Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:47 pm EDT
The highlights -- and lowlights -- from everyone's favorite (and maybe the world's only) annual one-hour show. In no particular order:
1. High-Five Gate. What happens when two awkward men get together, on TV, stop being polite, start getting real and attempt to slap each others' hands in an elaborate way? The following clip. That's what happens. It's quite possibly the greatest single televised moment in the history of everything:
Whoops.
2. Meet the new boss. More polite than the old boss. Clark Kellogg is not exactly a new face. He's been on CBS for years, and his studio show work has been a constant presence for college basketball fans for longer than some can probably remember. Still, this is his first year occupying Billy Packer's vaunted old spot, and Sunday provided we, the television audience, with our first glimpse of how Kellogg will rule from his lofty announcing perch.
The answer? Quietly. Kellogg is steady and measured. His post-selection analysis was well-reasoned and unremarkable. Billy Packer would have said at least three things nobody agreed with. Kellogg's style makes him preferable, and simultaneously far less interesting.
3. Fargo is hyped on North Dakota State. North Dakota State has an enrollment of 13,000 (which is not nearly as small as I would have assumed, for whatever that's worth). It appeared that all 13,000 of them -- plus plenty of fans that don't have to pay state tuition to be there -- were in North Dakota State's gym and on CBS' cameras. Impressive showing, Bison fans. Next up: a first-round matchup with No. 3 seed Kansas.
4. West Virginia has a very special greeting for the fans at home. As West Virginia's tournament seeding -- a No. 6 seed and a matchup with No. 11-seeded Dayton -- was announced, the Mountaineers didn't cheer or clap or jump up and down. They leaned back in their chairs, put their legs in the sky, and started kicking to and fro. Sports rituals are by their very nature inexplicable, but this one took the cake.
5. Those Nike folks are good at this marketing thing. Chris Paul is the star of lots of good Nike commercials, and his latest certainly isn't the best of them. Jordan Brand's "There Are No Cinderellas" ad has yet to be topped. But Jordan's new series comes dangerously close. It shows a priest blessing all of Manhattan College's campus, and then explains why by cutting to footage of Paul beating Manhattan in 2004. It is awesome.
6. Yes, we know we are a No. 1 seed. You can leave us alone now. Even when you know your team is going to be in the tournament, you're still supposed to cheer. It's just decorum. Alas, Pittsburgh has no time for your foolish games, or for childish notions, like "happiness". When they were revealed as a No. 1 seed, they appeared to be watching an episode of "CSI". Boredom and apathy were the most prevalent emotions.
7. Fear the mighty, ye Boilermakers. It'd be a stretch to say Purdue looked intimidated by the revelation that they'll be playing Northern Iowa in the first round of the tournament. But there's no question Purdue respects its opponent. At least, that's how it looked on their live feed, as their cheers of celebration went quiet rather quickly. It was if they realized being in the tournament is nice, but oh yeah, we actually have to play some tough teams now. Reality, when it sets in, comes quickly.
8. Seth Davis likes VCU. Did Seth Davis tell you he likes VCU? Because he really likes VCU. It didn't seem like Davis was trying to hammer home the point, just that he sort of kept coming back around to it, but there's no question he got it across. Davis picked No. 11 seed VCU to beat No. 6 UCLA ... and then said so again, a few seconds later, and then again, just a minute down the line. There's an entirely serious chance that Davis moved the Vegas line on that game a point or two in VCU's direction.
9. Western Kentucky has a huge showing, but there is one notable absence. Much like North Dakota State, Western Kentucky had themselves a big ol' tourney party on Sunday, complete with screaming fans, a packed arena and a stage on the floor for the players. It was a great showing. But who goes missing? Who is nowhere to be found? That's right: Big Red, WKU's tremendous and inexplicable mascot. Where have you gone, Big Red? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
10. Bob Knight can't hear you. Please speak directly into the microphone. OK, this wasn't part of CBS' program, but Bob Knight always makes for entertaining TV, and he was in fine form on ESPN following the Selection Show. It was classic Bob Knight: intelligent basketball commentary interlaced with weird technical issues, with a few strange tangents on the side. He followed up a discussion of the merits of sundry bubble teams with a discourse on what he termed "prejudicial thinking," and something about the women's selection committee vs. the men's. Then his microphone went out, and he heard someone in his ear.
Like I said: It was classic Knight.
More Selection Sunday coverage from The Dagger: 'Snubbed' bubble teams | Five seeding mistakes | St. Mary's can complain
The Dagger is a college basketball blog edited by Jeff Eisenberg. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

Posted Jan 28 2010
Posted Jan 28 2010
Posted Jan 28 2010
Edited by MJD
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26 Comments
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I couldn't agree with you more about VCU! I think that they will be the cinderellas of this Tournament.
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Yep, true, absolutely, and Amen!!! Can you tell I couldn't agree more?
Sounds like I'm not the only one who is glad to be rid of Packer. Remember a few years ago when he criticized the tournament selection committee unreasonably and harshly for letting in 4 Missouri Valley Conference teams - and then two of them rubbed his face all over it by making it to the Sweet Sixteen!!!
My favorites are Bill Raftery, Jay Bilas, and Len Elmore. Clark is cool too, but I haven't heard him announce an NCAA tournament game yet.
I'm a tournament junkie - anybody else remember these classic lines?
From Bilas during a Cincinnati-Kentucky all-out war a few years ago: "The meek may inherit the earth, but they're not getting a single rebound in this game." It was so apt, those two teams were going after it with every ounce of all they had.
From Len Elmore (probably more than once): "Somebody better get a tissue and wipe the egg off the defenders face after that dunk".
These guys are each unique in their own way, colorful, and a joy to listen to. They add so much to every game they call.
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Greg Anthony asked him a couple of great, probing questions, including one directly about lack of mid-major teams and the unfairness of the difficulty they have in scheduling the big boys so they can improve their 'body of work'. Swing and a miss! Slives answer made it seem like he didn't hear the question, or was reading from a script - or worse yet, that he realizes there's injustice there and he doesn't want to address it!
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My favorite play-by-play guy right now is Gus Johnson. Tell me his schedule so that I can see all the games he announces!
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huh?
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Purdue just won the conference tournament for the #2 RPI conference.
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Hey, VCU is going to make some noise again. They're not going to blink at a big name like UCLA coming up against them. Not a all.
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I used to love college hoops, but espn and vitale killed it. nba is fun to watch and now im hooked.
go wildcats.....
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