This year, I decided to create my own gimmick for picking the NCAA tournament. This year, I decided to select the tournament winners based on their geographical distance from the arena of competition for each game.

My theory is that I can predict 60% of the NCAA tournament results based purely on geography.

As I wrote out the bracket, it became apparent that a lot needs to go right for this bracket to have any semblance of a chance of reaching my goal. For starters, I am nearly 100% certain that I am the only person in the country to pick Northwestern State to make it to the Final Four. As a matter of fact, I am likely the only person outside of Natchitoces, LA (for the non-geo weenies, that is the home of NWSU) to pick the Demons to even beat Florida.

Another obvious fallacy of this bracket is Albany’s run to the Sweet Sixteen is only the second worst side effect of the geography method. The Duke Blue Devils should have no problem handling the Great Danes, but the same could have been said last year with then #2 Duke facing #15 Lehigh.

Otherwise, the bracket plays out pretty well with quite a few high seeds such as Louisville, Michigan State, Gonzaga, Kansas, and Indiana making it to the Elite Eight. I have to admit, I am a huge fan of Butler making the Final Four as an upset pick.

What do you think HailWV faithful? Will the Geography Method work or is it absolutely ridiculous.

UPDATE:

As fate would have it, a gimmick such as the Geography Method is not a winning approach to filling out your NCAA Tournament bracket. The bracket has been utterly decimated on the court, with Northwestern State, New Mexico, and Butler all failing to advance to the Sweet 16.

In the first two rounds of tournament play, the Geography Method went 24-24 in individual picks. With the goal of exceeding 60% correct predictions, this bracket is doomed.

Of the remaining 14 match-ups, the Geography Method has already rendered 8 predictions incorrect. That means that even if all the remaining eligible teams win the match-ups according to the Geography Method bracket, there is only a possibility of 6 correct predictions.

So at best, the Geography Method will go 30-32 this year, or a prediction rate of 48.4%.

The only redemption this method could have rests on the backs of the Louisville Cardinals. At least then the method would be accurate at predicting the national champion, just nothing else in the field what so ever.

Jan 19 2013; West Lafayette, IN, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers center Aaric Murray (24) dunks against Purdue Boilermakers center A.J. Hammons (20) at Mackey Arena. Purdue defeats West Virginia 79-52. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Isn’t it amazing the kind of scrutiny we put our athletes under? An athlete, college or professional, cannot say anything without the public tearing them apart.

Aaric Murray was shown that treatment on twitter yesterday. Murray, who leads West Virginia University in scoring this season took to twitter for entertainment last night. He engaged in some light-hearted humor that apparently upset a couple people on twitter. Here is what he said (warning: if you are sensitive to cheauvanistic jokes, please stop reading):

Some guys open the door for girls! I just don’t. Lol

Open your door? Lol you got hands lol

I want to be able to buy my girl her dream car; better than opening the door for her – @WVU_AM24

It is crazy to think that there are a contingent of fans (especially rowdy Mountaineers) fans that could be offended by this. I am all for chivalry, but even I do not have a problem with this kind of humor.

Even though Murray does not have to justify his light-hearted joke to anybody on twitter, but he, being a character guy, issued this apology:

Sorry to all those who got offended by me saying I don’t open the door for my girl, in all honesty I don’t have one I’m just bored tweetin - @WVU_AM24

Hopefully this is not a frequent occurence where our WVU athletes are harassed on twitter for simple jokes. Although, it is not the best time for a college athlete to even jokingly refer to an imaginary girlfriend.

Just like football, another game that is a favorite the world over, is poker. The best place to play poker is in live casinos. In Germany, it is said that the oldest casino here is also the most famous and most favored. The Baden-Baden casino is a favorite hang-out of poker lovers, particularly because of its luxurious and affluent surroundings. According to the website baden-baden.de, the great Marlene Dietrich once described it as “the most beautiful casino in the world”. But for those who may not have the time to go out to these places, online poker sites like de.partycasino.com provides you access to enjoy your favorite game. Online poker has enjoyed a boom of sorts lately, with sites like partypoker providing poker enthusiasts a venue to play their favorite game even at the comforts of their own home. It is so easy to sign up and join the games on partypoker, they even have an Android app available for download, making poker playing more convenient than ever.

Eric Shoenle’s journey into the world of professional football will surely be one that is going to be full of challenges and trials. And having been selected by the Union is a big step in fulfilling his dream of playing in the big leagues. With his storied career at West Virginia to back him up, coupled with the training he is to undergo at the professional level, only time will tell if the young man from Yardley, PA can live up to the promise of one day playing for big time leagues such as the German Bundesliga, following in the footsteps of American players who came before him. And when that time comes, the Mountaineers of West Virginia will surely be well represented.

Through the first 11 games of the bowl season, Patrick Pishko is in the lead in the HailWV Bowl Pick ‘Em competition.

Pishko correctly forecast 10 of the 11 games, winning on the tie-breaking combined score of the Holiday Bowl. Apparently Pishko was banking on he resurgence of the Baylor defense? It is amazing that the Baylor defense was able to keep the UCLA offense off balance. What was more remarkable was the running game and the emergence of Lache Seastrunk as a legitimate star in the Bears offense.

Dec. 26, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Western Kentucky Hilltoppers tight end Jack Doyle (82) dives for a ball but is unable to make the catch in the fourth quarter of the 2012 Little Caesars Bowl against the Central Michigan Chippewas at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Even with the high scoring Holiday Bowl, I thought that I had a great shot at winning this thing. Unfortunately I got screwed out of the mix when Western Kentucky failed to come back against Central Michigan. Freaking Toppers! Had WKU comeback to win the Pizza Bowl, I would have been in prime position to take Segment 1.

Now we are into Segment 2 of the Pick ‘Em, and I am already missing picks left and right. The Navy pick was my wildcard and I whiffed hard. The rest of my picks in Segment 2 do not look so hot either.

For a recap of the picks made by your favorite HailWV staffer, you can see the original article here.

Looking ahead at the rest of the slate of bowl games, I would not expect me to come out on top. I think it will become a two horse race down the stretch between Pishko and Miller, but stranger things have happened.

CREDIT: wvutoday.wvu.edu

I know, this is a sports blog and not a shopping site, but with Christmas one long weekend away, I found it important to provide some last minute suggestions for the Mountaineer fans on your list.

Let’s start with the football fans:

• Football jerseys, especially the new gray ones are high on many wishlists. The ones that are legal to buy in the US can be sparsely found online at this point but you will probably have good luck shopping in person at the Book Exchange or the WVU Bookstore in Morgantown. If you are not near Morgantown, you could try going through Chinese knock-off sites like bornetrade.com but beware that it is highly “frowned upon” by the Government.

Outside of that suggestion, the rest of these items can be found easily online (for the purpose of this article, all my links are from amazon.com for simplicity). Some other football fan suggestions:

• Pick up John Antonik’s Backyard Brawl. It is a comprehensive look at the history of WVU’s rivalry with the Pitt Panthers. If the person you have in mind likes reading about WVU football, then this is a great idea.
• Got a person that loves reliving WVU football history, but maybe not a huge reader, pick up a copy of the 2012 Orange Bowl on DVD. Watching old game highlights might seem dull, but given the high volume of touchdowns and big plays in WVU’s 70-33 beatdown of Clemson, this is one game that is really enjoyable to watch over and over.
• Nothing looks better in an office or study than a full size WVU replica helmet.

Looking for a WVU basketball fan:

• No better way to relive the rich tradition of Mountaineers men’s basketball than with John Antonik’s Roll Out the Carpet. It is a great book, loaded with fun inserts and unique insight.
• Try the miniature basketball hoop and ball set. This is a great gift for both children and adults who like to procrastinate on the job.
• Hoops fan and big on Christmas decor? Check out this WVU basketball ornament.

Gifts specifically for women:

• Need a little stocking stuffer for the Mountaineer woman in your life? Here are some earrings that she is sure to love.
• If your mother is obsessed with gnomes like my mother is, than you cannot pass up this quirky Mountaineer gnome.
• For teachers or tailgating professionals, nothing is more handy than a solid tote bag. This WVU tote will be a great way for her to show off here Mountaineers pride in the office, grocery store, or gym.

Children love Mountaineers stuff:

• Sports card collectors will love this plaque featuring cards of some of the recent WVU greats that have made it to the NFL.
• Stuffed animal lovers would like a teddy bear with a WVU sweater. Just do not put the bear near a WVU mascot toy!
• Board games are great for children and family game night. Try West Virginiaopoly for a Mountaineers game night.
• Need help saving for college? Have your kids save up their pennies in this WVU piggy bank. Great way to teach your children fiscal responsibility.

I could go on and on with gift ideas, but that would be far too much to read. Hopefully this list will at least put you in the right frame of mind to finish off your Christmas shopping.

Of course, if you find this list inspirational, and wanted to thank me in anyway, you could get me anything from the football or basketball gift idea list. Just a suggestion!

First question: why 16 teams? Glad you asked! The FCS teams play an 11 game regular season followed by a 20 team playoff. That equates to up to 16 games in one season for those teams. Therefore, the FBS teams, which play a 12 game regular season, could easily accommodate a 16 team playoff or the equivalent of a 16 game slate.

The second issue with a playoff lies in how you tie bowl games into the structure of the playoff itself. The current proposed playoff model for post 2014 includes 6 access bowl games that rotate to host the national semifinals and championship game. Since the model has been set with 6 bowl games, I decided to make every game in the playoff a neutral site bowl game. This way a majority of the quality bowls get involved in the playoff system and it gives the FBS playoffs a feel of the NCAA basketball tournaments.

Finally, there is a need to establish a selection criteria. In the same vein as the NCAA basketball selection process, I was determined to include all the winners of the 5 power conferences and the top ranked conference winner of the lesser 5 conferences. In each regional, I ensured that teams from the same conference did not face off in the first round of the playoffs.

Also, to keep travel costs to a minimum, I grouped the bowls into geographic regions and attempted to match teams to the nearest geographic region. Some exceptions were made (see Notre Dame) where a team was forced into a farther region due to the ranking and the order of teams slotted before them.

So to start the process of creating a playoff, I had to first decide what bowls would be utilized in the playoff structure. When I think of what would be the biggest location for the National Championship game, I imagine 80-yard long televisions bright enough to blind every spectator present. Yes, I think the Jerry Dome “Cowboys Stadium” would be the perfect site to decide the title.

For the semi-finals, I went with two of the current BCS bowls. The Rose and Sugar Bowls were selected both for their prestige as well as their geographic location, making them convenient bowls to ease some of the travel on the fans.

Finally, I organized the locations into four regional locations: the Phoenix Regional (Fiesta Bowl), Houston Regional (Texas Bowl; not a marquee bowl, but great stadium), Atlanta Regional (Chik-Fil-A Bowl), and the Miami Regional (Orange Bowl). Each of the regional bowls includes a pair of lesser bowl games prior to advancing to the regional bowl game.

Now let’s finally get to the good stuff, the match-ups themselves.

Phoenix Regional:

Pac-12 at large Oregon will take on Big East champion Louisville in the Holiday Bowl. The high powered Ducks offense squares off against Charlie Strong’s defensive-minded Cardinals.

Meanwhile, in the Las Vegas Bowl, Pac-12 champion Stanford takes on Big 12 at large Oklahoma. This would be a classic clash of two of the top defenses in the country and would promise to bring a ton of hard hitting action.

Houston Regional:

Notre Dame gets pushed out to the Houston Regional as opposed to the Atlanta Regional due to the greater good of travel and match-ups. The Fighting Irish get the opportunity to take on the mercurial, SEC at large, South Carolina Gamecocks in the Alamo Bowl. This game would feature at least three future top 5 overall defensive draft picks in Jadeveon Clowney, Manti Te’o, and Stephen Tuitt.

In the other half of the Houston Regional, we reunite two former conference rivals in Big 12 champion Kansas State vs SEC at large Texas A&M. The Sun Bowl would center around the battle of the Heisman trophy winning Johnny Manziel and Heisman 3rd place finisher Colin Klein. Those two would certainly put up one heck of a quarterback battle, especially on the ground.

Atlanta Regional:

We now turn our attention to the eastern half of the playoff bracket. What better match-up for the Music City Bowl than SEC champion Alabama vs B1G champion Wisconsin. The crowd in Nashville would be treated to a match-up of two teams that took vastly different paths to the post season. Alabama, aside from a misstep against Texas A&M, dominated their schedule while Wisconsin made the most of their B1G title game appearance (one that would have gone to Ohio State had they laid off the ink) after a wildly disappointing regular season.

On the other side of Tennessee, in the Liberty Bowl, fellow SEC west team LSU faces off against a surprising Pac-12 at large Oregon State. Both teams have had to rely on their defenses to carry them throughout the season as both offenses struggled to find consistency from one game to the next. The Liberty Bowl would shape up to be a low scoring affair.

Miami Regional:

The final regional is centered around the state of Florida. The top of the bracket features the SEC at large Florida Gators facing off against the MAC champion Northern Illinois Huskies. NIU gets into the post season as the final spot in the field of 16. They are ranked #16 in the BCS standings and are a higher rated conference champion than both the Big East and B1G champions. Too bad they will be facing the Florida Gators in the Gator Bowl, a virtual home game for UF. NIU would need a miracle to win this match-up.

On the other side of the bracket, the SEC East champion Georgia Bulldogs face-off with the ACC champion Florida State Seminoles. The Outback Bowl would be arguably the most exciting game of the first round of the playoffs. FSU’s speedy offense vs the talented Bulldogs defense would make for an exhilarating match-up. E.J. Manuel and Aaron Murray would put on quite the quarterback battle, that is, if Jarvis Jones did not lock down Manuel.

Finals:

The winners of the Phoenix and Houston regionals would face-off in the Rose Bowl in the western semifinal. The Sugar Bowl serves as the eastern semifinal for the Atlanta and Miami regionals.

Looking at the match-ups, I would predict Oregon vs Texas A&M in the Rose Bowl and Alabama vs Florida in the Sugar Bowl. But I’ll ask you, the fans, how do you see these brackets working out? Let me know in the comments section below.

While I think it makes sense to have a 16 team playoff, we will have to settle for the 4 team playoff for the foreseeable future. Any playoff is better than the current BCS system in my eyes.

November 24, 2012; Houston, TX, USA; Tulane Green Wave wide receiver Wilson van Hooser (9) celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the third quarter against the Houston Cougars at Robertson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-US PRESSWIRE

The move to add Tulane for television market makes sense. New Orleans is a major television market, but the biggest question is, who really watches Tulane football?

The Green Wave has not been a nationally relevant program since their undefeated 1998 season. The team has struggled to draw fans into the Super Dome, causing Tulane to begin planning for an on-campus stadium with a much smaller seating capacity.

Then there is East Carolina. The Pirates are a scrappy team that usually hovers in the 7-8 wins per season range. It is culturally a perfect fit for the Big East, but really has no major television market draw. You could argue that they bring some portion of the Raleigh and Charlotte market. If the Big East wanted the Charlotte market, it would have been better to take UNC Charlotte (set to play in C-USA).

This set of expansion is obviously in preparation of the Big East losing either Connecticut or Louisville to the ACC. Early rumors say that UCONN is the leader for vacant ACC spot because of higher academic standards than the Ville. Jim Calhoun’s APR issue must not be factoring into that decision.

With both the ACC and Big East fighting it out for fillers, the Big XII is sitting idle. Some might say that the Big XII is content with 10 teams because of the ability to play a round robin football schedule and the elimination of a top team losing in the championship game, or whatever other party line they want to feed the public. In the end, the Big XII needs to expand to fend off a second raiding attempt by the Pac 12.

Remember, that had the Pac 12 bent to Texas’ will and allowed them to keep the Longhorn Network, the Big XII might have ceased to exist. In the ever shifting conference landscape, where it appears that conferences are all consolidating to 16 team conferences with presumably 4 major conferences, the Big XII has to be nervous.

The Big 10 and SEC appear secure in their major conference status. That leaves the Pac 12, Big XII, and ACC to assume the final two slots. Currently, the Pac 12 and Big XII have agreements to match up with the SEC and Big 10 in the Rose and Champions (Sugar) Bowls, giving them the inside track to remaining major conferences.

If the major conferences are to be 16 team conferences, that leaves few options East of the Mississippi River for the Pac 12. Larry Scott pursued the four-pack of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, and Texas Tech when he was forced to settle for just Utah and Colorado. If those 4 teams leave, the Big XII would be destroyed and picked off by the other big conferences.

For the Big XII to remain viable for the future, they need to strike soon, and take down the ACC.

Maryland is about to enter a contentious legal battle with the ACC, one that Florida State will be following closely. If Maryland is able to negotiate a reduced exit fee and exit time table, expect Florida State to start serious talks with the Big XII.

If Bowlsby wants to ensure the long-term success of the Big XII, he needs to bring the conference up to 16 schools. In my opinion, that should start with Florida State and Clemson. The other 4 schools should come predominantly from the ACC to effectively eliminate any competition for the 4 major league slots and to ward off any Pac 12 poaching.

Possible schools for Big XII expansion, in order of merit: Florida State, Clemson, Miami, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Pittsburgh, BYU, Cincinnati, Boise State. Keep in mind, their are no active rumors linking any of those schools to the Big XII outside of FSU and Louisville.

November 19, 2012;College Par, MD, USA; Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney speaks during the Big Ten Press Conference at Adele Stamp Union. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-US PRESSWIRE

Multiple outlets across the internet are propogating rumors that indicate the Big East is soon to go the way of the dodo bird and the WAC. West Virginia was fortunate to escape this sinking ship when they did.

Following the departure of WVU, Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame, and TCU, the Big East turned to Conference USA and the Mountain West to poach together a patchwork conference of misfits. The Big East membership has grown to or will soon grow to include:

• Football Only: San Diego State, Boise State, Temple, and Navy
• All Sports: Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis, Houston, SMU, UCF, USF, Connecticut, and Rutgers
• Non-Football: St. John’s, Georgetown, Marquette, DePaul, Providence, Villanova, and Seton Hall

The recent revelation in conference realignment is the jump by Maryland to the Big Ten to be followed by the highly anticipated announcement that Rutgers will follow suit tomorrow and also join the Big Ten. That is just the tip of the iceberg with the rumored Big East defections.

Major news outlets like ESPN have speculated that the ACC would be likely to replace Maryland with a school like Connecticut, which would take the current Big East slate of football schools down from 12 to 10 for the 2013 season, costing the Big East the opportunity to host a championship game.

With the anticipated plundering of the Big East set to begin, many news outlets have been quick to jump on the rumors surrounding the doom of the Big East. Defection rumors include the following:

• The New York Daily News reports that Georgetown and St. John’s are considering jumping from the Big East to the ACC.
• ESPN is reporting that Boise State, San Diego State, and BYU are all in discussions to rejoin the Mountain West.

There are also the typical unconfirmed rumors that Louisville could be the target for the ACC instead of Connecticut and the possibility that the Big 12 might preempt the ACC and invite the Cardinals. If you stack up all those rumors, the Big East could be facing the possibility of their soon to be 13 team football league shrinking to 9 (Rutgers to Big Ten, UCONN/Louisville to ACC, Boise State and San Diego State to MWC), keeping in mind that Navy plans to join in 2015.

If all those rumors pan out, that would also reduce two of the top three targets for further Big East football expansion (BYU and Air Force). The loss of Georgetown and St. John’s would effectively open the door for the remainder of the non-football members to look at their options for new conference homes in the ACC, Atlantic 10, etc.

Of course, half the conference realignment rumors will never materialize, but with so many rumors floating about and no media rights deal in place, all signs point to the Big East collapsing. The next few months will likely determine the future of the Big East, if there is any future at all.

If you are a fan of bad 1980s movies like I am, you have watched the Back to the Future trilogy countless times. You fell in love with the idea of a DeLorean that could transport you to anytime in history by simply accelerating the engine to 88 mph. I know there was a time in my life when I wish that Back to the Future was real so I could get my hands on that DeLorean.

As I watched the headlines today, the little kid inside of me saw a glimmer of hope. Could it be, Back to the Future was happening? Well, not exactly, but the recent conference realignment rumors have certainly followed the script of the famous movie.

Today, rumors surfaced in reliable media sources that the University of Maryland was in discussions to become the 13th member of the Big 10 (making the misnomer even more farcical).

The announcement makes it apparent that the Big 10 and Commissioner Jim Delaney are not done in their pursuit of Notre Dame. Let’s be honest, that is the major motivation behind this move. Obviously the Big 10 sees the value of adding Maryland for television revenue, but UMD’s value pails in comparison to the value of Notre Dame.

When the first batch of conference realignment was fired up, the Big Ten made strong overtures to Notre Dame about joining their conference. Enter Jim Delaney in the role of Biff Tannen and Notre Dame AD John Swarbrick as Lorraine Baines.

Ultimately, Swarbrick would turn down Delaney just as Lorraine rebuffed Biff at the ice cream parlor. Without knowing it yet, Swarbrick was unaware at that time of just how strongly the ACC Commissioner John Swofford pined for his golden dome. We now cast Swofford in the role of George McFly.

After Biff was left with a car full of manure after his failed wooing of Lorraine, Biff would vow to have Lorraine no matter the cost. Jim Delaney has been just as adamant in his pursuit of Jack Swarbrick and Notre Dame.

Now that Notre Dame has officially joined the ACC for all sports and committed to playing half an ACC schedule, it appears as if Jim Delaney and the Big 10 are out to destabilize Notre Dame’s new conference home. Just as Biff tried to corner Lorraine in the car outside of the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, Delaney is attempting to corner Swarbrick and force Notre Dame into becoming his.

If Maryland should leave the ACC after nearly 60 years, it would re-open questions of the ACC’s stability. Maryland’s departure would give schools like Florida State and Clemson the opportunity to take a second look at joining the Big XII. Surely those kind of defections would make the Irish contemplate the Big 10′s offer a little more seriously.

What remains to be seen is whether George McFly (John Swofford) will show up to rescue Lorraine (Jack Swarbrick) from the powerful meat-hooks of Biff (Jim Delaney). Tense times for the ACC in the climax of the movie.

This is your chance Swofford, to save Marty and the kids! If not, Marty (as Florida State) might choose to head to the West (Big XII).

During this time, we will NOT be posting ANYTHING on our site, we will NOT be updating our Facebook or Twitter accounts. I don’t care if WVU chooses to hire their next Defensive Coordinator or Bob Huggins finally knocks out Jim Burr that day, we will not be posting for 24 hours.

You are probably asking yourself, “You cover WVU sports. Why are you taking a stand on something political?”

I realize politics is a dangerous and divisive activity, and getting involved in ANY way, shape or form can divide you from your friends and family. However, after the jump is a brief explanation of why we’re against SOPA & PIPA.

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