Fab Melo deemed ineligible for NCAA Tourney

Since the end of their season, Syracuse was projected to have a number 1 seed in the Big Dance. They achieved that goal, and now they’re looking to run all the way to New Orléans. However, they’ve just had a major setback. Fabricio Melo, the sophomore center hailing from Brazil, has been deemed ineligible  for the NCAA Tournament. Yahoo! Sports initially broke the story. Melo was deemed ineligible by the university, not by the NCAA.

When I first saw the headline, I was shocked. How is Syracuse going to fight through this? Many bracketeers have them getting to the Final Four. Despite their high seed and 31-2 overall record, I don’t think they will get farther than the Elite Eight. When you add this “Melo drama” to the mix, it becomes a cloud over the university.

Syracuse has fought off adversity with no problems this year. The Bernie Fine allegations, the Jim Boehiem suit, and now this. They have the talent to get through this tournament, but can they do it without their spark? Melo is the guy on that team that provides the energy, thus with him out they will need to find replacement energy either off their bench or in their starters.

Do you think the Orange can go far in this tournament without Melo?

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Check back tomorrow at 9 a.m for a post on reigning MVP D-Rose.

March Madness is here!

On Sunday, the NCAA Selection Committee announced the field of 68 for this year’s Division 1 tournament. The bubble teams that made the tourney include BYU, USF and NC State.

Every year, there are some bubble teams rejected by the Committee, usually based on their weak SOS (strength of schedule) This year, Drexel is a perfect example of that. Although they went 27-6, they failed to get in the tournament because of their SOS (213). While Drexel did not make it in, Iona College did…Who would’ve guess Iona would be in the tourney? 90% of analysts didn’t even have them as their First 4 Out. Iona did just as good as Drexel (25-7) but with a SOS of 144. I guess now I can see why they were chosen over Drexel.

The Gaels will look to make a run in this year's NCAA Tournament (1.bp.blogspot.com)

To be honest, the Committee did a great job this year with the bubble teams. The biggest snubs were Drexel and Washington, and you can make a case for them being in or out of the tourney. Usually, the Committee completely misses a team that truly deserves a spot.

I think the field this year has some great teams, ut the real strength lies in the bubble teams. Iona, Ohio, Vermont, and NC State all have great chances to knock a top seed out f the tournament. Can they get all the way to the Final 4 like VCU did last year? I’d love to see that happen.

What do you think of the field? Any huge surprises?

Happy March Madness!
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