Living on the Edge

Tipoff

The conference season concluded on Sunday with many thrilling games, but an ominous reminder of the world in which we live made its presence felt yet again. The talk of college basketball on Thursday morning was the Duke Blue Devils, yet again. This time, the team announced a positive case of COVID-19 in the midst of their ACC Tournament run. Out of an abundance of caution, Duke decided to stay at its hotel in Durham, North Carolina, rather than the hotels where the other teams were staying in nearby Greensboro. Unbeknownst to the team, an outbreak of COVID-19 on Duke’s campus coincided with the ACC Tournament. What little hopes Duke had left of making the NCAA Tournament were popped, ending a 26-year streak of NCAA Tournament appearances. That this headline occurred almost exactly a year to the day as the cancellation of the 2020 college basketball season was a jarring reminder of the threat posed to the NCAA Tournament.

Duke, of course, was not alone. ACC regular season leader Virginia had to pull out of the tournament on Friday and then Kansas announced several players had tested positive for COVID-19. Both Kansas and Virginia remain hopeful to play in the NCAA Tournament, although the Cavaliers may not be able to practice before their Saturday game. Another North Carolina team, MEAC regular season leaders NC A&T, also had to withdraw from their conference tournament over a positive COVID-19 test. Their one shot at making the NCAA Tournament ended on what might have been a false-positive. Ubiquitous tweeter and college basketball journalist Jon Rothstein would call this the “epitome of brutality.”

In a more stunning development on Monday night, The Field of 68’s own Jeff Goodman broke the news that 6 referees, already in Indianapolis for the tournament, were sent home after a positive test and contract tracing revealed the group had attended dinner together, maskless and indoors, when their hotel rooms were not ready. These are all reminders that the NCAA Tournament, with games scheduled to kick off in days, is still at serious risk. Teams from all over the country are descending upon Indiana for competition. We can all find faults in the plans to hold the NCAA Tournament so close after the ending of the conference tournament schedule. On the other hand, these may all end up as isolated reminders of the risk we face and not the existential threat to the sport from a year ago.

The Mixtape

The Field of 68 team puts out lots of great content each week. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

• Have you ever thought to yourself, “wow, there are a ton of teams I’ve never heard about and would love to have a scouting report before filling out my bracket.” You’re in luck! The team from Field of 68 has a brand new series that debuted over the weekend, Courting Cinderella. In this series of 20 short videos, you can get inside info on mid-major conference tournament champions that will play the top seeds this weekend. Hear about Oral Roberts, Withrop, and UNC-Greensboro, among others, from the coaches that faced them this season. We ask the question to each, how can they win a game in the NCAA Tournament this year?

• Now that the conference tournament season is over, the coaching carousel swung into high speed. On Monday, Indiana axed Archie Miller, Minnesota dismissed Richard Pitino, and Iowa State iced Steve Prohm. For Indiana, a group of alumni ponied up $10 million to cover the cost of firing Miller. Can you imagine someone paying you $10 million not to work? Incredible! I hope Archie takes a year off, traveling the world on a yacht or something. At any rate, the House of Hoosier podcast with IU standout AJ Guyton takes a look at what went down and who the Hoosiers could target to replace Coach Knight, er, I mean Coach Miller. It’s been more than 2 decades and they are still trying to replace a legend. Coaching can be a tough job.

• On 68 Shining Moments, Jeff Goodman checks in with Loyola-Chicago legend Clayton Custer and head coach Porter Moser of the 2018 Final Four team. You may remember the Ramblers from Sister Jean and a series of late-game heroics to survive and advance. The Ramblers are back in the NCAA Tournament this year and, should they survive their first round matchup with Georgia Tech, could face 1-seed Illinois in a highly anticipated matchup. Check this video out to relieve the run and get ready for this year’s team.

• Breaking News! The Field of 68 has been released. Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster break other news that former Purdue Assistant Micah Shrewsberry will take over as the head coach at Penn State. Our fearless leaders, Rob and Jeff, then dive into the brackets and break down the key matchups in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Four Point Play

Each Tuesday, we’ll check in with one of our podcast hosts and see what they’re up to in addition to producing compelling content for us at The Field of 68.

This week, we check in with former Michigan guard Stu Douglass, host of Go Blue with Stu: A Michigan Basketball podcast (available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts).

1. Michigan is the 1-seed in the “East Region” this year following their B1G Regular Season Title. The Wolverines face a tough bracket with SEC Champions Alabama as the 2-seed and Big 12 Tournament Champs Texas as the 3-seed. Besides getting senior forward Isaiah Livers healthy (he suffered a stress reaction in his foot last week), what does Michigan need to do to survive and advance to the Final Four?

• They have to figure out who is going to be aggressive and when. They have a lot of talent and have proven they can win without Isaiah. Mike Smith proved he can step up during the B1G Tournament. Sometimes, it seems like the team thinks there is too much talent. Franz Wagner will defer to other guys, for example. I would really like to see Franz take over more games and step up to fill that void. Be comfortable with each other and find that confidence.

1. Now all eyes are on Indiana. You hail from Carmel, just outside of Indianapolis. As someone that grew up immersed in Hoosier basketball culture, what can you tell people about what it is like playing basketball as a high schooler in Indiana, and what makes it unique?

• I remember as a kid that going to the high school gym was a big event. Even if the local team wasn’t the best, it was still a big event. I grew up in a small town, Cicero, before moving to Carmel for high school. When I was in high school, we played Greg Oden and Mike Conley in one game and then Eric Gordon in the next. It was a huge event for the community. I’ll never forget playing Mike Conley in high school. He was like going against an NBA point guard when he was 17 years old. Seeing him, I saw what level I needed to get to in my own career.

1. You and Da’Sean Butler both played for head coach John Beilein and play professionally in Israel. I asked Da’Sean about his favorite thing about playing in Israel. He said it was the people. My favorite thing about Israel is getting fries in a falafel sandwich. What’s yours?

• It’s an accumulation of things. The weather, the people, the basketball. Millions of people live there, but it is still a small community. The basketball community is very tight but the environment is relaxed. I started playing in Spain and remember being pushed in practice a lot. There was a lot more rigidity there compared to being in Israel. The life and lifestyle is very nice over there. It’s a great mix.

And one!

1. You are a fellow Member of the Tribe and have spent years playing professionally in Israel. My wife went to Michigan and we’ve visited campus a lot. There’s a deli and sandwich shop in Ann Arbor that we both know well. You seem like the perfect person to answer this question, so here it is: What’s your order at Zingerman’s Deli?

• I can’t remember the number right now, but the barbeque chicken sandwich is my go-to. The menu is daunting at times. I get there about once a summer and always go back to it. It’s like the first time every time you go.

Look out for upcoming episodes of Go Blue with Stu with featured guest, Mark Hughes, former NCAA Champion on the 1989 Michigan Wolverines and current Assistant GM for the Los Angeles Clippers. The podcast will also take a look at Michigan’s prospects in the NCAA Tournament and then will feature current Michigan alum playing in the NBA.

Tuesday Superlatives

Each week, we will shine a light on a team and an individual player that has captured the hearts of the world of college basketball.

• Team of the Week: Georgetown

  • Hoya Saxa! The Georgetown Hoyas as Big East Champions again and for the first time under head coach Patrick Ewing. Better yet, it all went down in Madison Square Garden. Can we say team of destiny? The Hoyas began the season picked last in the Big East and muddled through the regular season at just 9-12, good for 8th in the conference. After a solid win over Marquette, the Hoyas held off Villanova by 1 and then took care of business against Seton Hall before blowing out Creighton, 73-48, in the conference tournament title game on Saturday. The Hoyas stole a bid for the Big East and will be playing 5-seed Colorado on Saturday.

• Player of the Week: Matt Coleman

  • The Texas point guard is Big Man on Campus in Austin after his incredible performance in the Big 12 Tournament, which included scoring a team-high 19 points in a 1-point victory over Texas Tech in the semis. Coleman then outperformed conference Player of the Year and future NBA Draft pick Cade Cunningham and Oklahoma State in the finals by scoring 30 points. This next sentence might shock you, so be prepared. This was the first time Texas has ever won the Big 12 Conference Tournament. It’s true! The Longhorns had never won the Big 12 Tournament, first held in 1997, after the Big 8 was retired in favor of a bigger, more Texas-like conference name and number.