$26,000. That is what Darius Bazley is deciding to take over a chance to play for the famed Syracuse Orange. There's more to it than just that. Theoretically speaking, Bazley is betting on himself benefiting from working within the professional atmosphere of the G-League. To use the coaches, facilities, and acclimation to the professional lifestyle to up…
For the first 21 years of the 64-team bracket, only one double-digit seed survived to the Final Four – No. 11 LSU in 1986. George Mason broke through, also as an 11 seed, in 2006 and now 11th-seeded Loyola Chicago has advanced to the last weekend – the fourth double-digit seed in the last dozen…
Zone is for Cowards. It is a catchphrase ESPN's Bomani Jones has made famous throughout his radio and television career. It is a remark entirely aimed at one specific team, and those who follow Syracuse basketball know it all too well. https://twitter.com/bomani_jones/status/975873564694937600 A defensive strategy viewed as soft and one that was outright banned from…
A happy St. Patrick's Day from The Open Man to you and yours! As you prepare for an evening that possibly includes crappy light beer dyed a radioactive shade of green, stop to consider the heritage of St. Patrick's Day. It's a holiday with cultural and religious significance in Ireland, and a holiday deeply* tied…
Every March, the NCAA Tournament serves up both the hardcore hoop head and casual fan the most loaded buffet anywhere outside of the Rio in Vegas. The expansion of the Big Dance from 64 teams to 65 in 2001 begot the introduction of the First Four in 2011, giving us all a two-night appetizer before…
Yet another strong regular-season team in a non-power conference fell victim to the cruel widowmaker that is Conference Tournament Week. Familiar March specialists Davidson continued their hot run at the Atlantic 10 tournament with a masterful upset over second-seeded St. Bonaventure. Backed by an impressive stretch of over 30 consecutive possessions without a turnover, Davidson stunned the…
With news breaking Tuesday that Memphis may get rid of Tubby Smith and replace him with Tigers legend and Memphis AAU kingpin Penny Hardaway, the former Orlando Magic star could join an eclectic club: College basketball head coaches who “acted” in the 1994 film Blue Chips. Blue Chips, for all the hype that surrounded its…
Selection Sunday is on the horizon, and in ACC Country March Madness begins with the conference tournament that started it all. As teams have just a few more days to jockey for favorable seeds or one of the last spots on the bubble, we’ll take a look at the most interesting and important happenings around the league…
It's Friday, Friday, got Q&A on Friday. Welcome to The Open Man, where Rebecca Black's weekend anthem never went out of fashion, and readers questions are forever en vogue. If you have a question for The Open Man Q&A, tweet @kensing45 or email kyle@theopenman.com. Who are your Top 5 NCAA Canadians right now? — Chase…
During this postseason of The Worst, we're going to go through the big bowl games and choose some less than stellar moments for certain teams. For this edition, we're kicking off the bowl fun with the Orange Bowl. This is a bowl that has been around for 80-plus years. Throughout that time, it has become…
You have questions? The Open Man has answers. Submit your topics for The Open Man Q&A either via Twitter @kensing45 or @the_open_man. You can also email kyle@theopenman.com. The early portion of December marks a transitional period in the sports calendar. College football's regular season, save the Army-Navy Game, reached its conclusion, and there's a brief…
Journalists annually turn to college basketball coaches for their thoughts on the perceived wrongs of the sport. We do that while already knowing the response going in. All of us need to take a different approach. A long, now tired trope is a media member asking someone (who has long profited off the current NCAA…
November promises plenty of chaos and shake-ups to the College Football Playoff landscape. Nevertheless, the scope of the national championship race is beginning to narrow. Notre Dame's blowout of USC Saturday night in South Bend functioned as the first real elimination game of the College Football Playoff race. The Fighting Irish certainly are not in…
Syracuse shook up the playoff picture, the Coastal race is heating up and former bottom dwellers keep making big strides. Each week in this space we’ll take a look around the Atlantic Coast Conference and examine the most important happenings. ORANGE ALERT: Clemson fans are used to seeing those kind of quarterback performances, but for…
Upsets in college football seem contagious. It's one of those strange phenomenons that cannot be rationalized or explained away with any metric. And thank the Gridiron Gods that's the case. How boring would the sport be if each Saturday went chalk? The upset is a central component of college football's soul. And this week, college…
