Vermont vs. Albany
Brackets around the country took a hit early in 2004-05 as the Vermont Catamounts stunned Syracuse in the opening round of March Madness. This year's squad will look to do the same as the No. 1 Catamounts face-off against No. 2 Albany in their fifth-straight America East Championship game. The team from Vermont will also go for its 14th-straight victory, and 21st out of its last 22.
Backed by its rebounding machine, senior center Chris Holm, who is second in the nation with 12.4 rebounds per game, Vermont leads the league in rebounding margin and is third in rebounds per game. While not flashy, the team has gotten the job done this season, posting a 25-6 (15-1) record that ties the 2004-05 record for most wins in a season.
Although the team struggled in 2005-06 under the new guidance of coach Mike Lonergan following the departure of beloved coach Tom Brennan, and star center Taylor Coppenrath and guard T.J. Sorrentine, the team is now back on track. After losing to Albany in last year's America East title game, the Catamounts will surely be itching to get a ticket back to the Big Dance.
The pick: Vermont won a close one against Albany of Feb. 11, 67-63, and will pull it out again on Saturday and return to the tournament.
-by Andrew Bauld
Duke vs. The Bubble
It's that time again.
With the men's college basketball season winding down and major conference tournaments underway, it's time to talk bracketology. And for the first time in 11 years, the Duke Blue Devils are - brace yourselves - on the bubble.
Despite being nationally ranked at No. 21 in both polls, the Blue Devils are undoubtedly in trouble when stacked up against their ACC foes. While 22-9 overall, the Devils finished just 8-8 in the league, putting them in a tie for sixth place, three games behind the first-place tie of North Carolina and Virginia. They haven't won the big games - in fact, they've choked down the stretch, losing back-to-back contests to Maryland and UNC in the season's final week.
Not only is Duke's in-conference body of work mediocre, but the conference itself doesn't have the allure it once did. The ACC has gotten gradually weaker in recent years, and the selection committee has responded. The conference raked in six NCAA bids in 2004, but that number shrunk to five the following season, and four last year. The message is simple: a .500 record in the ACC just won't cut it anymore.
Unless, that is, you're from Durham. The last time Duke's tournament status was even in question was in 1996, which was the last time the Devils came away empty-handed in their quest for an ACC regular season or tournament title. That year, they were a similar 8-8, and just 18-13 overall, and made the tournament anyway, losing in the first round. The committee loved Duke then, and it still does now. Sadly, 8-8 is probably still good enough to put a mediocre team into the Big Dance.
The pick: Duke prevails, earning a ninth seed and getting pummeled in the first round. An inspirational story for overrated sixth-place teams everywhere.
-by Evans Clinchy
