Among the nation’s continuing struggles to pass a new healthcare bill, there seems to be a more pressing issue at hand: Kansas or Kentucky? The President seems to think Kansas. It’s March Madness time, America!

It’s no secret that President Obama is a baller (what some refer to as a basketball player). What better way is there to relieve the daily pressures of running the United States of America than shooting some hoops?

It should be no surprise that Obama found the time to fill out his bracket again this year. I’m not quite sure what’s funnier, ESPN dubbing the process “Barack-etology” or the angry responses the Republicans are giving him for taking a measly five minutes of his day to fill out a pool. (more…)

Are you ready to win this year’s office pool?! It’s going to be awesome, baby!

Unless you’re the office babe choosing teams based on “how cool their name sounds” or “how cute their uniforms are”, there’s a very good chance you won’t win. Don’t sweat it, baby! That’s exactly why we are here to give you “professional” advice on picking the winners.

We’ve carefully watched tape of every team’s games in the tournament this year. Most intriguing were the Winthrop and Arkansas-Pine Bluff games. That opening round game is such a huge game for us that we wanted to make sure we were making an educated choice. Not convinced? We’ve also talked personally to none other than Dickie V. He has a great voice, baby!

Well, maybe we lie, but here’s how Philly Fan Complex’s bracket is playing out this year. Feel free to call us out on it when we fail miserably, baby!

With two Philadelphia teams certain to be in the NCAA Tournament, we’ll be watching CBS stretch out the bracket unveiling over a full hour. Predictions for Villanova and Temple? The Wildcats a three, and the Owls a four.

6:02—The four No. 1 seeds: Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, and Syracuse. No surprises there, though does Duke really deserve to be ranked higher than Syracuse?

6:06—The first Masters commercial of the show! No sign of Tiger Woods.

6:09—And the Midwest region, starring the Kansas Jayhawks!

6:11—Kevin Kolb must be proud: Houston a 13-seed, will take on No. 4 Maryland.

6:12—No Temple or ‘Nova in the Midwest bracket. Ohio St. the No. 2 seed; Georgetown No. 3.

6:14—Does the committee need a geography lesson? Spokane, Wash., not exactly in the Midwest.

6:16—Another commercial break before the West region.

6:18—And Buffalo, NY, somehow in the West region. Syracuse with a short trip to Buffalo in round one.

6:19—Kansas St. a two seed? Kevin Martin must have screamed at some committee members.

6:20—No. 6 Xavier won a share of the A-10 regular season title? Since when?

6:22—Villanova and Temple still waiting to hear their names announced. Next up: the East region.

6:25—Florida Gators snap two-year Tourney absence thanks in large part to Tim Tebow’s sheer determination.

6:26—Kentucky No. 1 in the East. Will ‘Nova or Temple join them?

6:27—The Owls will! Temple the No. 5 seed in the East, will take on No. 12 Cornell in Jacksonville.

6:28—Temple will play Friday. West Virginia No. 2 in the East, New Mexico No. 3, and Wisconsin No. 4.

6:30—Popular opinion seems to be Temple and Cornell got shafted. Might have to agree…. Temple will play winner of Wisconsin/Wofford—so Wisconsin.

6:33—Villanova will be in the Duke/South region—unless they were left out of the Tournament.

6:34—Looking forward to Duke losing in the Sweet 16…

6:35—Dunno what an Aggie is, but you can find them in Texas and Utah, apparently.

6:36—‘Nova a two! Off by one on each Philly team. Wildcats the seventh Big East team in the Tourney.

6:37—Notre Dame a six seed?! Name recognition, for sure. Villanova will play Thursday in Providence, RI.

6:39—Eight Big East teams, three Atlantic 10 teams, and eight at-large non-power conference bids.

People, long time no write. I’ve been reassigned to the best basketball team in the city, explaining why there has been little about the Sixers this week. Really, there’s not much to say. On to ‘Nova…

Tonight’s game between No. 8 Villanova and No. 4 Syracuse undoubtedly is the biggest game in the Big East thus far this season. While conference rivals for some time now, rarely have the two teams faced when both are at or near the top of their games.

Even bigger than the Big East implications are the national standing of both these teams. With a win, Syracuse has a real chance to jump to No. 1 in the polls, as No. 1 Kansas and No. 2 Kentucky both lost Saturday. No. 3 Purdue will play No. 14 Michigan State on the road Sunday without its best player, Robbie Hummel, who is done for the season with a torn ACL.

For its part, Villanova needs a win to keep pace in the conference and establish some confidence after recent losses to Georgetown and Pitt. A victory tonight also puts them in a tie with Syracuse atop the Big East.

A record crowd is expected at the Carrier Dome for the nine p.m. tip-off, which will be broadcast on ESPN. And with that, we have some pregame links:

(more…)

Though trending in opposite directions, Villanova and Temple remained Top 25 teams in the latest men’s college basketball polls released Monday.

The Wildcats remained unbeaten in the Big East with a 90-72 win over Notre Dame on Jan. 27, raising their overall record to 19-1. ‘Nova moved up one spot to second in both polls, behind new No. 1 Kansas, thanks in part to formerly top-ranked Kentucky dropping to No. 3. John Calipari’s squad full of future recruiting violations lost their first game of the season to South Carolina on Tuesday.

‘Nova got four first-place votes in both polls.

As for North Philadelphia’s favorite overachievers, Temple fell in the rankings, from No. 15 in both rankings to No. 17 in the Coaches poll and No. 19 in the AP, because of a road loss to A-10 rival Charlotte. The Owls rebounded on Saturday with a home win over La Salle, 64-52.

Both teams have two games this week, with Villanova hosting Seton Hall on Tuesday before a Big East slug-fest at AP No. 7 Georgetown on Saturday. Temple, meanwhile, plays Duquense at home Wednesday and Richmond on the road Saturday.

In other college basketball news, the NCAA Tournament will most likely become the bloated cash cow that the BCS now is. The NCAA is coming up on a deadline to opt out of their current March Madness broadcast contract with CBS, and if the rumors are true, a joint bid by CBS and Turner Sports could see the Tournament expand to 96 teams, possibly as soon as 2011.

Of course, single-elimination from 96 does not leave a Sweet 16, Elite Eight or Final Four, so the conventional wisdom is the “top” 32 teams will receive first-round byes.

There have been some arguments that the decision will cut down on the first-round blowouts in the current bracket system. The theory is an expanded field would allow more teams from major conferences to be included in the tournament, thus giving them a better chance of upsetting top teams. While it would create upsets in the new first round, however, there is no logic in thinking games would be closer if a 1-seed is playing a 16, 19 or 24-seed, no matter what conference they play in.

Does the NCAA really want to let in the entire Big East or Big-12 to the best annual sports tournament in the country? Apparently so, because it means more money for NCAA President Jim Isch and his band of greedy conference heads, and mo’ money means no problems for the “educators” involved.

The latest AP men’s college basketball poll was released Monday, with two Big Five schools ranking among the top-15 in the country.

Few could have expected that before the season. Sure, No. 3 Villanova (18-1) has no reason not to be ranked highly coming off a Final Four appearance, even with the transition from experience to youth in the starting lineup. The Wildcats have proven consistently to be one of the best teams in the country despite playing a brutal Big East schedule in which they are currently undefeated, with their only loss coming against…

You guessed it—the No. 15 team in the country, the Temple Owls. Despite losing their top-scorer from last season, Dionte Christmas, Fran Dunphy’s squad is actually better than last year’s team that won the Atlantic Ten Conference only to lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Arizona State.

Both teams moved up one spot in this week’s rankings, as undefeated Kentucky (19-0), led by John Chaney’s old nemesis, John Calipari,  supplanted previously undefeated Texas, who lost two games last week, as the No. 1 team in the country.

Always looking ahead to the annual halt in productivity known as March Madness, ESPN.com’s bracketologist Joe Lunardi projects Villanova as a No. 1 seed in the tournament and Temple as a No. 4 seed. Lunardi sees the Wildcats playing Robert Morris in the first round, and Temple matching up against Oakland. Should both teams win their first two games, they would face each other in the Sweet 16.

With both teams in the Providence bracket, would Rhode Island be prepared for an influx of proud ‘Nova and Temple alums? Let’s ask Charlie/Hank: