[Cider Jim]

So, Flame Fans, are you pulling for VMI...
(1) because it's an in-state school just up the road from Lynchburg on 501 North?
(2) because you hate Greg Marshall and his tailored suits?

OR

Are you pulling for Winthrop...
(1) because it's Jeff Meyer's old school?
(2) because...(I can't even think of a second reason)

[Libertine]

VMI. Because I like Duggar's sweater vest better than the Gregg's 3-button suit.

[Fumblerooskies]

I am pulling for Winthrop because I want the best representative for the conference and I am a Marshall fan.

[SuperJon]

You're no longer welcome on this board.

[Cider Jim]

I am a Marshall fan.

Fumble, if you're serious, please tell us why. I've been on this board since Christmas break, and I think you are the first Flame Fan to also side with Coach Marshall.

[Fumblerooskies]

Here's the reason for my Marshall Man-crush...

I have a deep rooted hatred towards Radford...
...they knocked us (UNCA) out of the tourney on a buzzer beater in OT one year at the Vines (hence, my distaste for Bradley). The next year, Radford was supposed to be the big dog in the league, and WU knocked them out in the finals the first year Asheville hosted the tournament...that's reason #1. In the two years we (UNCA) hosted, and I was responsible for the medical set-up, Marshall and I just hit it off...
...also, he went to HS at a rival school in Roanoke. Can he be a tool, absolutely...
..but I really respect what he has done.

[TIMSCAR20]

I must admit that Gregg Marshall and me go way back and I consider him a friend. I know that doesn't sit well on this board but what can you do. However I am rooting for my man Jason Allison to get the big south ring that he should have got 10 years ago when he was playing. I have got to know Duggar Baucom better too recently and I really like his style. Great guy. I will be rooting for the Keydets!

[Cider Jim]

Since I'm a Marshall grad & both the Herd and the Keydets used to be in the Southern Conference, I'm pulling for VMI.

[bigsmooth]

go keydets!!! i want the golf shop worker duggar baucom with his hideous sweater vests to win!

[Casper]

Go Eagles! I want the Big South to be well represented.


Also, on a side note.....Marshall is the man.

[Fumblerooskies]

Winthrop (27-4) is a heavy favorite in Saturday's Big South title game.

Ready for some auto bids? The fun starts Saturday. Here's a primer to get you through the first weekend of the madness:

Saturday, March 3

Big South (VMI at Winthrop, ESPN2, 2 ET)
Virginia Military Institute spent all season as an freakish novelty act, leading the country in points per contest (102.7 a game, 15 points higher than No. 2 North Carolina) and featuring the nation's leading scorer (Reggie Williams, 28.6 ppg). The Keydets' goals were simple: 100 shot attempts per game, 50 3-pointers and 30 forced turnovers. But the 104.4 ppg VMI gave up in league play, leading to a 5-9 league record and a tourney No. 6 seed, made it all seem like just so much harmless fun.

The Keydets, however, stopped being cute when they upended No. 3 seed Liberty and second-seeded High Point earlier this week, earning them a national TV spot in the title game. And to everyone's surprise, VMI came out slow and steady against Liberty, shocking the Flames (who had already beaten the Keydets 122-117 and 118-108) in a relatively plodding 79-78 upset, one that caused chancellor Jerry Falwell to pull the plug on head coach Randy Dutton's tenure. The relative restraint continued in the 91-81 semifinal win over High Point, which also had swept the Keydets in the regular season.

The Keydets' championship game opponent is Winthrop, which just completed the first undefeated season in Big South history (14-0), breezed through the first two rounds by a combined margin of 49 points and carries only losses to four Top 25 teams (North Carolina, Wisconsin, Texas A&M and Maryland). All this has likely earned Winthrop an NCAA Tournament slot win or lose, and the Eagles have already dropped 108 and 109 points on VMI this year. But which Keydets team will show up on Saturday -- the high-octane freak show, or the fundamentals-first squad that lulled Liberty and outglassed High Point (only the fourth time this season VMI has outrebounded a Div. I opponent)? If there's any potentially dramatic scenario for a team that hasn't lost since Jan. 2, this is it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/champweek ... id=2785653

[Cider Jim]

...Winthrop, which just completed the first undefeated season in Big South history (14-0)...

Has Scar or anyone else brought up this stat?

I knew they were undefeated, but I never realized that this was a first in BSC history.

[SuperJon]

Yes, it's been beaten to death.

[thepostman]

If people have read many of my past posts there is nothing I hate more the media hype....and WU is getting tons of it...I hate when people just assume a team is going to win....It hasn't even crossed their mind that an upset could happen...Now am I saying an upset WILL happen?? I doubt it, but you never know....when VMI is playing well they are a good team....

GO VMI!!!!!!

thats kind of weird...haha

plus it always feels a little better when you lose in a tournament if the team you lost to ends up winning it....

[TIMSCAR20]

Yep Cider, I hit on it during the quarter-final game the other night. Also Jim I have a question. Since you are a Marshall Grad shouldn't you be rooting for Gregg and WU? He was a coach there and his name is Marshall. If there was a coach named Libety or Flames, I would feel obligated to root for him

[Fumblerooskies]

I think its great a Big South team is getting love...
...regardless of who it is. ESPN College GameDay just ran a "Gregg Marshall Wired" feature where he was mic'd up and filmed at practice. A shame they did not see him really wired...purple and all.

[Cider Jim]

Scar, I'm aware that Marshall used to coach at Marshall (which sounds redundant), but he's just too polished and too pretty (you've seen his tailored suits) to have any real association with West Virginia, so I've got to pull for the Keydets.

[thepostman]

I thought this game was on espn2 at 2pm...I am getting Villinova-Syracuse

EDIT...I just looked on espn.com its suppose to be on espn, but the Michigan State/Wisconsin game hasn't finished up yet

[krh44]

Bubble fans unite to root on Winthrop's Eagles Change Bubble Watch Version: 3/2/2007 3/1/2007 2/28/2007 2/27/2007 2/25/2007 2/20/2007 2/18/2007 2/13/2007 2/10/2007 2/7/2007 1/30/2007 1/23/2007 1/16/2007
By Andy Glockner
ESPN.com

Penn might have broken the bracket ice Friday night, clinching the Ivy's regular-season crown and the first bid to the 2007 NCAA Tournament, but Saturday is the first real day of bracket business -- and Bubble Nation has its first team to cheer for.
If you are a fan of Purdue or Georgia Tech or Kansas State or any other team harboring at-large dreams, you'll want to tune in at 2 ET on ESPN2 and root your tail off for Winthrop to win the Big South title.

Some good fortune has smiled upon the bubblers already. With 13-18 VMI's unlikely march to the Big South final from the 6-seed, a loss for the Eagles would be much, much more harmful for their at-large profile than had they lost to High Point, the conference's No. 2 team. Still, the best result for every team in the tables below is for Winthrop to get the auto bid and remove itself from at-large contention.

There was one other large development from Friday night that also helped the bubble teams -- App State's tough 89-87 OT loss to College of Charleston in the SoCon semis.

A rough pre-game calculation of App State's profile exclusively with transfer Donte Minter in the lineup showed the Mountaineers at 19-3 with an RPI in the high 30s and away/neutral wins over Virginia, Vanderbilt, VCU and Wichita State. That is a profile worth very serious at-large consideration, especially as it held up in a modest conference.

Now? The Mountaineers almost certainly are done, victimized by a sensational performance by CofC guard Dontaye Draper (38 points, including 29 after halftime) and an awful shooting night from guard D.J. Thompson (1 of 15 before a meaningless 3 at the buzzer). Saturday's Bobby Cremins-back-to-the-NCAAs angle against Davidson is nice, but being denied the battle of the SoCon titans, possibly with an at-large in the offing, is a bit disappointing -- for everyone but fans of bubble dwellers. Yes, Davidson is 26-4, but a lack of real profile heft makes them an at-large long shot if they lose to the Cougars.


Here is another article on WU

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/index

[thepostman]

This is turning into one heck of a game...Marshall could end up very, very purple if things keep close...

40-39 WU at the half....

I really want VMI to pull this thing off

[Cider Jim]

Halftime Score:

VMI 39
Winthrop 40

The Keydets are losing but are doing much better than anyone expected, and it's causing Marshall to sweat bullets in that tailored pinstipe suit of his.

[El Scorcho]

48 to 46 with 16:36 to go in the second; Winthrop in the lead. VMI is keeping up so far.

[El Scorcho]

53 to 53 with 13:56 to play.

[El Scorcho]

61 to 53, Winthrop, with 12:15 to play.

Yep. Just like that.

[SuperJon]

Winthrop rolled off 9 after that before Chavis Holmes hit a layup.