Mike Wallace Reporting…: Understanding the Misunderstanding about Wallace’s Understanding

There will come a day, hopefully soon but at least within our lifetimes, where news about an athlete — or anyone — being gay is not news at all.  A time where someone says, “I’m gay” and the response is simply “And…?”  There will come a day where homosexuality is a non-issue.

Today is NOT that day.  Today, current NBA free agent center Jason Collins let it be known to the world that he is gay.  And it is front page news.  Now, i understand that given the current times that we are in where gay marriage in the United States is still a very sensitive issue that this is definitely newsworthy.  But will we ever get to that point where no one even has to say this?

Now, do i think that it is great that Collins “came out” in a sport where machismo runs rampant?  Sure.  But, let’s not make him out to be Jackie Robinson here.  Black athletes were not allowed to play; gay athletes have not been (officially) barred from playing.  There is a distinct difference.  Plenty of gay athletes have played various types of sports without (direct) hindrance.

On the other hand, gay athletes must often hide who they are because of the fear and intimidation factor.  In this sense, then Collins is attempting to “open the door.”  Most gay athletes only let it be known after they retired from their respective sport.  So, what Collins is doing is great.  However, in an ideal world, we’d just say “And…?” and just move on, not thinking twice.  Instead, not only is it news, he is a bit more praised than perhaps he needs to be.  In this way, i agree with Tim Brando’s initial statement concerning hero-worship.  Hopefully he can serve as an example for other gay athletes to find the courage to be themselves and still play the sport they love.  But, using “hero” is a bit much.

And, of course, because this is news, there are reactions.  And, besides Brando’s reaction, there is Mike Wallace, current wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins.  Wallace’s reaction was simple:

All these beautiful women in the world and guys wanna mess with other guys SMH…

Now, look.  It is one thing to be intolerant and ignorant about something.  There are far too many people in this world who brush off homosexuality as “evil,” “immoral,” “confusion,” “wrong” or that it is against God and a host of other code words to ostracize gays and lesbians.  There are way too many people who levy a new level of hate towards gays without much reason behind there thinking.

But, I do not think Wallace’s comments qualify as such.  Yes, Wallace might be intolerant of gays, but he did not pull a Chris Culliver here.  And we do not honestly know if Wallace is intolerant or “homophobic.”  What we know, going only by his tweet, is that Wallace cannot understand why a man would love another man.

Is this so difficult to understand?  Not understanding homosexuality, but understanding Wallace’s comments.  When i read the headline about the first “homophobic comment” to come out regarding Collins, i expected something Culliverian…or worse.  Instead, the comment is simply one of (mis)understanding; Wallace, who loves women, not understanding how a man can love another man.

It is more simple than the media is making it out to be.  There are decisions that many people make that we wonder why they do that.  On a grander scale, that is what Wallace is asking.  Again, there is a difference in rhetoric here.  Acceptance and understanding are two different things.  It is possible to accept homosexuality while at the same time not understanding it.  Liken it to how some people who are pro-choice are actually not for abortion, believing that the choice is individual even if they do not support an abortion itself.

Thus, i think that there was been a great misunderstanding about Mike Wallace’s understanding about homosexuality.  I think it is fair for someone to not understand homosexuality.  Again, there are many lifestyles and choices that we do not understand.  Why is this any different?  For many, the concept of homosexuality is very difficult to grasp, especially since they are not gay.  So, should we not also make an attempt to understand why others don’t understand.

Let me be clear in closing.  I want to say who cares about Collins “coming out.”  But, the problem is that we are not there.  One individual having the courage — and it is indeed courage, do not attempt to diminish that! — to stand up for who he really is is still only a tiny step in a longer quest.  So, Collins is still an ambassador for millions of people who still must hide in fear because of intolerance and ignorance.  But, we must separate that ignorance for understanding.

Besides, there is far worse being spouted off by ignorant people that reflect why “coming out” is still newsworthy.  Observe just a sampling of the morons:

And then, there is this gem, which exemplifies why this is still a big issue and will continue to be so.

 

Home Cooking: Fouls and Home Court in the NBA

After watching Game 3 of the NBA Finals, I could not help but feel that the Miami Heat seem to receive a lot of home cooking when it comes to fouls.  I recalled that in games played in Miami  during the Eastern Conference Finals that there were several no-calls or instances where a Boston player would be bulldozed by LeBron James during a block…but a foul was not called.

During Game 3, the primary situation that many have pointed to was the push off and shoulder block by James on Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden that occurred near midcourt late in the game.  A foul was called on Harden despite the push off from Mr. “I don’t need an advantage.”  Some even noted that it was a reflection of James’s megastar status.

While watching that game, I came to two conclusions about how I felt about watching the Miami Heat.  First, I feel like James will score every time he touches the ball.  Even though that is not true (though he does shoot close to 50 percent for his career [48.3]), whenever the Thunder missed a shot and the Heat came down court, if LeBron had the ball, then I had a feeling that he would score.  I feel that way about two other players — Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant.

Second, if the Heat are in Miami, then LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are going to get away with more and have more fouls drawn from other players.

However, upon further review, that is not necessarily true.  Though fouls drawn is not an easy stat to obtain (and I am too lazy to put the database together), past research on this does tend to place James and Wade high on such a list (Weak Side Awareness has painstakingly compile such a list for the 2010-11 season, as well as previous seasons.  Another website also breaks this down, though for the 2006-07 season…the pattern is still the same).  However, there is no breakdown for home versus road.

Nevertheless, if one looks at personal fouls committed by the two Heat players, we see that while Wade does commit more on the road this season, James actually commits slightly more at home (1.6 at home versus 1.5 on the road).

Despite this, just because Wade and James may not be committing a lot of fouls does not mean that teams that play in Miami do not get mistreated.  We all hold that there is some homecooking when it comes to officiating.  Indeed, authors Tobias Moskowski and L. Jon Wortheim do a great job digging deep into this phenomenon in their book Scorecasting.

So, I decided to look at see not only the difference between home fouls versus road fouls for various teams, but also which venues tend to have more fouls called on opponents.  Do we see a trend that Miami is a foul party for visiting teams?

First, if we look simply at average fouls committed on the road versus those committed at home, the greatest differential is actually the Milwaukee Bucks (20.8 on the road versus 17.8 at home), followed by the Utah Jazz and then the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, and rounding out the top five is Sacramento.  There are teams with a negative differential (Charlotte, Indiana, New York, San Antonio, and Washington).

Fouls Committed
TEAM	ROAD	HOME	DIFF
ATL	17.8788	17.8182	0.06061
BOS	20.8788	18.9697	1.90909
CHA	18.3636	19.4848	-1.1212
CHI	17.3939	17.1212	0.27273
CLE	20.8485	19.0606	1.78788
DAL	18.8788	18.2727	0.60606
DEN	19.7576	19.5455	0.21212
DET	19.7879	19.3939	0.39394
GSW	21.6061	21.1212	0.48485
HOU	21.0303	19.7879	1.24242
IND	21.3939	21.9394	-0.5455
LAC	21.3636	21.0303	0.33333
LAL	16.9091	16.697	0.21212
MEM	20.4242	19.4545	0.9697
MIA	20.3939	18.4545	1.93939
MIL	20.7879	17.7879	3
MIN	19.0303	17.697	1.33333
NJN	19.9394	18.4848	1.45455
NOH	20.6364	19.4848	1.15152
NYK	21.0303	21.1212	-0.0909
OKC	21.1212	19.8485	1.27273
SAS	16.8182	17.8182	-1
ORL	18.1818	17.2121	0.9697
PHI	18.3636	16.697	1.66667
PHO	19.5758	17.7879	1.78788
POR	19.0606	18.8485	0.21212
SAC	20.4242	18.5758	1.84848
TOR	23.8485	22.5758	1.27273
UTA	23.0303	20.6364	2.39394
WAS	21.1515	21.4242	-0.2727

However, this does not tell the entire story.  What about when teams play at a particular venue?  While the Toronto Raptors might commit the most fouls on the road (coincidentally, they also commit the most at home), this does not tell us where they tend to commit more fouls.  So, I organized fouls committed by venue.

If your favorite team is playing the New York Knicks, expect fouls as Madison Square Garden patrons witness the most fouls by opponents (average 22.67 fouls per game).  MSG is followed by the Staples Center (but only when the Los Angeles Clippers are playing), the Pepsi Center in Denver, Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, and EnergySolutions Center in Salt Lake City.  American Airlines Arena — home to the Miami Heat — is eighth.  The Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia has the lowest number of fouls by an opponent (16.5 fouls per game by opponent).

Now, using those numbers, we can determine the difference between fouls committed by opponents relative to the home team.  Number one of that list is the Los Angeles Lakers, with an average difference of 4.1 fouls [It should be noted that the Lakers commit the fewest fouls per game in the NBA].  The second greatest home foul differential belongs to the Minnesota Timberwolves, followed by the Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets, and the Miami Heat (2.5 fouls).  Not surprisingly, the team with the worst differential is Toronto, which leads the Association in fouls per game.

FOULS
Team	Home	Opp.	Diff.
ATL	17.818	20.182	2.3636
BOS	18.97	18.03	-0.9394
CHA	19.485	21.576	2.0909
CHI	17.121	17.939	0.8182
CLE	19.061	20.848	1.7879
DAL	18.273	19.455	1.1818
DEN	19.545	22.424	2.8788
DET	19.394	19.97	0.5758
GSW	21.121	16.939	-4.1818
HOU	19.788	18.545	-1.2424
IND	21.939	22.273	0.3333
LAC	21.03	22.515	1.4848
LAL	16.697	20.788	4.0909
MEM	19.455	20.606	1.1515
MIA	18.455	20.97	2.5152
MIL	17.788	19.152	1.3636
MIN	17.697	21.636	3.9394
NJN	18.485	19.242	0.7576
NOH	19.485	18.485	-1
NYK	21.121	22.667	1.5455
OKC	19.848	19.848	0
SAS	17.818	19.818	2
ORL	17.212	20.182	2.9697
PHI	16.697	16.485	-0.2121
PHO	17.788	19.424	1.6364
POR	18.848	20.515	1.6667
SAC	18.576	20.727	2.1515
TOR	22.576	17.818	-4.7576
UTA	20.636	21.697	1.0606
WAS	21.424	19.152	-2.2727

Of course, this leads to discussion about free throws.  To simplify this, I want to look just at free throws by the home team versus road team free throws at that venue.  First, the team with the highest average of home free throws attempted is the Jazz (27.2), followed by the Nuggets, Pacers, Knicks, and Thunder [Miami is seventh].

The venue with the fewest free throws attempted by opponent is at the Staples Center, but when the Lakers play there.  This is followed by the Amway Center (Magic), United Center (Chicago Bulls), Target Center (T’wolves), and the US Airways Center (Phoenix Suns).  For the record, Miami is eighth here.

Now, by comparing the differential, we can see if a team has a scoring advantage via fouls.   Number one is Los Angeles Lakers (7.96 difference in free throws), followed by the Nuggets (6.5), the Timberwolves (5.2), the Kings (4.8), and the Heat (4.5).  Nine teams have a negative differential, mostly teams with losing records with the exception of the Celtics (-1.8) and the 76ers (-2.1).

Team	HOME	OPP	Diff
ATL	23.0303	20.6364	2.39394
BOS	19.3333	21.0909	-1.7576
CHA	24.3939	23.7576	0.63636
CHI	22.0606	19.4545	2.60606
CLE	23.9394	20.7576	3.18182
DAL	21.9394	21.3333	0.60606
DEN	27.0606	20.5455	6.51515
DET	23.0909	22.8788	0.21212
GSW	18.8182	26.8788	-8.0606
HOU	20.4848	21.4242	-0.9394
IND	26.6667	25.0606	1.60606
LAC	24.697	25.7576	-1.0606
LAL	24.6667	16.697	7.9697
MEM	25.2727	22.5455	2.72727
MIA	24.9697	20.4242	4.54545
MIL	20.3636	21.6061	-1.2424
MIN	24.8485	19.6364	5.21212
NJN	22	21.6061	0.39394
NOH	20.6061	21.6061	-1
NYK	26.0606	24.4848	1.57576
OKC	26	22.9091	3.09091
SAS	22.7576	19.7576	3
ORL	22.7273	19.1515	3.57576
PHI	17.9091	20.0303	-2.1212
PHO	21.4545	19.6667	1.78788
POR	22.6364	21.4848	1.15152
SAC	24.5455	19.697	4.84848
TOR	21.4242	26.5152	-5.0909
UTA	27.2424	23.0606	4.18182
WAS	21.3333	24.8485	-3.5152

These numbers, of course, affect scoring chances.  For example, the Lakers receive 263 more free throw attempts at home compared to their visiting opponents.  For Miami, the Heat receive 150 more attempts.

What does all of this represent?  Well, there is a noticeable discrepancy between fouls called against the Heat compared to Heat opponents in Miami, they are not the top beneficiary.  The Heat in general do not produce a lot of fouls (middle of the pack overall), which one could argue comes from the privilege of having star players, but it is not a reflection of an enormous home court bias.

Given that teams with losing records also populate the top team in terms of home foul differential (e.g. the Kings, Bobcats, and Timberwolves), it may come down to something more than home court, or even “good” or popular teams.  Remember, the top site for opposing team fouls is MSG, a mediocre team; but the Knicks are also one of the top five teams in terms of fouls committed at home.

Therefore, foul discrepancy is likely more of a reflection of style of play.  Teams that attack the basket more might be able to draw more fouls, while defensively aggressive teams may commit more fouls.

So, maybe I can lay off the Heat for a bit.  Though, I still am not going to watch a game played in Miami.

Apparently, There is Crying (and Whining) in Basketball

In the film A League of Their Own, Tom Hanks famously quipped, “There’s no crying in baseball!”

While that may be true for baseball, that apparently is not the case for basketball.  Two incidents over the past week reflect that crying and whining are very much alive in basketball.

First, some cat named Lil Wayne cried about not getting tickets for the Oklahoma City-San Antonio game in OKC.  Well, he could have received tickets, just not where he wanted them.

This guy apparently wanted courtside seats and practically demanded them from Oklahoma City.  When his “agent” could not secure such tickets through a broker, he tried to go through the Thunder.  That is when, much to “Lil Wayne’s” surprise, there were none available courtside.  Apparently, this guy was too busy making shitty music to realize that the Thunder are a big sale in Oklahoma City and getting tickets at the drop of a hat is virtually impossible.

But, that did not stop Mr. Ego from getting pissy with it.   The dude was offered still-premium seats behind the bench, but no “special” parking (handicap?) and no special protection.  He scoffed at that…I mean, sitting with the mortals!?  How absurd!

Following his Mutombo-like rejection, Lil Whine tweeted the following:

Was going to go to the Thunder game tonight but was denied by the team to be in their arena. Wow. Smh. Go Spurs!

Cry me a mother-fucking handful!  You were not “denied” by the team to be there.  It is not as though Indiana Jones showed up and threw you to the curb while exclaiming, “No ticket!”  Although, Oklahoma City having no tickets was the primary reason why you could not get what you want.

~~Well, I guess we know what those teardrops are for.~~

And yet despite being sold out, you were still offered tickets.  And yet, YOU denied those.  It seems that YOU, Lil Whine, were the one to deny the team, especially with your childish “Go Spurs!” remark.  Guess that is why you have “Lil” as part of your moniker.

Oh, but Lil’ Whine’s crybaby act does not stop there.  He whips out THE CARD!  Yup, the race card.  Of course, this coming from someone who gets what he wants all most of the time because he is a celebrity — a status manufactured because he embraced an entertainment niche most associated with blacks — that when he is actually turned down, it must be because he is black.

Something tells me that if I go up and ask for courtside seats for a sold-out NBA playoff game…with “special” parking and an escort (prostitute?)…I would be denied, too.  Is it because I am white?  Doubtful.

The only “racist” angle to come out of this comes from Lil Whine.

It’s the players stepping up, but, of course, the players aren’t white.  I don’t want to be sitting there on behalf of you and I’m sitting next to a (person) that’s like “I don’t want this (guy) sitting next to me.”

So, dick-wrinkle wanted one of the two white boys — Cole Aldrich or Nick Collison — to step up and offer him tickets?  Why does it have to be the white players?  And then, his phobia of white people must take over as he stereotypes  those sitting courtside must not want to sit next to him.

Well, there’s a reason that they “don’t want this [whiner] sitting next to” them…you’re a crying Lil bitch!  And you took to whining and essentially dropping the “don’t you know who I am” card to get free tickets from Durant and Harden!  That’s why they don’t want to sit next to you.  Some people actually pay their dues — and pay for their tickets……others believe said tickets should be bestowed upon them.

About the only angle I can understand is the safety issue (as far as security).  But, even though it is Oklahoma City, I am sure that the Thunder have accommodated real celebrities before.  This is not their first rodeo.

On second thought, given his “racist” remark about certain people not wanting him sitting beside them, most Oklahoma City fans have no idea who he is…at least that’s the impression he seems to be giving.  So, actually have “special” security would only have drawn attention to Lil Whine.  I doubt there would have been a sea of white folks dying to see his stupid ass!

Lil Whine did not get what he wanted.  He was offered seats to a soldout playoff game and still bitched about it.

You’re in Forbes?  That does not make you any less of a bitch, Lil Whine!!!  Maybe take some of that money and learn a little bit about economics…perhaps start with “supply and demand.”  Next time, try the Bobcats.  Fuck you, too!

Next, you have LeBron James, a beloved player here at the Drunken Sports Rant.  Apparently, he does not commit fouls.  The King Without a Crown was beside himself when he fouled out of the Miami Heat’s Game 4 loss to the Boston Celtics.

I don’t foul out.  If I’m going to foul out, that sixth foul, I wish I would have earned it [and it] had actually been a foul on me. Whatever.

Whatever?  I guess adding “Go Spurs” would have been a bit odd.  Maybe a “Go Celtics” would have been a nice touch.

Again, what’s with the whining?  “I don’t foul out.”  Apparently you do, mother fucker!  Like Lil Whine, James is used to the privilege of getting what he wants, namely not having fouls called on him all of the time.

James later added this nugget:

It’s very difficult because I know how to play the game of basketball and I don’t need an advantage or holding somebody or pushing somebody down.  But whatever.  We lost.

Go Spurs!

Yes, you know how to play the game.  So does every other player in the NBA, including Mickael Pietrus.  And refs know how to call the game…they are better than you give them credit for.

Besides, I have seen James use his arm to push off, his elbow to get a step advantage, and knock someone down while going for a block (happened in Game 1), all the while not having a foul called on him.  So his “I don’t need an advantage” spiel is falling on deaf ears here.

Of course, old fogey Pat Riley chimed in with a “It’s a typical night in the Boston Garden” blast.  Please.  Fouls: 30 for Boston; 28 for Miami.  Free throws: 20 for Boston; 24 for Miami.  Bitch, please!

Of course, Boston point guard Rajon Rondo might have said it best when he mentioned during a halftime interview that the Heat were too busy complaining in the first half.  When asked how the Celtics jumped to a big advantage, Rondo fired off that the Heat were too busy “complaining and crying to referees in transition.”

Boom goes the dynamite!

Anyone who watches the Heat, and especially James, knows that the complain to the refs more than soccer players.  James is so notorious for his hands stretched outwards (usually with mouthpiece in one hand) acting like he never fouls someone that the pose should be engraved on his tombstone.  Or, at least a statue erected in that famous pose.

But, unlike Lil Whine, LeBron James is a gifted individual who should not have to resort to whining.  But he does…and this post-loss outburst places him in the category of Lil Whine.

So, there you have it.  Lil Whine and LeBron…two cats who feel so entitled to get what they want that when things don’t go their way, the world must be conspiring against them.  Either racist Oklahomans or tricky Frenchmen and incompetent referees.

Basketball…just whine, baby!

Go Spurs!!!

Bracketology Mythology: Comparing the Predictions for the 2012 NCAA Basketball Brackets

The term “bracketology” has become a popular term in the sports lexicon, especially during the months of February and March.  According to the most trustworthy source of knowledge in the world, “bracketology” means

the process of predicting the field of the [Men’s] NCAA Basketball Tournament (wikipedia).

It is a term that was popularized by Joe Lunardi, who currently works for ESPN, but a term that is used by all.  In fact, bracketology itself has practically become a sport of its own, with several websites touting its expertise.

Well, how accurate are these predictions?  Glad that I asked.  That is what I decided to look at with this entry.  While there are some websites that breakdown the success/failure rate of these bracketologist, I am more concerned with the top sports media websites with regards to men’s college basketball — ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, and CBS Sports.  I want to look at these in particular because most people likely turn to these sites to get their projections.  I also include the website Bracketville, which according to The Bracket Project is the most accurate projector of brackets among 44 “veterans” [Yahoo! Sports’ Mike Huguenin ranks 22nd; CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm is 26th; Lunardi for ESPN is tied for 27th].

Before I get started, it is important to understand what we are looking at here.  First, I looked at the difference between each bracketologist’s projection and the actual seeding.  With this, I could figure out how accurate each site proved to be.  In order to account for teams missed (like Iona), the bracketologist is given a “predicted” seeding of 17 [i.e. not in the tournament].  Second, I took a total count of accurate seedings.  Third, using a scoring system established by PHSports, a score is giving for each bracketologist that also includes total number of teams in the field, accurate seedings, and seedings with one line.  Finally, for ESPN, CBS Sports, and Bracketville, I also looked at accuracy with seedings AND regions [Yahoo! Sports does not slot teams into regions].

So, in terms of accurately projecting seeds, Jerry Palm was the most accurate by getting 36 seeds correct.  However, the other three bracketologists landed 35 seeds.  Therefore, there is no big difference between the four guessers.  On average, all tended to underseed teams, although this is somewhat tricky.  Obviously missing out on a team is going to bring down the number and grossly skew towards underseeding.  Because all missed on Iona, all are knocked down a level.  But, Huguenin, Palm and Bracketville all missed on another team.

• Bracketville: -8
• CBS Sports (Palm): -8
• ESPN (Lunardi): -3
• Yahoo! Sports (Huguenin): -8

Now, if we take out the teams missed completely, most projections naturally level off, with Palm overseeding by one and Bracketville underseeding by 2.  In terms of teams, the biggest overseeded teams are BYU (Huguenin and Palm by three) and Creighton (Palm by three) and the biggest underseeded team was Southern Miss (Huguenin by three).  In terms of total over/underseeding (adding up the seeding differences between the four bracketologist), Harvard can be added to BYU and Creighton as teams overseeded (all overseeded Harvard by two spots).

So, what about the bracketology score?  While all nailed roughly the same number of seeds correctly, there is a slight difference when it comes to within one seed line.

• Bracketville: 351
• CBS Sports (Palm): 352
• ESPN (Lunardi): 358
• Yahoo! Sports (Huguenin): 351

In this case, Lunardi’s extra points for missing out only on Iona helps him here.  Palm gets a leg up on the other two for getting one more seeding correct.

Finally, let’s look at the three that broke down the regions.  Here are the top four seeds in each region:

EAST
SEED	Lunardi	Palm	Bracketville	ACTUAL
1	Syracuse	Syracuse	Syracuse	Syracuse
2	Duke	Duke	Duke	Ohio State
3	Michigan	Michigan	Michigan	Florida State
4	Indiana	Wisconsin	Indiana	Wisconsin

SOUTH
SEED	Lunardi	Palm	Bracketville	ACTUAL
1	North Carolina	North Carolina	North Carolina	Kentucky
2	Ohio State	Ohio State	Ohio State	Duke
3	Baylor	Baylor	Baylor	Baylor
4	Wisconsin	Indiana	Georgetown	Indiana

MIDWEST
SEED	Lunardi	Palm	Bracketville	ACTUAL
1	Kentucky	Kentucky	Kentucky	North Carolina
2	Missouri	Missouri	Missouri	Kansas
3	Georgetown	Louisville	Louisville	Georgetown
4	Louisville	Florida State	Wisconsin	Michigan

WEST
SEED	Lunardi	Palm	Bracketville	ACTUAL
1	Michigan State	Michigan State	Michigan State	Michigan State
2	Kansas	Kansas	Kansas	Missouri
3	Marquette	Marquette	Marquette	Marquette
4	Florida State	Murray State	Florida State	Louisville

All missed on the location for Kentucky and North Carolina, as well as all of the number two seeds.  Although, they did at least get those seeds correct.  In fact, in terms of the top four seeds in each region (i.e., top 16 seeds overall), the only mis-seeded teams are Florida State (all projected the Seminoles fourth rather than third) and Michigan (third rather than fourth).  Only one person got Louisville in the correct fourth seed (Lunardi), while only one person nailed Georgetown in the three seed (Lunardi again).  Murray State (Huguenin and Palm) was the only team predicted to be a top four seed but missed, while Indiana (Huguenin) and Georgetown (Palm) were the only teams predicted outside of the top four seeds.

As far as accuracy in regions, Lunardi and Palm both got 16 teams in their correct regionandseed, while Bracketville only got ten teams.  They were the most accurate in the East bracket, with Lunardi getting five correct, Palm with four teams, and Bracketville with three teams.  The fewest accurate projections was Jerry Palm’s Midwest bracket (Vermont as the sixteenth).  In terms of at least getting the teams in the correct region regardless of proper seeding, Palm was the most accurate with 25 teams in the correct region, followed by Lunardi (21) and Bracketville (14).

One final measure of region/seeding accuracy, using the scoring measure for the regions lends itself heavily towards Palm.

• Bracketville: 78
• CBS Sports (Palm): 137
• ESPN (Lunardi): 121

Now, the trickiest part is the Last Four In/First Four Out.  According to the First Four match-ups, the Last Four In are BYU, California, Iona and South Florida.  With regards to this, Bracketville (California and South Florida) and Lunardi (BYU and South Florida) got two right, while Palm only got one (California).  In terms of their predicted Last Four actually making the field in any capacity, Bracketville and Lunardi add North Carolina State, while Palm added Colorado State.  All three missed on Seton Hall, while Palm (Northwestern) and Bracketville (Drexel) missed on another.

As for First Four (or more) Out, according to ESPN.com, the NCAA would have chosen between Drexel, Miami (FL), Mississippi State, Nevada and Oral Roberts had St. Bonaventure not won the Atlantic-10 tournament.  Nevertheless, Lunardi and Palm both missed on Iona while Bracketville did not even list Iona as in consideration.  Palm also missed on NC State while Bracketville missed BYU.

So, in terms of general accuracy, it does not seem that there is much difference between the four bracketologists, at least for the 2012 Tournament.  But, when we look at regional accuracy, Palm and Lunardi are far more accurate than Bracketville.

The last thing I want to look at are the teams; which teams did all sources accurately project and which teams did they all miss?  Well, there were 20 teams that all four bracketologists accurately predicted their seeding:

ALL CORRECT
Team	Rank	Team	Rank
Alabama	9	Mississippi Valley State	16
Baylor	3	Missouri	2
Duke	2	North Carolina	1
Kansas	2	Ohio State	2
Kentucky	1	Saint Louis	9
Lamar	16	Syracuse	1
Lehigh	15	Vermont	16
Loyola (MD)	15	West Virginia	10
Marquette	3	Western Kentucky	16
Michigan State	1	Wisconsin	4

And then, there were 13 teams that none of the four got right (n is the average mis-seeding):

ALL WRONG
Team	n	Team	n
BYU	1.25	Memphis	1.25
Creighton	2	Michigan	1
Florida State	-1	Montana	-1
Gonzaga	-1	Norfolk State	-1
Harvard	2	Southern Miss	-1.75
Iona	-3	St. Bonaventure	1
LIU-Brooklyn	1

As mentioned above, Iona surprised just about everyone with their inclusion and was the only team that all four bracketologists left off of their projections.  The only other teams left off were BYU (Bracketville), California (Huguenin), and North Carolina State (Palm).

And finally, here are the teams that only one of the Bracketologists got correct:

• Bracketville [3]: Colorado State (11), Murray State (6), UNLV (6)
• CBS Sports (Palm) [4]: California (12), Cincinnati (6), New Mexico State (13),VCU (12)
• ESPN (Lunardi) [4]: Georgetown (3), Louisville (4), Purdue (10), Texas (11)
• Yahoo! Sports (Huguenin) [7]: Colorado (11), Davidson (13), North Carolina State (11), Notre Dame (7), San Diego State (6), Temple (5), Virgina (10)

Okay, that is all.

Introducing the Florida State…Gators?

Thanks to a heads up from a friend (Jonathan), apparently THE Florida State University has decided to follow the lead of Arkansas State and UL-Monroe and get rid of its hostile nickname and mascots.  That’s right!  No longer will Chief Osceola charge out onto the field — flaming spear in hand — riding his trusty horse Renegade.  No longer will FSU exploit Native Americans for its financial benefits.

According to ESPN2, Florida State now has a new logo representing the proud university in Tallahassee.  ESPN2 unveiled it while showing the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket.  Take a look:

Ah, that looks great.  That looks awesome.  That looks…………hey, wait a minute.  Let’s get a closer look at that:

WHOOPS!  That looks a lot like another university’s logo.  I’ve seen it before…but where?  I cannot put my finger on it.  Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to see the new look Florida State Gators take on the winner of the Miami-Georgia Tech game.