Mike Bullard's Bullseye

Big Dance - Round One Results (Day Two)

My picks are underlined... See my earlier posts for pre-game comments...

TENNESSEE 72 vs. American 57 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 1-0

Gonzaga 76 vs. DAVIDSON 82 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 2-0

St. Mary's 64 vs. MIAMI (Fl.) 78 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 3-0

Western Kentucky vs. DRAKE MISSED THE MARK -- my record so far: 3-1

BUTLER 81 vs. South Alabama 61 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 4-1

GEORGETOWN 66 vs. UMBC 47 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 5-1

Austin Peay 54 vs. TEXAS 74 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 6-1

UCONN 69 vs. San Diego 70 MISSED THE MARK -- my record so far: 6-2

NORTH CAROLINA 113 vs. Mount St. Mary's 74 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 7-2

St. Joseph's 64 vs. OKLAHOMA 72 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 8-2

VANDERBILT 62 vs. Siena 83 MISSED THE MARK -- my record so far: 8-3

MISSISSIPPI STATE 76 vs. Oregon 69 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 9-3

INDIANA 72 vs. Arkansas 86 MISSED THE MARK -- my record so far: 9-4

LOUISVILLE 79 vs. Boise State61 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 10-4

CLEMSON 69 vs. Villanova 75 MISSED THE MARK -- my record so far: 10-5

MEMPHIS 87 vs. Texas-Arlington 63 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 11-5

Not a great day today... but overall 23-9 for the first round.. it could be worse...

Big Dance - Round One Results (Day One)

My picks are underlined... See my earlier posts for pre-game comments...

MICHIGAN STATE 72 vs. Temple 61 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 1-0

KANSAS 85 vs. Portland St. 61 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 2-0

XAVIER 73vs. Georgia 61 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 3-0

MARQUETTE 74 vs. Kentucky 66 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 4-0

PURDUE 90 vs. Baylor 79 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 5-0

UNLV 71 vs. KENT ST. 58 MISSED THE MARK -- my record so far: 5-1

PITTSBURGH 82 vs. Oral Roberts 63 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 6-1

STANFORD 77 vs. Cornell 53 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 7-1

USC 67 vs. Kansas St. 80 MISSED THE MARK -- my record so far: 7-2

DUKE 71 vs. Belmont 70 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 8-2

Washington St. 71 vs. WINTHROP 40 MISSED THE MARK -- my record so far: 8-3

BYU 62 vs. Texas A&M 67 MISSED THE MARK -- my record so far: 8-4

WISCONSIN 71 vs. CS Fullerton 56 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 9-4

WEST VIRGINIA 75 vs. Arizona 65 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 10-4

NOTRE DAME 68 vs. George Mason 50 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 11-4

Miss. Valley St. 29 vs. UCLA 70 BULLSEYE -- my record so far: 12-4

Not my best day of picks ever - but I am sure day two of round one will be much kinder to me...

Guide to the Big Dance - South

Ok, we have games in the South regional being played in Denver and Anaheim? Seriously stupid.

My picks are underlined in case your reading and comprehension is unbelievably bad.

MEMPHIS vs. Texas-Arlington I wish I had something to say for UTA. But they don't have a chance. They should wish for a tornado in Little Rock. It is really their only hope.

MISSISSIPPI STATE vs. Oregon this should be one of the best games in the entire first round. Miss. St. is consistent and methodical and Oregon is super efficient on the offensive end. But their lack of defense and presence on the defensive glass will hurt.

MICHIGAN STATE vs. Temple Michigan State looked like a Final Four team early in the season. They will look like one in this game as well.

PITTSBURGH vs. Oral Roberts Though Pittsburgh is an ugly team, they will pull through this game before losing to Michgan State in the second round.

MARQUETTE vs. Kentucky If Kentucky had a center or any size in the middle, Marquette would lose. They don't, but in the second round - Stanford does.

STANFORD vs. Cornell If this was shuffleboard or rowing or even chess, the Big Red might win.

MIAMI vs. St. Mary's Everyone is rooting for St. Mary's. Everyone is rooting in vain. Miami is a much better team.

TEXAS vs. Austin Peay This game will be alot closer than anyone thinks... Take Austin Peay and the points. But Texas will pull this one out.

ESPN ignores the Tigers

There is no question that the Tigers would like for the rest of the country to not see last night's game at Arkansas State... The question is how did they get ESPN to ignore the game. The Bottom Line never showed the score, it never showed up on highlights on ESPNews and even their website this morning acts as if the game never happened. Check it out for yourself... http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/scoreboard

Unbelievable!

I Must Know the Future

Ok, I am either a genius or I have unbelievable precognitive powers, because I can already tell you who be the winner will be in each of the Memphis' wins this year... MEMPHIS...

To prove my point, I will run down the schedule.

• vs. Ole Miss - Fact: Ole Miss is a bad team. Question: Are they bad enough? I say yes. Memphis wins. (1-0)

• at Arkansas State - The Tigers will eat the Indians unless they change thier mascot before kickoff. (2-0)

• vs. Jacksonville State - Why is this game scheduled. (3-0)

• at Central Florida - The Tigers could easily start the season 4-0, but what are the odds? (3-1)

• vs. Marshall - It's nice to play Marshall, but who cares. (4-1)

• vs. MTSU - Keep the beatings in-state. (5-1)

• at Rice - What is their mascot? Is it rice? The Rice Rice... We can't possibly lose to the Rice Rice... (6-1)

• at Tulane - I can't believe how easy this schedule looks... Ok, Memphis is going to lose a game somewhere... Might as well be here... (6-2)

• vs. East Carolina - Memphis is happy they are bowl eligible.. They coast a bit, Tommy is not happy. (6-3)

• at Southern Miss - More Black than Blue. (6-4)

• vs. UAB - Is this the year Memphis breaks the UAB curse? No. (6-5)

• vs. SMU - Expect a lopsided victory here. (7-5)

There you have it. As I said before, Memphis will be the winner in each of it's wins this year.. I dare you to prove me wrong....

Derrick Rose to attend Memphis State

Ok. So I never intended this blog to become a 'Memphis gets no respect' blog, but as I open my Sunday paper, I couldn't help but notice that Parade magazine has named thier All-Satr Basketball Team for 2007, and of course, Derrick Rose is on the first team. Then I looked at the blurb about him. It appears that he will attending 'Memphis State' next year. So I guess I will say it again. No respect.

Tigers Wrapup

I said before that the Tigers get no respect. I know. I know. I can hear everyone whining about the incredible number 2 seed that the selection committe gave us.

Keep in mind that the NCAA selection committee did Memphis no favors in their selection of Memphis as a number 2 seed. They were the highest seed in the tournament to take on a top ten team in the second round. THE SECOND ROUND. No number 2 seed should have had to play a top ten team in the second round. No number 3 or 4 seeds had to play a top ten in the second round.

The selection committee was as unsure of the Tigers as was everyone else in the country, so they tested them early. As a result the Tigers had a hard road to the Final Four. Had they made it all the way to the Finals, they would have played 5 of their six games against top ten teams.

So it wasn't in the cards for the Tigers to win this year. But you can lay the blame in many different places. one of those beng the selection committee.

It's all about respect

OK... so I get my latest issue of The Sporting News today and it's a "Selection Sunday Preview." Seventeen mascots appear on the cover and not one of them is the U of M Tiger. Memphis is the highest ranked team left off the cover. But included are some non-top 25 teams like Virginia Tech and Kansas State. NO RESPECT.

The Tigers Roar

OK, this is the Memphis basketball team we expected to see at the beginning of the year. They are fast. They are big. And they score lots of points.

This was the Tigers best first half of basketball in years. They were nearly flawless. It was raining threes. There were blocks and steals. It was beautiful. And I don't remember the last time two Tigers scored 6 three pointers apiece.

The only things that marred an otherwise perfect night of basketball was the dismal performance of the pom-pon squad at halftime (not good at all), and the sluggish play of Kareem Cooper.

And wasn't the night supposed to have been Larry Finch appreciation night. There was no mention of Larry Finch that I heard before, during or after the game. Maybe I was in the restroom and just missed it, but it appears they really dropped the ball on that one.

Anyway, get your tickets now for the rest of the season beacuse it looks like it's going to be a fun ride.