CBI Bits and Bytes: Whose season gets Scrubbed tonight?

Denise the hot intern, above, smiles despite preparing to deliver bad news to her castmates as well as one of the two teams playing tonight at Hofstra Arena.

Tom Pecora couldn’t stop yawning in his office Monday afternoon, and for once it wasn’t I was boring him to tears.

Neither Pecora nor his staff got much sleep Sunday night as they awaited word on whether or not the Flying Dutchmen’s season would continue. The news that the Dutchmen were headed for the CBI and a home game tonight against IUPUI finally arrived around midnight, which set into motion a chain of events that had Pecora and his assistants and his staff spending all day Monday embarking on a crash course of all things IUPUI (well, not all things, we took care of that this morning!).

“What we did last night was we had two guys waiting at Hoop One Video [in New Jersey]—they were sitting in the car, two of our managers,” Pecora said. “As soon as we knew it was IUPUI, we called them at midnight. They got us three tapes and they drove back, got back here about two o’clock.

“Coach [David] Duke was sleeping here. He got up and started watching tape at six. And then I got here at eight and I started watching.”

Pecora said the plan was to produce a scouting report for the Dutchmen in time for practice Tuesday. “So for the kids, it’s business as usual,” Pecora said. “We’re usually ahead of the curve a little bit more.”

—Hofstra and IUPUI have never played each other and IUPUI has played just two CAA opponents in its 13 seasons as a Division I program. The closest connection Hofstra has to IUPUI is a thin one indeed: IUPUI plays in the Summit League, which used to be known as the Mid-Continent Conference, which in turn took in the rest of the old East Coast Conference (Buffalo, Central Connecticut, Chicago State, Northeastern Illinois and Troy State) after the ECC finally broke apart for good in 1994.

Yet is anyone surprised that Pecora, who seems to know and get along with everyone in Division I (well, except this guy), is friends with IUPUI coach Ron Hunter and exchanged texts with him late Sunday night?

Pecora and Hunter have worked together on CBS College Sports’ coverage of the NCAA Tournament and will do so again this weekend. “He texted me ‘Wow, what are the chances of us playing? Now I’ll have to buy you dinner,’” Pecora said, “Because I usually buy him dinner when he comes in to do the TV work. My response was ‘Laughed when I heard. I’ll pick you up Friday morning.’”

Judging by Hunter’s biography on the IUPUI website—which states, in part, “…Hunter has made strong defense, excellent guard play and local recruiting three of his fortes”—he and Pecora have plenty in common on the court, as well.

“I think it’s the same mid-major philosophy that you can get better guards than you can get forwards, so go out and try to play a three guard offense and you’re going to have better players on the floor,” Pecora said.

—Maybe the NCAA Tournament doesn’t take into account how a team fares in its last five or 10 games (snort), but the CBI does.

“It obviously played a role, there’s no doubt about that,” CBI spokesman Ray Cella said Monday of the impact of the Flying Dutchmen’s 8-2 finish. “That’s one of the things that everybody looks at, is the last five or last 10. They don’t admit it anymore, but they still do.”

Like with the CIT, Cella said the CBI is particularly interested in teams such as the Dutchmen, who have a young core returning next year and are eager to continue their season. “Obviously, the fact that they are a young team—even getting in two or three more practices can be helpful,” Cella said. “If they win their game on Wednesday and they continue to play, obviously, not only does it give you more opportunities to be with the kids and [work on] what you need to work on, it also gives you a sense of what the postseason is about and to try to use that to leapfrog into the following season.

“Tulsa won the first year and then was able to parlay that into the last two years [an NCAA Tournament berth last year and an NIT appearance this year]. UTEP last year, look at the year they had. Any chance you get to keep playing, keep practicing and get a game environment is going to help you, especially if you’re a young team.”

—I’m probably the only person who finds the CBI and CIT analogous to Scrubs (yes, I can in fact tie anything at all into the show created by William & Mary graduate Bill Lawrence). Allow me to explain: Scrubs has been revived from the edge of cancellation numerous times. The CBI and CIT allow teams to extend a season that seemed finished after a loss in their conference tournaments. Not bad, right?

Anyway, Scrubs is probably airing its last LAST episode tonight, right in the middle of the Dutchmen’s game against IUPUI. Someone’s season will finally be cancelled tonight as well in an enticing matchup of strengths.

Hofstra ranks among the nation’s leaders in 3-point field goal percentage defense, IUPUI shoots almost 40 percent (39.2 percent) from beyond the arc. The Dutchmen pride (booooo) themselves on limiting teams to less than 40 percent shooting, the Jaguars shoot 51.1 percent, second-best in the country behind Syracuse. It took Tom Pecora until almost February to find a starting five that gelled, IUPUI has used the same starting five in every game this season.

The Jaguars’ three double-digit scorers (Robert Glenn, Alex Young and Leroy Nobles) are all 6-foot-5 or taller, which could present some matchup problems for the Dutchmen. Greg Washington and Miklos Szabo must stay out of foul trouble, particularly early in the first half, and Nathaniel Lester will have to emerge from the doghouse to put in some time at power forward.

If one of the Jags’ trio is held under 10 points, the Dutchmen should win. If not, the race to see whose season gets Scrubbed will go right to the wire and be too close to call. Either way, see you there. I’ll be the guy screaming how the Fordham, Seton Hall and St. John’s jobs are career suicide.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Come to the CBI game tonight…or else

If you don't come to the CBI game tonight, Nelson Muntz will have a lot of fun first beating you up and then laughing at us if consistent fan disinterest sets off an unfortunate chain of events for Dutch Nation (snort).

What I’m about to write is a bit redundant, the basketball blogger version of a priest imploring a parish full of people to come to church. I mean, if you’re one of the nine Long Islanders reading this, there’s a really good chance you’re going to the CBI game tonight against IUPUI (so many jokes about body odor and bowel movements, so little time). So you are not the target audience for a come to Jesus type of message.

So I guess what I’m trying to say here is print this out and show it to your neighbors, your friends, your enemies and that guy down at the corner who is muttering about the end of the world. Because Hofstra basketball as we know it may rest on getting a good crowd to the Arena tonight.

A bit hyperbolic? Perhaps. But there’s a lot more at stake than the chance to continue playing for the CBI championship.

For one thing, it’d be a shame to lose the attention of the administration we insist never takes the fan base into consideration on anything. Jack Hayes said Monday the decision to play in the CBI was entirely basketball based, but I believe the school is rewarding the small but vocal crowd that makes up Dutch Nation (snort) by deciding to play in the CBI. After all, I wasn’t the only person annoyed when the school didn’t pursue a bid to the CBI or CIT last season after the Dutchmen won 21 games.

The explanation that Hofstra is participating in the tournament this season because of its youthful core sounds good, until you realize the Dutchmen were just about as young last year as this despite the presence of six seniors. Hayes said five of the Dutchmen’s top seven players this season, in terms of minutes played, are underclassmen. But last year, the top six Dutchmen, in terms of average minutes per game, were underclassmen (the five returnees as well as Tony Dennison).

Hofstra hates bad publicity. While the school may catch some scorn for playing in a second-tier tournament, nobody’s going to threaten to cancel their season tickets because of it.

This isn’t to say Hofstra was entirely altruistic in accepting a CBI bid and hosting a game. From an administrative point of view, Hofstra had plenty of reason to continue the season. One more win gives the Dutchmen 20, and a 20-win season looks a lot better for everyone involved than a 19-win season. And a win tonight means there’s a pretty good chance Hofstra can declare it played deeper into March than Stony Brook and George Mason. If you think that doesn’t matter to the people who make the decisions in Hempstead, you’re crazy.

In addition, there is considerable mystery over how much Hofstra paid to host a CBI game, if anything. Hayes said Monday the CBI asked him not to comment on the fee while a CBI spokesman told me that “…we don’t talk about that stuff.”

My guess, given the very friendly price tag tonight—$10 tickets, with groups of 20 or more able to buy tickets for the bargain price of $2 apiece and students and faculty getting in free—is that Hofstra is already operating in the black.

But regardless of whether the school paid $60,000 or nothing at all, the administration is still willing to invest in the possibility of a long and expensive tournament run by the Dutchmen, who need to get to the best-of-three CBI championship series (OK, I’m sorry that is still weird, I thought best-of-three series went out of vogue when the NBA did away with them in the early ‘80s) in order to get another home game because the Arena is unavailable next week.

How’s this potential itinerary sound to you: Fly to Duquesne Sunday night for a game Monday, beat the Dukes, then board another flight Tuesday to Kentucky (Morehead State), Colorado State or Oregon State for a semifinal game a week from today. (Of course, the hope is the Dutchmen win tonight and only have to bus to Princeton and Boston for their next two games) And if the Dutchmen were to reach the championship series, the only possible opponent within driving distance is VCU.

This ain’t cheap, and another game or two or five would negate tonight’s profit in a hurry. And minimal interest by the fan base further reduces the chances that Hofstra listens to those of us among the lunatic fringe and elects to participate in something like this in the future.

Look, the CBI is no NCAA or NIT. But it’s something. Bonus basketball—an almost free opportunity to once again ponder the three stars of the game and to see Our Man Corny in action and to enjoy all the other rituals of game night—is never bad. We won’t know until this time next year if the experience of the CBI had any long-term benefits for the underclassmen, but it sure can’t hurt.

Another quiet gathering at the Arena tonight, though, could hurt. I wrote it after the two preseason NIT games drew flies and I continue to believe it: At some point, if the Dutchmen continue to toil in anonymity, Hofstra will re-evaluate its commitment to the program.

Fan interest, or lack thereof, made it easy to justify the elimination of football. I’m not one of those people who thinks Hofstra is eager to swing the ax again, but what if the interest generated by the program continues to lag behind the investment made in it?

I doubt Hofstra will ever drop to Division III or out of athletics entirely, but why should it continue to send the team to Kansas and prestigious pre-season tournaments if nobody cares? Why shouldn’t it just absorb the embarrassment of going back to the America East, hat in hand, or another low mid-major conference?

Most of all, if nobody cares, why should Tom Pecora? This is a convenient segue to mention that I am not oblivious to the news and scuttlebutt connecting Pecora to the vacancy at Fordham. In fact, I have spent several hours the last two days screaming LA LA LA PECORA IS STAYING HERE FOREVER I CAN’T HEAR YOU STEVE MARCUS LA LA LA!!!”

This is where being a total homer comes in handy. If I cared about the Flying Dutchmen as much as I cared about, say, the Red Sox, I’d be stirring the pot too, wondering in print and pixels where Pecora will be coaching next season.

But there are still games to be played, stories to be told and, hopefully, a championship trophy to be won this season. There will be plenty of time, whenever this season ends, to ponder the possibility of Pecora leaving, which, it should be noted, I do about as often as I take in air.

I will say this though: You can do your part to convince him to stay by showing up tonight. Pecora has been here 16 years and is spending as much time in 2010 as he did in 1994 trying to remind the locals as well as the student body that there’s Division I basketball being played in Hempstead. That is beginning to wear on the guy. Give him an idea of what things could be like here by showing up four or five thousand strong.

If not? Don’t say I didn’t warn you. On multiple levels. Pass it on.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Learn all about IUPUI with fan/blogger Michael Hadley (a/k/a “RedZoneIUPUI”)!

OK they've got a fiercer logo than us, I'll admit that.

In one of those gloriously only-in-the-21st-century moments, I didn’t have to go far at all to learn what an IUPUI is. Earlier this season, I “met” Michael Hadley, an IUPUI student and the biggest fan of the Jaguars basketball team, on Twitter, where a shared appreciation of mid-major basketball led to a fast friendship despite a vast age difference (get off my lawn!) and the fact our alma maters are separated by half a country.

Of course, relations have grown far frostier since late Sunday night, when the you-gotta-be-kidding-me news broke: Hofstra is hosting IUPUI in the first round of the CBI tonight. Seriously, what were the odds of that?

But in between exchanging prank calls and computer viruses (open that file, dude, it’s fine!), Michael and I agreed to a friendly wager (when Hofstra wins, he’ll send me a souvenir from Indianapolis Motor Speedway; should Hofstra elect to forfeit, I’ll send him a Billy Joel CD) and to conduct Q&As in which we’d discuss our schools. So here’s that big jerk Michael with all you could ever want to know about IUPUI, which sure sounds like the midwestern version of our beloved Hofstra. Visit his blog at http://www.studentonsports.blogspot.com/ for more on Michael and the IUPUI program as well as my Q&A—and be nice to him when the Flying Dutchmen win tonight!

Was IUPUI named by someone drunk on alphabet soup?

My best guess is that the people getting the schools to combine decided to go for the longest name in the nation...rumor has it they succeeded, though some say there are other schools with longer names. Sometimes I like to pretend that's not one of the only "claims-to-fame" that we have. Then I remember it is and...oh well.

Would you like to buy ANOTHER vowel?

I like the U's, and the I's make sense...though I feel like an A could be helpful.

Seriously, tell us about the dual affiliation with Indiana and Purdue. How did this come about?

IU always had their medical and dental schools in Indianapolis (MUCH larger community than Bloomington), and Purdue put some of their schools here, too. By the 60s they had begun talks about giving Indy another school (other than School of Sports Medicine, Butler, U Indy). In 1969 they combined IU and Purdue into a whole new IUPUI. We don't receive funding from either, but do obtain a degree from "IU" or "Purdue" depending on which program we go through (I'm at the IU School of Liberal Arts). We're 8th on the "Up and Coming" list of school which is really awesome for a school as new as IUPUI. Ohio State is #9 to give you some perspective.

What year are you at IUPUI and were you a fan of the team before you got to campus?

I'm in my second year at IUPUI - not necessarily a sophomore because I've changed my major and can only take 12 credit hours a semester. I've always loved "Mid Major" sports, though I didn't know IUPUI existed until my junior year of high school (a teacher told me they have a great Computer Science program). Once I saw the campus I fell in love, and applied to both IUPUI and Eastern Michigan. I began following IUPUI basketball the following fall (which culminated in the notorious "Mascot Fight" at the Summit League Tournament), including first-round NBA Draft Pick George Hill (GH3!!!). It was an easy love, Ron Hunter is one of the most animated and generous (see: Samaritan's Feet) coaches in D-1 basketball, and the players all know us (Facebook!) and openly appreciate everything we do for them.

I read where 89% of the IUPUI student body is from Indiana. What is student life like on campus? Comprised more of commuters or residents?

We only have about 5% of students live on campus...so...commuters. We have a terrible problem getting people to games (average of 20 "Red Zoners" and probably 800 other fans per game). Then again all student life suffers, its not just basketball turnout. Most students are older (lots of people "coming back to school") and aren't interested in on-campus activities.

Along those lines: IUPUI is a fairly new D-I program in a state that loves its college basketball and has the Colts and Pacers as well. Has it been tough for IUPUI to gain a foothold among the student body and community?

We're really trying to gain support in the community...but it's hard when OMG IU and OMG PURDUE and OMG COLTZ dominate everything. We didn't even have a write up for over half of the games in the Indy Star. We play a few games each year at Conseco Fieldhouse (home of the Pacers) and I am personally trying to spark interest in Indianapolis-based businesses in advertising/promoting the games. As we get better and continue to win (like against Hofstra), it will get better.

Describe the atmosphere at an IUPUI game.

Well the "general public" are there for a show. This year it was Robert Glenn and Alex Young, in the past it's been others. We students are absolutely insane (my signs are always a hit with everyone), and the players are almost all local (3 of the 5 starters went to school within 15 minutes of campus, and I think 4 bench players did the same). IUPUI didn't lose a game at The Jungle this year, boasting a very impressive margin of victory (my guess is 12+ points) including a 24-point blowout of Summit Champion Oakland on whiteout night (created by yours truly). There are chants, lots of "SUCKS!" and plenty of opposing-coach harassing. (My favorite was during the Duquesne game..."HEY COACH,THIS IS PRETTY EMBARRASSING HUH" which resulted in a death stare from him.)

IUPUI sounds like something that is easy to chant, both as a fan and a foe. What are some of the best chants you've heard on both sides of the aisle?

IUPUI never really has any opposing fans that chant at us, and if they do we easily drown them out. Some of our favorites are "The White Stripes Chant" (Ohhhhh, oh oh oh ohhhh ohhhh) with one-to-go in each half; "HEY #(number), YOU SUCK"; "YOU LET THE WHOLE TEAM DOWN" during free throws; and of course "AY5! AY5! AY5!" when Alex scores/dunks/etc.

Give us New York snobs the lowdown on the Summit League: The good, the not-so-good and everything in between.

This year there were 3 great teams (Oakland, IUPUI, and Oral Roberts...tee hee), 2 competitive but not dangerous teams (South Dakota State and North Dakota State), 3 eh...teams (UMKC, IPFW and Western Illinois) and 2 God-awful teams (Southern Utah and Centenary). Really anyone could win on any given night, but the top-3 were the best by far. Next year will be different, a lot of the bottom teams have a lot of people coming back.

Who is IUPUI's biggest rival?

Probably ORU, though Oakland is getting there. IUPUI has a lot of trouble with ORU, and even more so in Tulsa. Robert Jarvis (graduated last year) lit us up big at The Jungle, despite my "HEY JARVIS, YOU SUCK" sign. This year the 2 games we played in the regular season were decided by a TOTAL of 4 points.

What is your fondest memory as an IUPUI fan? And your most painful memory?

Fondest by far was winning by 24 over Oakland. They played T.I's “What You Know” right after the buzzer sounded, and the players mobbed us. Least fond are three-fold, all from this year. 1) Losing on a last-second shot (at Conseco, we consider it a neutral-site game...) to Ohio. 2) Losing on a last second shot in overtime to IPFW. 3) Losing to Oakland in the tournament. All three sting still.

Tell us about IUPUI's best players, Robert Glenn and Alex Young.

Robert Glenn is a beast. He's too athletic for a center to guard and too strong for a forward to guard. He can post up outside (though he tends not to), he can drive inside (yep.) and best of all he feed off of opposing AND our energy. I'd be shocked if he never played NBA basketball. Definitely not a first-rounder, but he'll be there. Alex Young has the most upside of any Summit League player. Last year he was forced to take over the 2-guard spot after GH3 left a year early and struggled. This year he has been hot and cold, going for 30 points one game then 8 and fouling out the next. He has an amazingly smooth shot (he's a lefty, they make everything smooth), he is good for 1-2 show-stopping dunks a game, but he plays outside of his ability too much sometimes. If he continues on his improvement-path, he'll be an NBA pick for sure. Side note: They were one of two tandems to go for 18+ PPG each in all of NCAA D-1 basketball.

How long will it take you to get over Hofstra's lopsided victory?

As soon as I get my copy of Billy Joel's Greatest Hits I'll be fine. Jags by six! 81-75.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Defiantly Dutch Q&A: Jack Hayes on the CBI

We spoke Monday afternoon with Hofstra athletic director Jack Hayes, who gave a glimpse at how the school decided to pursue a bid to the CBI or CIT and how it landed a CBI home game Wednesday as well as the logistics of planning such an event and trying to generate interest in it among fans. Hope you enjoy the interview and we thank Jack for taking the time to speak with us during a busy day at the school.

Describe the process by which Hofstra ended up in the CBI. Did you begin pursuing these bids when you were eliminated from the CAA Tournament?

It pretty much started in the last couple weeks. We took a different approach than last year. Last year, we had six seniors on the team. We were 21-11 at this point last year, but with six seniors we just made the decision early on that if we were invited to the NCAA or the NIT we would accept the bid and be thrilled about it. And if not, that was going to be the end of our season. As you know, this time around, the makeup of our team is entirely different. Five of the top seven players, in terms of minutes, are people that would be coming back next year. When you have a team that’s going to return the Player of the Year in the conference, a member of the all-defensive team and two members of the all-rookie team, we felt like ‘Let’s continue to play as long as we can.’ And in conversations with the CBI and the CIT, we communicated to them that we would be interested in playing if we were invited.

Was there a point Sunday night where it became clear that the CBI was a more likely destination than the CIT?

I think we did get to the point, when it seemed like we would be invited to the CBI, that we let both groups know. We let both groups know where we were in this all along.

Throughout the process, were you feeling pretty good about getting an invite to one of the tournaments?

I think we did. They ask you what your availability is in terms of being able to travel, is your building available for home games, that type of thing. What happens in these tournaments—I’m sure you’ve seen it already in the Illinois-Stony Brook game—is that once you get into mid-March, a lot of schools’ facilities are being used for other things. And so you end up with schools that can be in it, schools that can be in it but can’t play at home. You have those conversations with the NIT, with the CBI, with the CIT. But we felt all along in those conversations about our team, about our ability to play home or away, we felt like there would be a likelihood that we’d get the phone call.

What made you decide to bid on a home game?

One thing was we knew that next week, our building was not available, which is in rounds two and three. So we discussed that [and how] we would be able to host in the first round, but if we were fortunate enough to advance, that we would not be able to. I don’t think that played a role in whether or not we were invited to the tournament. They probably sit there and say ‘If Hofstra were to participate and they don’t play at home in the first round, then they actually have no opportunity to play at home.’ So I think that may have factored into it, that we were able to host a first round game but not a second or third round game.

Reports the first two years had schools paying $60,000 to host a game. Can you say what the fee was for Hofstra?

They asked us not to. I’m sure they ran into problems there, maybe a year ago, with how they did that, so they asked us not to comment.

What is preparing for a tournament like this like from a logistical point of view?

You’ve got to be prepared for it already hoping that you get the bid, which you do every year if you’re in a position to participate in postseason play. By the time Sunday comes, you have to have the ticket office up to speed, you have to have the facilities schedule known, because you can imagine on Tuesday, IUPUI’s going to have to practice here. They don’t have to, but you have to give them the opportunity if they’d like to do so. Practice schedule to ticket information to information on the website [all has to be released].

The two preseason NIT games Hofstra hosted, neither of which could be listed on the schedule that was issued in October, didn’t draw very well at all. What are you planning to do to let people know about the CBI and to let them know there’s a basketball game at Hofstra Wednesday night?

There are some things in the preseason NIT that [limit] you—the prices are set at the beginning and group ticket discounts and student tickets and discounted tickets are not permitted. We’ve got a little bit more flexibility [with the CBI]. So even though we don’t have a significant amount of time in terms of from the announcement to when the game is played, some of those things we have already prepared for. We were able to put things up on the website and send information by email to season ticket holders, which does make it easier. Believe me, we have been thinking about the preseason NIT as we’ve been making some of these decisions in the last few days.

After Hofstra chose not to play in the CBI or CIT bid last year, you and Tom Pecora sent a letter to season ticket holders explaining the decision. Did the negative fan reaction play a factor in this year’s decision?

Two things: One, the most important, was the makeup of our team with six seniors. It didn’t really make sense for us to do this. The second piece was, as we started to move closer to the end of the season this year, we did get feedback from other teams that participated in these events. As you know, Northeastern participated in these types of events. Old Dominion has. So we’ve been on the phone with the schools that were in the [tournaments]. It was those two reasons, the primary one being the makeup of our team.

Hofstra fielded a good amount of criticism after the football program was terminated. President Rabinowitz said in announcing the decision that there were no plans to eliminate any other sports and that the school would continue to invest in its athletic program. With that in mind, what kind of message do you think hosting a CBI game, as well as the news last week that Hofstra will host the 2011 Division I lacrosse quarterfinals, sends to fans, alumni and athletes?

Anytime that you can bring national events to your campus, it’s a positive. Ultimately, what this is about is providing our team an opportunity to continue to play, and I don’t know why anyone would not think that’s a positive. If we can give the members of our team an opportunity to play in a tournament that has meaning, then we should consider it. So we were excited to do it. We’re certainly excited about that announcement last week and excited about this as well. The turnaround time does make it a little bit of a challenge, but it is what it is. I think there’s schools out there that would like the opportunity to be playing in a basketball game Wednesday, and so we’re grateful that we have that opportunity.

We want to be successful. We want to strive to be as strong an athletic program as we can.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

All the cool kids are participating in CBI CRAZINESS!

Damn straight it is!

I haven’t worked in an office in more than a decade—and no, certain friends in Mason Nation, that doesn’t mean I’ve been unemployed the entire time, but feel free to crack on me on Twitter anyway—but I imagine productivity in Dilbert land is spiraling downward today as worker bees ponder their NCAA Tournament brackets, on which they will not bet real money (snicker snicker snort snort).

(Parenthetical tangent: This reminds me of high school and when Loyal Reader Matt was running the annual pool among our group of friends that sat together at lunch. He was collecting money one year when the principal walked by and blew a gasket, taking all our brackets, throwing them out and telling us we’d be in a lot of trouble if he ever saw us gambling on school property again. What did he know? I parlayed my C-minus grades and jones for gambling and college basketball into a ragingly successful career!!)

Anyway, those worker bees poring over brackets today are a bunch of losers who need a life. How can they waste their time on something so trivial and worthless? Nobody cares about this NCAA Tournament thingy. We all know where the real action is at this time of year: CBI Craziness!

That’s right, folks: In honor of Hofstra’s appearance in the CBI,  I’m organizing the world’s biggest (re: first) CBI bracket pool, dubbed, as you may have guessed by now, CBI Craziness. Check out the CBI bracket here.

Rules are simple: Correct first round wins are worth one point apiece, second round wins are worth two points, semifinal wins four points and a championship series win eight points. Entry is free, except for the $1,000 handling fee per bracket (hey it works for Ticketmaster!). You are encouraged to participate as often as you’d like (this is for those of us in the audience who will pick their alma mater to win it all and then pick another, possibly saner bracket).

Also, any bracket that doesn’t end with Hofstra as champion is automatically disqualified.

Tiebreakers are as follows:

—Pick the number of games in the CBI championship series

—Pick the champion of the other tournament that matters now, the CIT

—Pick the champion of that tournament that mostly nobody gives a crap about, the NIT

—Pick the champion in that tournament nobody gives a crap about, the NCAA

—If there is still a tie after this, victor will be determined by a Flying Dutchmen trivia contest

Here's an example of how you should submit your bracket:

FIRST ROUND

Hofstra over IUPUI

Princeton over Duquesne

Saint Louis over Indiana State

Akron over Green Bay

VCU over George Washington

Charleston over Eastern Kentucky

Boston U. over Oregon State

Morehead State over Colorado State

SECOND ROUND

Hofstra over Princeton

Saint Louis over Akron

VCU over Charleston

Morehead State over Boston U.

SEMIFINALS

Hofstra over Morehead State

VCU over Saint Louis

CHAMPIONSHIP

Hofstra over VCU in 2 games

Winner gets two 2010 season tickets to Hofstra football. Send your entries to me at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com by 8 p.m. tomorrow night. Yes, I know the first game starts at 7. My CBI Craziness, my rules! Any questions, email me or find me on Twitter. Have fun and good luck!

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

So like I was saying all along, Hofstra is headed for the CBI

Remember all that stuff I wrote about the CIT? Forget about it! It was announced just after midnight today that Hofstra will participate in the College Basketball Invitational and will host something called an IUPUI (that bit of New York snobbery is for Twitter friend turned foe RedZoneIUPUI) Wednesday at 7 p.m. If the Flying Dutchmen win, they’ll then host a quarterfinal game a week from today.

All trash-talking aside, don’t sleep on IUPUI, which will arrive in Hempstead with quite the resume—the Jaguars finished second in the Summit League with a 15-3 record, lost to Oakland in the championship game of the Summit tournament and were 83rd in the NCAA’s RPI rankings Sunday). We’ll have plenty more on IUPUI and the CBI over the next couple days, but first, let’s chew on the pleasant and delicious surprise that is this appearance in the CBI.

As evidenced by my CIT stories and musings the last few days, I never expected Hofstra to make the financial commitment required by the CBI, which charges host teams $60,000 per game. Nor would I have blamed the school for choosing not to do so.

There is a chance Hofstra negotiated a lower price—Wisconsin-Green Bay didn’t pay to host a game last season in exchange for agreeing to play in a pre-season tournament run by the Gazelle Group, which also operates the CBI—but regardless, the school should be commended for making an investment in the men’s basketball program by committing to at least two home games. (Yes, I am lauding both Hofstra and George Mason in the same week, I do in fact feel woozy)

If Hofstra paid the full fee, then it all but assured this CBI run—no matter how long it lasts—will operate in the red. The top ticket price is $10 ($5 cheaper than the top price for a regular season game) meaning even a sellout wouldn’t recoup the school’s initial investment.

This morning’s news comes six days after the NCAA announced Hofstra won the right to host the men’s lacrosse quarterfinals in 2011 and is consistent with the message delivered the day football was killed: No other programs are in danger and every effort will be made to get them to succeed at a national level. Nothing will ever excuse the surreptitious assassination of football, but at least the powers that be are living up to their word by displaying support for the remaining sports.

You can bet the basketball staff is thrilled with this investment as well with the message it sends to conferences present and, perhaps, future as well. The CAA is sending six schools to a postseason tournament, most of any true mid-major league. The Atlantic 10 is sending eight schools to a tournament and has the most schools in the CBI (three). Interesting, yes?

Also worth noting: If Hofstra reaches the semifinals of the CBI, it will have to postpone the basketball banquet, currently scheduled for next Wednesday.

You, too, deserve credit for getting Hofstra into the CBI. The school was surprised by the negative reaction to its declining to participate in either the CBI or CIT last year, so much so that Jack Hayes and Tom Pecora sent out an email explaining the decision to season ticket holders and Pride Club members. We all know how much Hofstra hates bad publicity, so what better way to fix the damage from last season than by playing multiple home games in one of these tournaments this year?

And the most fascinating part of Hofstra participating in the CBI? It further fuels the rivalry with Stony Brook. Hours before Hofstra’s home game was finalized, the NIT pairings were released with eighth-seeded Stony Brook hosting a game against top-seeded Illinois because of a conflict at Illinois’ arena. Stony Brook AD and Hofstra alum Jim Fiore told Newsday last night that the school made $75,000 in emergency repairs to make Stony Brook Arena—which was supposed to be renovated until the economy collapsed—inhabitable for an America East title game or NIT home game.

Maybe Hofstra hosting a CBI game at the exact same time Stony Brook is hosting an NIT game is coincidence. But given how the Cold War between the schools is beginning to make the mid-‘80s relations between Russia and the United States look warm in comparison, I doubt it. Who knew a berth in the CBI could be so much fun?

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

In which I cry for help by trying to project the CIT field

Only a couple hours, hopefully, until the Flying Dutchmen are announced as part of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament field. They also have a shot at being part of the College Basketball Invitational, but my guess is Hofstra would rather make the smaller investment in hosting a CIT game, and justifiably so.

And since I’ve got issues that no amount of therapy can ever fix, here’s my attempt at CITology: A guess at the 16 teams and the eight first round games. I’m going to feel soooo foolish if Hofstra lands in the CBI.

Before I go any further: A quick evaluation of potential CIT teams indicates that even with the two extra postseason tournaments, there are plenty of schools that will be disappointed tonight. I didn’t think there would be enough deserving teams for another tournament or two when the CBI and CIT were founded, but I was wrong. I don’t envy the CIT and CBI committees tonight. As always, though, the NCAA and NIT selection committees can suck an egg.

I also, purely on a hunch, eliminated the following teams from CIT consideration because I thought they were more likely to pay for a CBI game: Fairfield, College of Charleston, Portland, Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky and Harvard.

Also remember that four schools have already locked up a CIT bid by agreeing to host a first round game: Appalachian State, Creighton, George Mason and Northern Colorado.

Iona at Hofstra: This is me pulling a Joe Lunardi. Three days after I predicted Hofstra wouldn’t participate in either the CBI or CIT because it wouldn’t want to host a game I am now predicting Hofstra will host a game. Either way, I’ll be right! I’m the man! Anyway, Newsday is reporting that “indications are” the Dutchmen will host a game in one of the tournaments Tuesday or Wednesday. I’d write more about that, or link the story, but I’m in Connecticut and I can’t access anything more than a paragraph on any Newsday.com story. And I keep getting an error message when I try to input my wife’s optonline email address. But yeah, Newsday, keep trying to bust the union and punish the writers, it’s their fault you’re in this mess.

Where was I? Oh yes. I could also see Iona going to the CBI and Hofstra hosting Boston University.

Campbell at George Mason: Just a hunch because Rich Zvosec mentioned Campbell, which finished in a four-way tie for first place in the Atlantic Sun, during our interview Friday. Also a reasonable bus ride from Campbell (located in Buies Creek, NC) to Mason. If Hofstra joins Mason in the field and both teams win their first round games, expect the Dutchmen and Patriots to face off in the second round, and for me to continue making friends with Mason Nation.

Morehead State at Appalachian State: Another matchup that makes sense both in terms of travel and merit. Morehead and Appalachian combined for 45 wins this year.

South Dakota at Northern Colorado: South Dakota has an automatic bid as the Great West champion while Northern Colorado tied a school record by winning 24 games.

Princeton at Creighton: I see the Ivy League getting one bid apiece to each of the new tournaments but have Harvard and Tommy Amaker more willing to take the chances on hosting a CBI game. I, of course, reserve the right to say I was right if Harvard ends up in the CIT field.

IUPUI at Akron: These were two schools specifically mentioned by Zvosec as schools that got screwed (my wording, not his) by the NIT after hugely successful seasons that ended with a heartbreaking loss in the conference tournament. IUPUI and Akron each advanced to their conference final this year and each won 24 games. The CIT is made for schools like these.

Stephen F. Austin at Pacific: Pacific has an RPI of 101 while Stephen F. Austin, which lost to Sam Houston State in the Southland finals Saturday, reached the NIT in 2008 and the NCAA Tournament last year

Lipscomb at UW-Milwaukee: The five players who average the most minutes on Lipscomb are all underclassmen, a big plus for a tournament that likes to reward teams with lots of talent returning the following year. Milwaukee was 7-3 in its last 10 games and gets the nod here because in-state Horizon League rival Green Bay does not seem likely to host a game in either tournament.

Other possible CIT teams: Belmont, Radford, Green Bay, Buffalo, Eastern Kentucky, Mount St. Mary’s, Lafayette, Western Carolina, Denver.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.