FrontRowSportsReport.com: Sports Blog

The 2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament selections are set and of course we have teams that are happy and teams that are upset they weren’t selected. Doesn’t matter anymore because we are ready for some March Madness. Below is the complete first round for the 2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament . Be sure to join our FREE 2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament Challenge where the winner takes home $100 - click here to create your free entry.

EAST (Charlotte, N.C.)

Raleigh, N.C.
Friday, March 21
No. 1 North Carolina (32-2) vs. No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s-Coppin State winner
No. 8 Indiana (25-7) vs. No. 9 Arkansas (22-11)

Denver
Thursday, March 20
No. 5 Notre Dame (24-7) vs. No. 12 George Mason (23-10)
No. 4 Washington State (24-8) vs. No. 13 Winthrop (22-11)

Birmingham, Ala.
Friday, March 21
No. 2 Tennessee (29-4) vs. No. 15 American (21-11)
No. 7 Butler (29-3) vs. No. 10 South Alabama (26-6)

No. 3 Louisville (24-8) vs. No. 14 Boise State (25-8)
No. 6 Oklahoma (22-11) vs. No. 11 Saint Joseph’s (21-12)

MIDWEST (Detroit)

Omaha, Neb.
Thursday, March 20
No. 1 Kansas (31-3) vs. No. 16 Portland State (23-9)
No. 8 UNLV (26-7) vs. No. 9 Kent State (28-6)

Tampa, Fla.
Friday, March 21
No. 5 Clemson (24-9) vs. No. 12 Villanova (20-12)
No. 4 Vanderbilt (26-7) vs. No. 13 Siena (22-10)

Raleigh, N.C.
Friday, March 21
No. 2 Georgetown (27-5) vs. No. 15 UMBC (24-8)
No. 7 Gonzaga (25-7) vs. No. 10 Davidson (26-6)

Omaha, Neb.
Thursday, March 20
No. 3 Wisconsin (29-4) vs. No. 14 Cal State Fullerton (24-8)
No. 6 Southern California (21-11) vs. No. 11 Kansas State (20-11)

SOUTH (Houston)

Little Rock, Ark.
Friday, March 21
No. 1 Memphis (33-1) vs. No. 16 Texas Arlington (21-11)
No. 8 Mississippi State (22-10) vs. No. 9 Oregon (18-13)

Denver
Thursday, March 20
No. 5 Michigan State (25-8) vs. No. 12 Temple (21-12)
No. 4 Pitt (26-9) vs. No. 13 Oral Roberts (24-8)

Little Rock, Ark.
Friday, March 21
No. 2 Texas (28-6) vs. No. 15 Austin Peay (24-10)
No. 7 Miami (Fla.) (22-10) vs. No. 10 Saint Mary’s (25-6)

Anaheim, Calif.
Thursday, March 20
No. 3 Stanford (26-7) vs. No. 14 Cornell (22-5)
No. 6 Marquette (24-9) vs. No. 11 Kentucky (18-12)

WEST (Phoenix)

Anaheim, Calif.
Thursday, March 20
No. 1 UCLA (31-3) vs. No. 16 Mississippi Valley State (17-15)
No. 8 BYU (27-7) vs. No. 9 Texas A&M (24-10)

Tampa, Fla.
Friday, March 21
No. 5 Drake (28-4) vs. No. 12 Western Kentucky (27-6)
No. 4 Connecticut (24-8) vs. No. 13 San Diego (21-13)

Washington, D.C.
Thursday, March 20
No. 2 Duke (27-5) vs. No. 15 Belmont (25-8)
No. 7 West Virginia (24-10) vs. No. 10 Arizona (19-14)

Washington, D.C.
Thursday, March 20
No. 3 Xavier (27-6) vs. No. 14 Georgia (17-16)
No. 6 Purdue (24-8) vs. No. 11 Baylor (21-10)

The North Carolina Tar Heels are now the new (for this week at least) #1 ranked team in the nation according to the latest College Basketball poll released a few minutes ago.  The Tennessee Volunteers were only able to hold onto the top spot for 1 week despite Bruce Pearl pleading his case. The Vols beat previously top ranked Memphis Tigers last week but then lost to #14 Vanderbilt a few days later.

The Tar Heels (27-2) were the preseason #1 and spent the first 10 weeks of the season in that spot. The UCLA Bruins moved up from 4th to 2nd, the Memphis Tigers are ranked 3rd followed by Tennessee and the Duke Blue Devils who are ranked 5th.

Here are the full top 25 college basketball rankings for the 17th week of the 2007/2008 College Basketball season.

1. North Carolina (19) 27-2
2. UCLA (6) 26-3
3. Memphis (6) 28-1
4. Tennessee 26-3
5. Duke 25-3
6. Kansas 26-3
7. Stanford 24-4
8. Wisconsin 24-4
9. Texas 24-5
10. Georgetown 24-4
11. Xavier 25-4
12. Butler 27-3
13. Louisville 24-6
14. Connecticut 23-6
15. Purdue 23-6
16. Vanderbilt 24-5
17. Indiana 24-5
18. Michigan State 23-6
19. Notre Dame 22-6
20. Marquette 21-7
21. Drake 25-4
22. Washington State 22-7
23. Gonzaga 23-6
24. Brigham Young 23-6
25. Mississippi State 20-8

The Kansas Jayhawks had to do one thing to beat the Kansas Wildcats - control all-world freshman and future #1 pick in the NBA Draft Michael Beasley. Well, the Jayhawks didn’t stop Beasley from getting his points but they did enough to easily beat the Wildcats 88-74.

Beasley got into early foul trouble but still finished with a game-high 39 points as well as 11 rebounds.  However, Kansas guard Russell Robinson put Beasley performance into perspective. “It was a quiet 39 if you ask me. He’s a real great player. He finds his way to make baskets. We got them into quick foul trouble early and kind of got them out of sync. We didn’t give them anything easy.”

The Jayhawks (26-3) were led by Brandon Rush who had 21 points and Sherron Collins who put in 18. With the win the Jayhawks are now tied for first in the Big 12 with the Texas Longhorns.  The Jayhawks also avenged a January 30th loss to Kansas State.

The Wildcats (18-10) have lost their fourth game in a row and once again showed that without Beasley they are not the same team. When Beasley got into early foul trouble the Jayhawks were able to build a big lead, but once he was back in the game it became a tighter race. However, the turning point in the game came after the half when the Jayhawks went on a 11-0 run.  Kansas State Coach Frank Martin had this to say about how the 2nd half started. “That’s what broke our backs. We had cut it to nine at one point in the first half, and then they pop it back up to 12 and we were still fine with that. But the second half starts and we give up six offensive rebounds in the first minute-and-a-half. If that’s the way you start a second half when you’re down, it’s hard to get back in the game.”

Well, we saw another crazy week in College Basketball where some of the top teams lost creating more shifts in the polls. The Memphis Tigers (25-0) stayed on top of the polls for the fifth straight week, while the Tennessee Volunteers (23-2) moved up to #2 after the Duke Blue Devils lost to Wake Forest last night. Having the Tigers and Volunteers atop the polls couldn’t have come at a better time as the two teams play each other this Saturday in Memphis.

Ironically the North Carolina Tar Heels moved up to the 3rd spot, while the Blue Devils dropped to #4 - didn’t the Blue Devils beat the Tar Heels not so long ago?  The Kansas Jayhawks also dropped a couple of spots, now ranked #5,  after their loss to Texas. The Texas Longhorns made the biggest jump of the week moving up 4 spots to #7 after their big win over Kansas.

Here is the full Top 25  poll for the 15th week of the 2007 - 2008 College Basketball Season.

1. Memphis 25-0
2. Tennessee 23-2
3. North Carolina 24-2
4. Duke 22-2
5. Kansas 24-2
6. UCLA 22-3
7. Texas 21-4
8. Butler 24-2
9. Stanford 21-4
10. Wisconsin 21-4
11. Georgetown 20-4
12. Xavier 21-4
13. Connecticut 20-5
14. Indiana 21-4
15. Purdue 21-5
16. Vanderbilt 22-4
17. Michigan State 20-5
18. Drake 23-2
19. Washington State 20-5
20. Saint Mary’s 22-3
21. Notre Dame 19-5
22. Texas A&M 20-5
23. Louisville 20-6
24. Marquette 18-6
25. Kansas State 18-6

We posted an article yesterday talking about the latest college basketball poll and how we saw so much movement because of top 25 teams losing. Well not even a few hours later what happens? The #3 ranked Kansas Jayhawks are upended by the #11 Texas Longhorns. Has there been a more exciting, and turbulent, couple weeks in college basketball history? I dont think so.

Last night the Kansas Jayhawks (23-2) came into Austin, Texas  to play the Texas Longhorns (20-4), the Jayhawks held the lead for a good portion of the game but couldn’t close the deal losing 69-72. The Jayhawks led the Longhorns 42-38 at halftime, however Texas took over under the boards in the 2nd half led by Damion Jones who grabbed 13 boards in the 2nd half alone - James finished with 14 points and 13 boards after missing most of the first half due to foul trouble. Texas got the scoring help they needed from Connor Atchley who scored 16 points, including 4 3-pointers. Kansas was led by Darrell Arthur who put in a game high 22 points. The Jawhawks kept it close to the very end, getting within 2 points with 32 seconds left - but a final desperation shot with time running out clanged off the rim.

Kansas will look to rebound against Colorado later this week, while Texas heads to Baylor and looks to crack the top 10 in the college basketball polls released next Monday.