But damn close.

Witchita just crushed Seton Hall. Not even close.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee beat Oklahoma. What is it about some mid-majors, even when they change coaches, the team continues to do the job in the Tourney?

Boston College did their best to give the game away a couple of times to Pacific. Including blowing a 15 point second half lead, before finally getting the win in Double OT. That would have absolutely decimated brackets everywhere.

Damn shame.

If you are planning to watch games on the net today, you might want to log on now. The whole “waiting room” thing means you have to wait until they let you in. I’ve been waiting a few minutes now to get connected.

Less than an hour to the opening tip of the Tourney. I feel giddy.

Coaching stuff.

The Dixon siblings got a national AP piece. This thing has been in just about every paper today.

“What can I tell you? It’s beyond belief,” said their proud father, Jim Dixon. “It’s a wonderful, wonderful thing.”

Historical, too. The Dixons are believed to be the first brother and sister to coach in the Division-I tournament in the same year.

“It was never determined, ‘This is what you’re going to do, be the first brother and sister in the NCAA tournament,”’ Jim Dixon said. “You never thought about those implications. But since this is what we’ve got, we’ll take it.”
…
As for Jamie and Maggie, they’re just enjoying the ride.

“The exposure the last couple weeks for Jamie’s team and my team really means a lot,” Maggie Dixon said. “Jamie and I are going to be doing this for a long time. Hopefully people will still think it’s a cool thing in 20, 30 years.”

That of course takes us to the coaching rumors.

Arizona State is still watching.

If there’s a way to rate the candidates, Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon is still the No. 1 seed on ASU’s wish list, according to multiple sources among boosters and within the university. It’s not clear where ASU is, if at all, on Dixon’s list.

With Pitt preparing to open the tournament Friday against Kent State in Auburn Hills, Mich., he’s not commenting.

After reports linked him to the ASU job, there were further reports that Pitt will sweeten a contract that already is good for four more years at a $600,000 annual salary.

However, there also was talk that Pitt would redo his contract last fall. It never got done, hence speculation linking the former Northern Arizona University assistant to ASU and now Missouri.

Yes, Coach Dixon is seeing his name now coming up a bit more with the Missouri job.

With the NCAA Tournament getting into full swing tomorrow, Athletic Director Mike Alden is on the clock, and MU fans are waiting to see whom he will entrust with the task of rebuilding the program.

At least six potential candidates – Alabama-Birmingham’s Mike Anderson, West Virginia’s John Beilein, Memphis’ John Calipari, Marquette’s Tom Crean, Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon and Texas A&M’s Billy Gillispie – will be trying to steer their teams through the Field of 65. When their runs end, they might be listening to overtures from Alden.

Alden said Monday he wants to reserve further comment about the process until he has found his coach.
…
“Billy has given me every assurance that he is committed to Texas A&M,” Athletic Director Bill Byrne told the Star-Telegram. “And we are certainly committed to him.”

Pittsburgh might need to show similar commitment to keep Dixon, 40, from listening to offers from Missouri and Arizona State. Budget constraints have forced Dixon’s team to take commercial flights to most road games, and his current contract, which has four years remaining, only pays him about $600,000 per season.

Athletic Director Jeff Long seems prepared to give Dixon a raise after his third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and an appearance in the Big East championship game.

“I want to make it clear that we think the job Jamie is doing is outstanding, and we want him to be here a long time,” Long told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette two weeks ago. “It’s my job to keep Pitt the best opportunity for Jamie Dixon. And I think Pitt is the best opportunity for Jamie Dixon.”

The school was reportedly willing to pay Dixon’s predecessor, Ben Howland, more than $1 million per season when he left for UCLA three years ago. Dixon could command that much, and he has hired Boston-based lawyer Dennis Coleman to represent him as he seeks a new deal.

Coleman represents more that 35 college coaches, including West Virginia’s Beilein. Like Dixon, Beilein could be willing to listen to an offer from Alden. Five of the Mountaineers’Â’ top six scorers are seniors this season, meaning he could be rebuilding if he stays in Morgantown, W.Va.

Missouri fans and columnists really want Beilein, but Dixon is at least the second choice.

In order, I like the following short list of coaches who fit that profile: West Virginia’s John Beilein, Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon and Alabama-Birminghan’s Mike Anderson.

Of the three, the home run hire is Beilein. The least likely to reject is Anderson. The most likely to use this process to get a whopping raise from his current employer is Dixon.
…
Dixon’s ability is a little less certain because he inherited a strong program from Ben Howland and didn’t have to rebuild it. But he certainly hasn’t let anything slip in three years, going 77-21 with three trips to the NCAA Tournament.

The 40-year-old Dixon has four years left on a contract that underpays him, although Pittsburgh Athletic Director Jeff Long has publicly stated that he will do his best to keep Dixon around. Arizona State is expected to make a push for Dixon, who grew up in California, but Missouri should be able to outbid ASU if Dixon is ready to move.

I think the general perception is that Dixon’s preference is to stay at Pitt, but with a significant pay raise. That puts the onus on AD Long to get the job done. The longer it gets drawn out, the greater the risk that the money from elsewhere grows as does the temptation.

Speaking of coaching hires, it seems Kent’s Jim Christian is now a potential candidate for the Duquesne job (seems like a lateral move to me, not to mention a real potential career killer).

Two names have become more prominent in Amodio’s search this week — Kent State coach Jim Christian and Murray State coach Mick Cronin.

Christian, 40, a former assistant at Pitt under Ralph Willard from 1996-99, has a four-year record of 89-39 at Kent State heading into the game against Pitt tomorrow in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The Golden Flashes (25-8) earned the bid by winning the Mid-American Conference tournament.

Christian’s contract runs through the 2011-12 season, but those close to Christian have indicated he’s intrigued with the idea of coaching in the Atlantic 10 Conference which is a step up from the MAC with teams in major markets.

Here’s what collegeinsider.com has to say about Duquesne and Christian: “It won’t be easy changing perception. Amodio knows the best way to do that would be to hire someone like Jim Christian. The program needs a coach like Christian.”

Earlier, it had seemed the job was Ohio State Assistant John Groce’s if he wanted it. He must have come to his senses.

I find the timing of the article amusing given this story on the MAC seeking to do a better job keeping their coaches.

Kent State Athletic Director Laing Kennedy said he has learned quite a bit over the last basketball season, traveling the country as a member of the NCAA Men’s Tournament Selection Committee.

He said one major point sticks out, particularly for mid-major programs that want to maintain a level of success.

“We need to invest in our coaches,” he said.
…
While many people have pointed to the Missouri Valley Conference for supposedly finding a way to beat the RPI, Kennedy said the success of that conference landing four NCAA Tournament teams is simpler than that.

“They have invested in coaches, big-time,” he said.

During the recent MVC tournament in St. Louis, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch critiqued the success of the conference. Keeping coaches was considered critical.

Good luck with that plan.

Let’s get some game media run-down finished.

Yesterday, Graves got a brief little piece. Today he gets a sizable puff piece. Coach Dixon, as is his habit, claims that Graves is doing nothing different than usual. Dixon doesn’t even like to suggest a player is picking things up because that would imply he had been down before.

“He’s been pretty good for a while. Nothing is really different. He’s been good all along. He’s been a good shooter for us.”

Dixon maintains Graves does not have to score at his recent pace to help Pitt win games. While Graves has been a lightning rod for criticism on the Internet message boards all season, Dixon believes he has been a consistent performer since November.

The only reason for the statistics spike, Dixon said, is a change in the rotation in which Graves and Fields have usurped playing time from some other players because of their improved play in practice and games.

“Oftentimes we look too much into scoring and the numbers,” Dixon said.

“I think he’s played just as well in games where his scoring hasn’t been there. Everyone is saying he’s great because he made three more shots than he made in the previous game. He’s been pretty good all the way through. He’s been a good defender. He can penetrate.

“As coaches, you have to look at what he’s doing consistently and not base it on making one or two more shots than he did before. I know it looks better, but he’s been good for us in a lot of ways. The same people who are saying he’s great now are the same ones saying he shouldn’t have been playing in the first place.”

Kent’s Nate Gerwig, on the heels of a couple stories about him in Pittsburgh, gets a story in the Akron paper. The story also focuses on the injuries and continually coming back from them.

Kent State players were excited because they got new sneakers.

Kent State’s players were given a gift Tuesday afternoon for winning the Mid-American Conference Tournament: a new pair of Nike Air Zoom Huarache 64 basketball sneakers. The shoes are black with a touch of black metallic silver.

“They make you feel stealthy,” sophomore forward Mike Scott said after trying out his size 14 sneakers at practice.

“It makes me feel like I can jump out of the gym.”

Senior guard DeAndre Haynes liked the shoes, too.

“We’re all going out to get (matching) black socks,”Haynes said.

To be fair, these sneakers aren’t getting released to the general public until March 26, so they are getting brand new gear.

Pitt, except for Benjamin, is already in Michigan.

“Everybody’s ready. We had some hard practices,” said senior guard Carl Krauser, the team’s leading scorer at 15.0 points per game.

Krauser, the 10th-leading all-time scorer at Pitt, has struggled with his shooting during the last half of the season, but he’s looking forward to giving the Panthers a spark in the NCAA Tournament.

“I’ve got six games left,” he said, with a wink. “It’s going to be a lot of fun. We’ll try to make it the most memorable six games we’ve played at Pitt and try to win a national championship.”

Joe Starkey says that Aaron Gray needs to come up (sorry about this) big.

Obvious point: In order to make a serious run at the national title, you better have at least one Surf-and-Turfer (that’s Vitale-speak for superstar).

Where does this leave Pitt? Well, as a fifth seed, the Panthers are a longshot under any circumstance, and recent history suggests they are more likely to encounter a star player (Dwyane Wade, Tony Allen) at tournament time than produce one.

In the past 20 years, Pitt has delivered only four first-round picks – none since Vonteego Cummings in 1999 – and one lottery pick (Charles Smith, taken third overall in 1988).

The Panthers of recent vintage have been all about team, rather than relying heavily on a superstar or two. That’s a sound concept. It has worked nicely in helping to vault the program to national prominence.

But it’s not conducive to contending for national championships.

This is where Aaron Gray comes in. He gives Pitt something almost every other team in the country lacks: a talented 7-footer (who happens to weigh 270 pounds).

Gray has been very good for most of the season. If he becomes great in this tournament — and that’s a big if — Pitt could make a lengthy run.

Of course the team is trying to stay focused on just the first game in front of them.

Pitt’s players have said that they refuse to look past opening-round opponent Kent State (25-8), which they play at 7:10 p.m. Friday in Auburn Hills, Mich. If the fifth-seeded Panthers (24-7) win, they likely will get No. 4 Kansas Sunday in a second-round matchup. The Jayhawks play Bradley on Friday.

“I think we’re way ahead of where we were last year,” junior center Aaron Gray said. “We’re playing more like a team, and we have a lot of confidence in each other. That’s made a big difference.

“Last year, we kind of overlooked Pacific because we were so worried about Washington. We just weren’t ready, but we learned from that experience. And we’re not going to do that this year.”

For Kent a Cleveland beat writer thinks that Kent has had success during the season with double teaming big men down in the post, but it remains to see how it will fair against Gray. He also thinks one of the freshmen guards needs to step up to help the team.

[Editor Note: Originally posted at NEO Babble]

Here’s a memo to the Kent and Pitt people in charge of organizing events around the NCAA Tournament: You might want to contact the Big Buck Brewery in Auburn Hills about how big they actually are.

In this story about how alumni interest in Akron and Kent is booming with the success of their sports programs there was this bit.

The KSU alumni association is sponsoring a pregame reception at 4 p.m. Friday at Big Bucks Brewery and Steakhouse in Auburn Hills — a site scouted out weeks in advance.

Lori Randorf, KSU’s interim executive director of alumni, said graduates throughout the nation helped identify possible reception areas should the Flashes qualify for the NCAA Tournament in their region.

Pitt’s alumni association also tried booking Big Bucks Brewery, but was too late, Randorf said.

Yup, here’s the release from Kent St. Alumni Association.

And here’s the problem. The Pitt Alumni Association still has an event scheduled at Big Buck starting at 4:30.

The Big Buck in Auburn Hills is very big, since it caters to fans going to games at the Palace. But is it really that good an idea to have opposing alum in the same bar? Getting drunk?

Good times.

Can it all be this coincidental?

We all know that Pitt’s campus is in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh.

Pitt is playing in the Oakland bracket.

Pitt’s first and (hopefully) second round games are in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The County where this is located is Oakland.

There are 5 other coaches in this bracket who have coached at Pitt.

Additionally,

In coaching, everybody knows everybody, for one reason or another. KSU assistant Josh Oppenheimer attended the same Los Angeles high school as Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon. Oppenheimer’s best friend as a kid was Jason Matthews (1987-91), who is Pitt’s fifth all-time leading scorer.

This six degrees stuff is getting ridiculous.

Emphasis on bug.

Okay, something is going on with Pitt right now. Aaron Gray left with Pittsburgh on the flight after battling the flu says he vomited 13 times during the past 36 hours before feeling better.

Tyrell Biggs is no longer on crutches and says he’s ready to play. He just has a strained calf muscle.

Keith Benjamin, however, is still in Pittsburgh.

Benjamin became violently ill Tuesday night and did not travel with the team on their flight to Detroit last night. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said Benjamin does not have the flu bug that junior center Aaron Gray had earlier in the week.

“It’s a different thing,” Dixon said. “We think Aaron just had the flu. [Keith] seemed to be all right yesterday. We’ll get more back from the doctors [today]. He was throwing up last night. He was pretty violently sick last night.”

Dixon was hopeful that Benjamin would be able to rejoin the team today. If the doctors released him, the plan was to have him fly out today. Dixon described Benjamin’s hospital stay as “precautionary.”

The timing is unbelievable.

Then there is the spectacle of Levon Kendall’s back spasms flaring.

Minimal injury issues all season, now guys are having trouble standing up or keeping anything down.

Press releases for both Pitt and Kent State on the game. Pitt and Kent State also have Game Notes (PDF).

Interesting to note an inaccuracy by the Kent State press release saying that Pitt is 16-17 versus current MAC members. Actually, Pitt is worse. They have a 19-23 record. Mainly from a 2-10 mark versus Miami (OH). Pitt played Miami between 1953 and 1968 to compile that record. Against Kent State, Pitt is 7-7. Before the 2002 Sweet 16 match-up, Pitt had last faced Kent State in 1977.