in Olympic play.   It was the first women's soccer match played there in 23 years and going into the match Team USA already had their August 3 quarterfinal spot clinched due to their two wins over France and Colombia    It was just a matter of whether they would do so as group champs or the runner ups..

They will play New Zealand in Newcastle in that quarterfinal knockout round match Friday. 

At 'The Mattress', AKA the Basketball Arena the USA women rolled to a 90-38 win over Angola to go to 2-0 in Group A play and take their Olympic winning streak to 35 games. 

The Angolans stayed close to Team USA in the first quarter and were only trailing by 10 points until Team USA went on a 11-0 run that broke the game open along with holding Angola to only six points in the second quarter to take a 41-18 halftime lead.

Team USA outscored Angola 28-11 in the third quarter thanks to 8-0 and 12-0 runs and by the time they reached the 4:06 mark all eleven available players had scored.  Sylvia Fowles didn't play in this game and next up is Turkey at 4:15 PM CDT.

Over at Earl's Court, the USA women's volleyball team is still rolling along unbeaten in Pool B play as well.  They knocked off number 2 ranked Brazil in four sets 25-18, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21 to go 2-0 in pool play and now face number 3 ranked and unbeaten 2-0 China for the outright lead.   

2012 Olympics Watch-USA Women's B-Ballers Take On Angola

The USA women's basketball team gets their second Group A game at the Basketball Arena that has been dubbed 'The Mattress' (for the way it looks from the outside) when they take on Angola later today.

While the Angolan men have long been dominant on the FIBA Afrobasket scene and perennial Olympic qualifiers, they surprisingly didn't make it to London this year, but the Angolan women did. . 

This is the first ever international competition ever for the Angolan women, and they will have their hands full trying to play with the four time defending gold medalists and the FIBA world number one ranked USA squad coming off a sloppy (for them) win on Saturday versus a scrappy Croatia squad.

That means look out, Team USA will probably be focused from the opening tipoff of this game.

Team USA will be focused on the tasks of keeping  their Olympic win streak alive and stretching it to 35 consecutive wins since the 1996 Atlanta Games, keep an unblemished record in Group A play, and making sure they improve on Saturday's game.

Should be fun to watch at 4:15 CDT to see if they accomplish all three tasks.

2012 Olympics Watch-Great Day For USA Women's Olympic Sports Teams

Saturday was the first official day of competition of the 2012 London Games and to paraphrase an old Ice Cube rap song, today was a good day for the USA's women's Olympic sports teams. 

The USA women's basketball team started on the road to a fifth consecutive gold medal by getting Group A pool play started in the Basketball Arena with an 81-56 win over a scrappy Croatia team that has been zooming up the FIBA basketball rankings lately.

Croatia trailed 11-4 after the first quarter but sloppy USA play, early shooting woes and turnovers kept Croatia close.  Croatia started lighting it up from three point range in the second quarter after attempting and failing to score inside and were rewarded with a shockingly brief second quarter lead and visions of a ginormous upset dancing in their heads until Diana Taurasi launched back to back threes of her own that gave Team USA a narrow 31-28 halftime lead.

Team USA went to work expanding that narrow lead to a six point cushion by the end of the third quarter thanks to Angel McCoughtry coming off the bench to provide an offense and defensive spark.

A 16-0 fourth quarter run secured their 34th consecutive win in Olympic b-ball play since the 1996 Atlanta Games.   Next up is Angola, and you can bet Team USA will be ready for that game.

While the USA roundballers were getting their Olympic pool play wakeup call,  the Team USA soccer players were in Glasgow, Scotland's Hampden Park playing in a rough and tumble match with a scrappy Colombia that featured 30 fouls and goals from Megan Rapinoe, Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd.

Wambach's goal in the 74th minute was her 140th career international one and her sixth in Olympic play to pass Mia Hamm and Tiffeny Milbrett on the USA all time Olympic goal scoring list.

The had fought 3-0 win guaranteed that Team USA would make it to the quarterfinals, and they can capture Group G with a win or draw against North Korea at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on July 31.

The world number one ranked USA women's indoor volleyball team is attempting to win our first ever Olympic gold medal.  

They got their Olympic tournament started at Earl's Court in a positive manner with a 3-1 Group B win over South Korea and a dominating performance by Destinee Hooker.  

Team USA took the first two sets by 25-19 and 25-17 scores before the South Koreans clawed their way back into the match by taking the third set 25-20.  Team USA regrouped and with the score at 15-14 in that fourth set went on a 7-1 run to take a 22-15 lead to put them on the way to clinching the set and eventually a hard fought 25-21 win  


Their next Group B match will be on July 30 against number two world ranked Brazil.  Like Team USA, Brazil is considered a gold medal favorite and have been traditionally strong in the sport.   Brazil held the FIVB number one world ranking for four years until the USA took it over at the end of 2011.

After the July 30th volleyball tussle with Brazil Team USA has matches remaining with China, Serbia and Turkey and must finish in the top four teams in their group to move on to the medal round.

But Saturday was a great step in the right direction for the USA women volleyballers and the other USA women's team sports that have gold medal dreams.
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USA Women's B-Ballers Playing For Respect

The USA women's basketball team has won four consecutive gold medals, is ranked number one in the FIBA world rankings, are the FIBA world champions, have won 33 straight games in Olympic competition going back to the 1996 Atlanta Games are heavily favored to take an unprecedented fifth one here in London but get no love at home compared to the men.

But on the TransGriot electronic pages, they will.

"I think it's funny," Diana Taurasi said. "We're a team that's won four gold medals in a row and yet we're still fighting for respect in our own country. I think it's a little sad. That's a heck of a motivator for all of us in the gym. Our level is so high, it becomes normal and even to the public `it's they should win the gold medal. If they don't it's a terrible year."

USA Head Coach Geno Auriemma also wants to make it a big deal

"If we win another gold medal it's not going to be a huge story," he said in an ESPN interview. "I want to make it a huge story because the respect that Dee's talking about that these kids deserve for having done what they've done and been able to do it the way they do it should be appreciated. Greatness should be appreciated and not taken for granted.

"People take us for granted."

Some US fans may take a 'ho hum, they're supposed to win' attitude toward the women ballers, but their opponents definitely don't.  They get their opponents A game every time they play, and they still since 1996 have only had one team come within single digits of them during this historic run.

The Team USA average margin of victory during this streak has been 29 points, and the only blemish in international competition since 1996 was a 75-68 semifinal loss in the 2006 FIBA Women's World Championships in Brazil against Russia

This team is also experienced.  It's funny to think of Maya Moore, Asjha Jones, Tina Charles, Lindsay Whalen and Angel McCoughtry as rookies on this 2012 Olympic squad but that's exactly what they are since this is their first Olympics even though they have years of international basketball playing time under their belts.

For example, Maya Moore has been involved in USA basketball since she was 17, and has won international titles as a member of the FIBA U-19, World University Games, and FIBA world championship teams.  Now she gets an opportunity to add an Olympic gold medal to that list.

You also add these Olympic rookies to a team that has veteran Olympic ballers such as Sylvia Fowles, Seimone Augustus, Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tamika Catchings, Diana Taurasi and Candace Parker and it's going to be a fun one to watch.

They start Olympic Group A play July 28 against a Croatian team that has been surging in the FIBA women's ranking lately, then face Angola on Monday, July 30, Turkey on Wednesday, August 1, a 2010 FIBA world championship game rematch with the Czech Republic on August 3 and close out group play on
Sunday, August 5 with China.

The Drive For Five and the respect of the American sporting public begins after the Olympic flame is lit.later today.

Baylor Lady Bears Visit The White House

Y'all know how much I love my Houston hoopster homegirl Brittney Griner and her Baylor Lady Bear teammates who completed an unbeaten 40-0 run to a NCAA women's basketball title and made me look like a hoops genius in terms of picking my NCAA women's March Madness bracket..

They got to visit the White House and President Obama yesterday and present the POTUS with a Baylor jersey and autographed basketball. 



“I could not be prouder of this team,” President Obama said during this event. ”As the father of two daughters who are tall and beautiful just like them, it is great to have role models who can show that women can be strong and athletic and competitive, but also play as a team.”

And this Lady Bear team had a dominating and record setting season on the way to beating the Skylar Diggins led Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the championship.   They also kept the NCAA women's championship trophy in the Lone Star State for the second consecutive season.

Can they repeat?   We'll see starting in November.

And The Last FIBA Olympic Mens B-Ball Qualifiers Are...

Russia, Lithuania and Nigeria.

Nope, that isn't a typo.   The Nigerian men qualified for the Olympics while Angola, the perennial Afrobasket champions and African continent Olympic representatives will be watching the London Games tournament at home on television..

In our last episode of 'As The Olympic Basketball Bounces' the Men's FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournament in Caracas was in the quarterfinal stage.  

Greece suffered their first loss in the tournament at the worst possible time to Nigeria 80-79 while the Russians rolled over Angola 80-65.  In the other bracket Lithuania beat Puerto Rico 76-72 and the Dominican republic rolled over Macedonia 86-76 to get to the semis

In the semifinal action that took place on July 7 the winners of those games would get two of the Olympic slots while the loses would play the next day for the final London Olympic berth.

Russia finished the tournament unbeaten with a 4-0 record and clinched one of the Olympic spots with a 85-77 victory over Nigeria.  Their Lithuanian next door neighbors rolled over the Dominican Republic 109-83 to claim the second Olympic berth. 

That left Nigeria and the Dominican Republic to battle it out for the final Olympic spot on July 8.  Nigeria dribbled their way to an 88-73 win to punch their ticket to London.

After the three final Olympic qualifying teams were determined, a draw was held to see which groups the qualifying tourney teams would play in when the men's Olympic basketball tournament prelims start on July 29.

Lithuania and Nigeria ended up in Group A with the USA, Argentina, France, and Tunisia  while Russia ended up in Group B with Australia, Brazil, China, Spain and Great Britain. 

Should be fun to watch... .  

2012 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tourney In Quarters

The 2012 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament being contested in Caracas, Venezuela is in the knockout stage. 

The twelve teams that started the tournament been whittled down to the eight teams still left with a chance to grab the last three spots for the London Games men's basketball tournament..

To the chagrin of the local fans Venezuela wasn't one of them.    They were in the closely contested Group B in which all three teams finished group play with 1-1 records, but Lithuania and Nigeria advanced thanks to +12 and +4 point differentials. 

The same thing happened in Group D with Macedonia and Angola advancing after the tiebreakers were applied.

In today's quarterfinals Group A winner Greece will face Group B runner up Nigeria and Group C winner Russia will take on Group D runner up Angola.   In the other bracket Group B winner Lithuania will face Group A runner up Puerto Rico and Group D winner Macedonia will face Group C runner up Dominican Republic      

Winners move on to the semifinals on July 7, and the winners of those semifinal games get the first two London Olympic tournament spots.  The semifinal losers will play July 8 for the final Olympic spot 

Canadian Women B-Ballers Headed To London!

It's next stop London for the Canadian women's basketball team.

Two days after being upset by Croatia in the quarterfinals, they had to do it the hard way and on Canada Day no less, but for the first time since 2000 the Canadian women's basketball team will be taking part in the women's Olympic basketball tournament.

They knocked off Argentina 58-41 yesterday to get to today's final.  Courtney Pilypaitis scored 21 points and handed out six assists in the 71-63 win over Japan to clinch the final berth available in the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Ankara, Turkey.

The Canadians shot 48% for the game and lit it up from three point range, knocking down 9 of 19 attempts from behind the arc.

They get to savor their win for a few days and contemplate what life will be like in the Olympic Village before preparing for tough Group B Olympic competition that will include games with 2008 silver medalists Australia, Brazil, 2008 bronze medalists Russia,  2010 FIBA Women's World Championship runner-up Czech Republic and host nation Great Britain.   

Canada Women B-Ballers Still Alive For Olympic Berth

It's probably not the way they envisioned spending Canada Day, but they will be glad to take the court tomorrow with a final chance to dribble their way into the London Olympic women's basketball tournament. 

After a tough quarterfinal 59-56 loss to Croatia that dropped them into the win or go home knockout semifinal games today, Canada defeated Argentina 58-41 today to reach the final game at the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament being contested in Ankara, Turkey.

Their opponent will be Japan, who knocked off their fellow FIBA Asian Zone rival Korea 79-51 to advance to tomorrow's pressure packed game for the final Olympic women's basketball berth.

Good luck ladies and don't sleep on Japan.   If you do your next chance to play basketball on the Olympic stage won't occur until 2016 in Rio.

2012 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tourney In Quarterfinals

The 2012 FIBA Women's World Olympic Qualifying Tournament tipped off in Ankara, Turkey June 25 with our FIBA number 11 ranked Canadian neighbors being amongst the femme roundball teams trying to dribble their way into the London Olympic basketball tournament that starts a few weeks from now

Out of the 12 nations that started their quest for the five remaining spots to go to London only eight remain after they survived group play.  The host nation Turkey won Group A and will play Group B runner up and FIBA number 12 ranked Argentina. Group B winner and FIBA number 4 ranked Czech Republic will play Group A runner up and FIBA number 15 ranked Japan.  

Canada was in Group D with FIBA number 8 ranked France and Mali and got their tournament off to a rousing start June 25 by crushing Mali 89-23.  

The next day against France they brought their bricklayers union cards and got off to a slow start that resulted in a 57-46 loss and a 1-1 record in Group D play.  

Despite the loss they were still in great shape to qualify for the quarterfinals because of the blowout win over FIBA number 19 ranked Mali.   The only way they would be knocked out of the tournament is if Mali upset France and beat them by a 65 point margin in doing so. 

Umm no. France routed Mali 88-37 on June 27 to win the group with Canada finishing as the runner up.  France will play Group C runner up and FIBA number 9 ranked Korea for one of the Olympic spots.

The Canadians will play Croatia, the group C winner that has jumped 23 spots in the FIBA rankings to number 31 with a spot in the Olympics going to the winner and the loser moving on to play June 30 the loser of the Turkey-Argentina game.   The losers in the Czech Republic-Japan and France-Korea games would also battle it out on June 30 in the semis.

The winners of the June 30 semifinals would play July 1 for the final Olympic berth.  

I would think the Canadian women's b-ballers would rather handle their business today and be celebrating on Canada Day a trip to London rather than playing a nerve racking two additional must win games tomorrow and on Canada Day to get the final Olympic berth.

2012 Olympic Women's and Men's Basketball Tournament Draw Held

We're getting closer to the start of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London on July 27 and the USA women's and men's basketball squads already know who will be in their respective groups when the basketball competition starts

For the four time defending gold medalist USA women, who are seeking their fifth consecutive gold medal in these games they will be in Group A that consists of Angola, China  and three of the qualifiers from the FIBA women's tournament that will be conducted in Turkey June 25-July 1.   


Group B on the women's side is shaping up to be the 'Group of Death' with Australia, Brazil, Great Britain, Russia, and the two remaining FIBA Olympic tournament qualifiers.

The Canadians are still alive for an Olympic women's berth.but will have to play in the Qlympic qualifying tournament in Ankara to get it.  They are in Group D with France and Mali and will either have to finish first or second in the group to advance to a matchup with whoever comes out of Group C between Croatia, Korea and Mozambique. 

For the FIBA world champion USA men, they will be seeking back to back Olympic gold in this tournament but will be missing Derrick Rose who just tore his ACL in the NBA playoffs and Dwight Howard who had back surgery and is out.    They are in Group A and will face Manu Ginobili and the Argentines, Tony Parker and France, Tunisia playing in their first ever Olympics, and two qualifiers from the FIBA Men's Olympic qualifying tournament to be conducted in Venezuela 

Group B on the men's side will consist of Australia, Brazil, China, the host Great Britain, Spain an the third FIBA qualifier 

The Men's Olympic qualifying tournament will be conducted in Caracas, Venezuela July 2-8.   In addition to the host Venezuelans will have perennial African champs Angola, who were shockingly upset in the Afrobasket tournament final by Tunisia.  

Nigeria, Russia, Lithuania, Greece, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Macedonia, Jordan, New Zealand and Korea round out the list of nations battling for the last three London Olympic basketball tournament spots

In both the women's and men's Olympic tourneys, top four teams in each group advance, then the four remaining teams play knockout games with the Group A winner facing off against the fourth place team in Group B, the Group A Runner up playing the third place team in Group B and the Group A third and fourth place teams squaring off in knockout games against the Group B winner and runner up. 

Winners keep playing until they get to the gold and bronze medal matches. 

The Olympic basketball competition will last until August 12, and I'm so looking forward to it.

The Lady Bears Are The Unbeaten 2012 NCAA Womens Champs

Told y'all the Lady Bears would win it all!  

Last night in Denver the NCAA women's basketball title stayed in Texas and moved up the Brazos River to Waco after the dominating 80-61 win of the Baylor Lady Bears over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to cap an undefeated and unprecedented 40-0 season    

It was Baylor's first title since 2005 and no NCAA team mens or women's have ever gone 40-0.  Baylor is the seventh team to go through their season unbeaten..

Was fun watching Brittney dominate in the paint after being held to only nine points in the first half.  Only wish she'd gotten a dunk in the title game.

Oh well, maybe she'll get one in Olympic women's basketball play later this summer in London, (hint, hint to Geno Auriemma and USA Basketball)

And bad news for you NCAA women's b-ball teams.   Brittney's coming back for her senior year.

Kentucky Basketball Hatefest Squared

Well, well, well.   This Final Four in New Orleans will have a lot of folks from Kentucky in town for it since half the teams playing are from the Bluegrass State.

It'll be Kentucky and Louisville playing each other in one of the national semifinals, and boy would I love to be in Da Ville this week observing the jousting between Wildcat and Cardinal fans.   Then again I spent eight years being recruited by Cards and Cats fans trying the swell the ranks of their fanbases by one.

So yep the house Divided will be even more intense this week, and as the tipoff to the battle in the Superdome gets closer, the hate will flow on the Net, in workplaces, and even amongst friends and family.

Should be a fun game to watch.    As for who I'm rooting for?   I'm neutral on this one.

Moni's 2012 NCAA Women's B-Ball Bracket

Since 2008 in honor of Women's History Month I do a women's NCAA Tournament bracket in addition to the one I do for 'the menz' and had so much fun doing so I repeated it in 2009 and 2010  


I've actually done a better job picking the women's NCAA tournament champion than I have for the men.   Then again, UConn was on The Streak' 

Last year I expected my Houston homegirl Brittney Griner and the Lady Bears to make it to the Final Four but had another set of Houston homegirls in the Ogwumike sisters and Stanford winning the title. 

The NCAA title did come back to Texas and along the Brazos River, but it's residing in College Station instead of Waco. 

After being beaten by the Lady Bears three times in the 2011 season, the Aggies upset Baylor in the Dallas Regional final to punch their ticket to their first ever Final Four.  Once they arrived in Indianapolis, the Aggies knocked off Stanford and 'home team' and Indiana home girl Skylar Diggins Notre Dame squad, who beat Tennessee and their nemesis UConn to get to the title game for the championship.. 

Baylor hasn't forgotten that loss and it's fueled them to an unbeaten record so far, the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles and the number one overall seed.   And yep, Brittney and company are determined to bring that trophy back to Waco for the first time since 2005.  But can the Lady Bears take that last step and be the team cutting down the nets at the Pepsi Center in Denver?  

I think so, but that's why you play the games..

Des Moines Regional

1st Round
Baylor, Ohio State, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Nebraska, Delaware, DePaul, Tennessee 

2nd Round
Baylor, Georgetown, Nebraska, Tennessee

Elite Eight
Baylor, Tennessee


Des Moines Regional Champion
Baylor

Fresno Regional
1st Round
Stanford, West Virginia, South Carolina, Purdue, Oklahoma, St John's, Vanderbilt, Duke

2nd Round
Stanford, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Duke

Elite Eight
Stanford, Oklahoma

Fresno Region Champs
Stanford

Raleigh Regional
1st Round
Notre Dame, California, St Bonaventure, Georgia, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Louisville, Maryland

2nd Round
Notre Dame, Georgia, Arkansas, Maryland

Elite Eight
Notre Dame, Maryland

Raleigh Regional Champs
Notre Dame

Kingston Regional
1st Round
Connecticut, Kansas State, LSU, Penn State, Rutgers, Miami (FL), Iowa State, Kentucky

2nd Round
Connecticut, LSU, Miami (FL), Kentucky

Elite Eight
Connecticut, Kentucky

Kingston Regional Champs
Connecticut

Final Four Teams
Baylor, Stanford, Notre Dame, Connecticut 

Championship Game
Baylor, Notre Dame

2012 NCAA Champion
Baylor

    

Moni's 2012 NCAA Men's B-Ball Bracket

It was fun watching the NCAA Final Four transpire in my beloved hometown last year, and FYI, the 2016 NCAA Men's Final Four will be back at Reliant Stadium.  

But like 'errbody' else's NCAA March Madness brackets last season, thanks to all the upsets my 2011 brackets were a convoluted mess by the time the last four teams arrived in Houston   VCU upset my championship pick Kansas, who was knocked out by eventual runner up Butler in the national semifinal game. 

I've had better years since I started posting my NCAA men's tournament brackets on the blog in 2007.  Here are my picks for 2008, 2009 and 2010 on the men's side   

So for the fifth straight year, it's time for me to post my NCAA b-ball brackets on the men's tourney side.  With the First Four games of the 2012 tournament tipping off in a few hours, I will attempt to redeem myself for last year's disastrous showing and see if I can not only pick the eventual NCAA champion, but see if I can accurately pick which four teams will end up in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.  

So let's get busy.  

First Four Games
Western Kentucky, Lamar, Iona, California


East Regional

Second Round
Syracuse, Kansas State, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Florida State, Gonzaga, Ohio State

Third Round
Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Florida State, Ohio State,

Elite Eight
Syracuse, Ohio State

East Region Champion
Syracuse

South Regional

Second Round
Kentucky, Connecticut, Virginia Commonwealth, Indiana, Colorado, Baylor, Notre Dame, Duke

Third Round
Kentucky, Indiana, Baylor, Duke

Elite Eight
Kentucky, Duke

South Region Champion
Kentucky


Midwest Regional

Second Round
North Carolina, Creighton, Temple, Michigan, North Carolina State, Georgetown, Saint Mary's, Kansas

Third Round
North Carolina, Michigan, Georgetown, Kansas

Elite Eight
North Carolina, Kansas

Midwest Region Champion
North Carolina


West Regional

Second Round
Michigan State, Memphis, New Mexico, Louisville, Murray State, Marquette, Virginia,. Missouri

Third Round
Michigan State, Louisville, Murray State, Missouri

Elite Eight
Michigan State, Missouri

West Regional Champions
Missouri

Final Four Teams
Syracuse, Kentucky, North Carolina, Missouri



Championship Game
North Carolina, Kentucky

2012 NCAA Champion
Kentucky