The Soft Lounge Blog

March Madness Pie-Oven set to PreHeat.

First of all, in case you didn’t read it yesterday check out my Oscar Picks…I think 6 out of 10 (well 5 1/2) out of 10 ain’t too shabby   I had been saying “The Departed” all week too, and I got talked out of it at the last second-Stick to your guns kids.
Okay, with 5 weeks left until opening day, I’m think about hoops.

So, after handling LaSalle, GW is sitting in the crucial 4 spot for the A-10. Why Crucial? It’s the difference between playing in the first round and not. Now, with two games left, it breaks down like this:
Okay, the way it breaks down is as follows:

GW is currently in 4th, ahead of St. Joes via Tiebreaker and 1/2 game back of URI. UMass and Xavier are 1 and 2, and 2 games up on GW plus they have the tie breaker, so no matter what happens, we won’t be getting a 1 or 2 seed.

If GW wins both of its games, it doesn’t matter what URI or St. Joes do, GW will be 3rd (Thank you tiebreakers)

If GW wins 1 of the next two games They could:
Finish 3rd (St. Joes and URI both lose 1)
Finish 4th (URI Wins and St. Joes loses 1; or URI loses and St. Joes wins 2)
Finish 5th (URI wins 1 and St. Joes wins 2)

If GW loses both games they would need St. Joes to lose both, as well as Fordham and St. Louis to both lose 1 game just to stay in the 4th seed. Anything else happens under this scenario, and they will finish at least 5th, and as low as 7th.

That’s the breakdown. So, the important game schedule is

St. Joes @ Xavier Wed. Night

GW @ Charlotte Thurs Night (ESPN 2) (If St. Joes loses, a win here secures the 4 seed)

Duquense @ GW
UMass @ St Joes
URI @ Richmond
These are all Saturday games where GW will be playing for anything from the 3 seed to as low as the 7 seed.

Across town, there’s this other team. They’re kind of good.

So three years ago, before John Thompson III, Alumni were signing a petition to get rid of the head coach. I mean, to say that Georgetown was in the dog house was an insult to the pun that runs through it.

Today, Georgetown can finish no less than second in the Big East, and is only one win away from wrapping up the top seed in the tournament. Granted, most people are saying it’s a “down year” for the Big East, and maybe it is a bit, but that’s still pretty amazing. And as down of a year as the Big East is having, there are four ranked teams in the conference and I doubt any one is relishing the idea of playing any of the seven teams that are going to make the tournament, Georgetown least of all.

Next up for the Hoyas are my soft-spot Big Team, the Orange-at the Carrier Dome. As far as I’m concerned, nobody has squeezed more out of less than Jim B. in central New York, and to think that their team this year is a 20 win team is amazing. I probably won’t watch this game since my loyalties are a bit mixed-but even if there is an upset, Georgetown has already done everything they have to in the regular season. From here on out it’s all about the next level for them.