Final Four Weekend

Final Four Weekend is here and the excitement is building. Well, some excitement, Cinderella is no longer dancing and the Final Four is made up of some of the biggest power schools in college basketball. Kentucky, Kansas, Ohio State and Louisville. No surprise that those teams are run by some of the biggest names in coaching too. John Calipari, Bill Self, Thad Motta and Rick Pitino. All four have Final Four experience, as they combine for 14 Final Four appearances. Well, kind of, it is actually 12 because Calipari led teams from UMass and Memphis were stripped of their Final Fours for violating NCAA rules. Is there any question that it is only a matter of time? Are there Vegas odds on when John Calipari will get caught again? I mean, it is obvious, isn't it?

The most heated battle in the field will be Louisville vs Kentucky. The two teams have a long history as one of teh most heated rivalries in all of sports. I mean, come on - even the senior citizens in a dialysis unit are slugging it out.

Here at BrewCityBall.com we have our own bracket contest, and Leo Wiltgen is still on top of the pile. There are many still in the mix, but most are like Wiltgen with Kentucky winning it all. Those that have a shot to top him are myself, John Ganzer and Joe Ouimet all have Kansas while Jeremy Lancour has Ohio State. You can view the standings here. Should be some great hoops.

As sick as I am of Kentucky and Kansas being in the Final Four, I'll take any field that doesn't have Duke & UNC. Wow - no ACC teams in the Final Four? No wonder K & Roy are trying to dismantle the Big East.

ESPN has a different type of bracket contest and Marquette's Vander Blue has advanced to the championship of the "Coolest Name in the NCAA Tournament Contest". He will face off against NC State walk-on Staats Battle for the title. Classic that Fab Melo, the tourney's #1 overall seed was shut out by ESPN after Syracuse suspended him for the real tourney. You can vote for Vander right here. Vander was the 7 seed out of the Dallas Comegys region, let's take a look at how he got this far.....


Rd 1 - Blue defeated (10)Brice Massamba of UNLV 81.1% - 18.9%

Rd 2 - Blue defeated (2) Robinson Odoch Opong of LIU 72% - 28%

Sweet 16 - Blue beat (3) Duece Bello of Baylor 53.4% - 46.6%

Elite 8 - Blue defeated (8) Tavon Sledge of Iowa State 64.5% - 35.5%

Final Four - Blue beat Casmere Wright of Cincinnati, the #1 seed in the UWe Blab Region 60% - 40%

Good luck Van.... I think...


Coaching Carousel....Adding to the excitement in any NCAA Tournament season is the annual spinning of the coaching carousel.

• Buzz Williams announced on Thursday that he would remain at Marquette, turning down SMU.

• After 22 years, UW Oshkosh head coach Ted Van Dellen is retiring, a legend in the WIAC, Van Dellen racked up 358 victories coaching the Titans.

• Panther fans can breathe a little easier as ESPN reported that, while they did talk with Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter about their opening, but Mississippi State was not expected to offer him the position. While that buys the Panthers time, it surely isn't over as Jeter's name will float to the top again before the carousel stops.

• Marquette assistant coach Tony Benford has been listed with the openings at SMU and Southern Illinois, and is sure to be mentioned again, as will MU assistant Aki Collins.

• UWGB women's head coach Matt Bollant has taken the Illinois job, a huge blow to the Phoenix as they are a permanent fixture in the women's Top 25.

• Illinois Hired John Croce as their new men's head coach. Chicago Simeon coach Robert Smith was interested in the job, and many Illini fans wanted him to get the job, mainly because they wanted his talented players Jabari Parker, Kendrick Nunn, Jaylon Tate and DJ Williams to follow him to Illinois. I guess they don't follow NCAA rules too closely, which is not unusual for the Illini, as schools can not recruit kids that their staff has a coaching relationship. So, had they hired Smith as head coach, assistant, video coordinator or even ball boy, they wouldn't be able to touch those players.

The McDonald's High School All American Game was in Chicago on Wednesday, and Troy Sparks of BrewCityBall was on hand covering the action, Sparks put up game reports on both the boys game and the girls game. The players in these games are headed to the usual schools, Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Kansas on the boys side, UConn, Tennessee and Notre Dame on the girls side. With future Hoosier Yogi Farrell playing in the game, Tom Crean Tweeted his frustration with the NCAA not allowing coaches to attend the event. I don't agree with Crean here because there were five players that are still undecided on colleges. However, if the NCAA wants to determine who can or can't attend these games, they should find a way of weeding out the thousands of agents and street agents that flock to the action to try and build up relationships with these kids and their families. Having seen it up close over the years, it is sickening.

Great to see Josh Mongan of Germantown pick up a D2 scholarship(ppv). The PG was a major key to Germantown's undefeated season. Many of us fell a bit behind trying to follow all of the action down the homestretch of the college & high school season, and now it is time to catch up. JB of Midwest Ballers has been on a tear, putting up a ton of new content. Like videos? Check them out here.

AAU ball is around the corner and who else is on top of all the action? Mark Miller of course! The encyclopedia of high school basketball in Wisconsin has begun his travel team previews, and they can be found at WisHoops. The content is subscription based (ppv), but well worth it.

Congrats to J.P. Tokoto of Menomonee Falls and Zak Showalter of Germantown for being selected to participate in the Final Four festivities on the high school side. Tokoto, who is headed to North Carolina, was selected to participate in the high school slam dunk contest, and Showalter, who is to walk-on at Wisconsin, will be in the 3 point contest. A lttle surprised about Showalter as he connected on 35% of his three attempts, averaging 2 3s per game. Solid, but by no means on an All-American level. Those two will be in action tonight, you can follow them on the ESPN network.


In case you haven't noticed, and judging by the attendance at the Bradley Center you haven't, but the Milwaukee Bucks have been on a tear. They have won 8 of their last 11 games, and have been averaging 107 points per game. That is pretty shocking for a Scott Skiles coached team. One of the biggest keys was the trade for Monte Ellis. Ellis has been huge for the Bucks, and teamed up with point guard Brandon Jennings, the Bucks look to have one of the very best back courts in the entire league. Let's take a look at the month of March. Ellis has averaged 17.5 points, 6.5 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game, while Jennings added 19.7 points, 6.1 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game.

37.2 points, 12.6 assists and 6.4 rebounds per game? That is one hell of a back court.

Side Note: Was at the Bucks' game against Atlanta. great game, great seats (Thanks Steve Bane) and great job on the National Anthem by my daughter Katie Ganzer and the Holy Apostles Grade School Chior!

Check out Under Armour's new "Under Armour Bloodlines Brandon Jennings All Star PE" shoe.

The Bucks are back in action tonight in Cleveland, taking on the Cavs at 6:30, game is on FSN.

As for the hometown heros, only a few in action last night, many more tonight....