TheTastyGreek

I don't think MT loses at FIU, either... But they did already lose to them earlier this year. It would be an upset, but maybe the Panthers give the Raiders the same matchup headaches they gave us.

Another thing I ought to mention is the other main consideration: Where to stay. I know SUMG stayed at the hotel that connects to the Arena last year, and he had a lot of good things to say about it. Unfortunately, it was booked out by WKU(?) and it isn't an option. If you just want a decent cheap place to sleep at night, the best place we could find last year was the Knights Inn. It's decent, breakfast and internet included, and it's just a very short drive away from downtown or the Arena. Last year, some WKU fans clued me in that for groups of more than 2, renting a house/condo/corporate apartment is a cheaper and more comfortable way to go than a hotel. We have a group of 6 staying in a house literally 2 blocks away from the downtown attractions and national park, and just 15 minutes by foot from the Arena. With taxes and cleaning fees and deposit included, it's costing us a little less than $95 each to stay Saturday-Tuesday nights and leave Wednesday morning. Generally, it's a better financial idea for bigger groups... But depending on how nice a hotel you're thinking of staying in, it could still work for an individual or pair. Here's one of the places we thought about renting if we'd had a smaller group... $95 per night (plus 12.5% tax) with two double or queen beds in different rooms. If you're an outdoorsy type, there are other options that are also competitively priced with hotels out near the lake. Here's a place that's also $95 per night, and it's right on Lake Hamilton. There are actually a good amount of places that run cheaper per night than a decent hotel, but all of them are already booked. Some are still available, like this condo place that offers a $65 per night 1br/1bath with no kitchen. Just Google search for Hot Springs rentals and you'll find at least 3 or 4 sites with a lot of options.

Individual session tickets are sold at the arena box office or online through Ticketmaster. The main question to ask yourself to determine whether it's worth buying a full tournament book is: "How much Women's Basketball am I going to watch?" If you aren't going to watch any sessions that the NT ladies aren't playing in, you're going to be better off financially to just buy individual session tickets to the Men's games. It's something I realized at the Mobile tournament. If you're going to stick around for the entire tournament AND watch a significant amount of Women's basketball, go with a full tournament book. Unless you're not concerned with reserved seating, and in that case, it's cheaper to go with individual tickets for all sessions. Here's the 2010 pricing from Ticketmaster. Reserved seats (the stuff across the court from the team benches) runs $14 (plus handling if you buy online through Ticketmaster) for each of the 8 sessions (4 for the guys, 4 for the girls). If you only want to watch the Men's games, you could have a guaranteed lower level seat for any game, all sessions, for $56 total face value, $72.60 through Ticketmaster. If you're willing to go General Admission (which, aside from the NT games, is exactly what a Tournament Pass ticket is), you can see all the Men's sessions for $36 face value, $49.20 through Ticketmaster. A GA ticket lets you sit anywhere that's open, which (unless Arkansas State is playing) will almost invariably mean a great seat that's as close to the court as any lower level Super Pit seat, if not better. Hopefully, this helps. I would strongly encourage you (especially since this is your first tournament trip) to plan on taking in at least as many Men's sessions as you can. If nothing else, get there on Saturday in time for the afternoon/evening session. If you're leaving from Dallas/Denton, you can leave as late as 9:00 a.m. and still make it if you drive the speed limit and don't hit any serious traffic. Watch the Saturday session (hopefully without the NT men) and the Sunday one (one way or another, with us) and that will probably convince you to come back next year for the whole thing. Tournament basketball is a great environment and a super fun experience. You won't regret making the trip.

And ASU answers back with a 3. Then ASU gets a warning for a technical, after a clutch block. This is a hell of a game. Anyone who wants to watch it, here's the link. ASU/WKU on Channelsurfing.net

Western takes the lead with 9:37 left. First lead since 10-9, according to the announcers.

ASU losing is the most critical piece of the puzzle. Better this than anything else, especially now.

Just like the previous matchup, the USA/Middle game completely went to poop with about 4 minutes to halftime. It REALLY went bad after the break, and you posted that info at a very fortunate moment.

I kept checking for almost an hour after tipoff. I only wish I had more than 1 to + you with.

Also, I was wrong. This year makes it 6 in a row of .500 or better. I'll have to look that one up to see how long it's been. More than 75 years, at least.

Our next win gives us 20 on the season. For the fourth time in a row. The last time we even had 4 straight .500 or better seasons was before I was born. To have been a student during that run, someone would have to be older than 50. ---------- Kenny Lyons is the greatest we've had by all statistical measures. It was an honor to meet him. But that's got nothing to do with how consistently we've been winning for half a decade now.

Denver at UNO... 20 to 10 Denver, at the half. Awesome game, I'm sure.

I'll repeat this depressing stat: This year marks our first run of 5 consecutive .500 or better seasons since before the Great Depression. The only time we've been this consistently good for this long in our entire history was that long ago.

Middle/USA is on ESPN 360

At the moment, NONE of these games list on channelsurfing.net. Anyone interested in a non-game chatroom session where everyone listens in on a different radio stream? Otherwise, we're all stuck hoping for timely ESPN scoretracker updates.

Billy Gillespie in the house today. Also, Dr. B was there for at least a little while. Walked out past us a little after halftime, and I had a chance to tell her that I appreciated the time she spent with us and that she'll be missed. She says "I'm really going to miss this place, too." Glad she made the trip out today.

Go South Alabama. Go Monroe. Go Western Kentucky.

I'm not surprised that they haven't gotten to that point yet... I'd imagine they'll start doing that (or at least posting some "If/Then" situations) after Saturday's games, if for no other reason than to make it easy for media folks to tell stories without having to put forth the effort to decipher the situation themselves.

This can't possibly be right. MTSU is 0-3 against Troy and FAU, with the 4th game pending. There's no way they can win a multi-way or head-to-head tiebreaker with those two teams for the East crown under ANY system described elsewhere on the SBC site. I know it's on the official SBC website, but it makes absolutely zero sense.

Kanaskie always struck me as more of a pastry chef than a "1". Maybe an architectural draftsman. MAYBE. But not really a point guard.

The bracketed pairing across from Baylor led to some hypothetical fun and excitement at our house. If that actually happens, I'll be able to actually go to the tournament game.

Both of you just be glad that I didn't follow up on your follow ups. And thanks for taking it in good humor.

In all seriousness... Arkansas State is 0-13 on the road this year vs. Division 1 opponents. And we already beat them at their place. And they've had injury problems, they're dealing with rumors about their coach potentially being on the hot seat... I don't mean any disrespect to them, and I do know what a tough team they've been for us to deal with in the past. But barring an epic disaster, I don't see this game as a serious threat to our chances of winning out. No game is guaranteed until after we've actually gone out and played it, no matter how favorable things look. But of our three remaining games, this is the one that concerns me the least.

Whatever does it for you, I guess. Not personally much for soccer, the players or the sport.

Cerebus- Still going to try and pistol whip this guy?

Expect a Trojan failure, and a burst of students flooding onto the floor, their appendages flailing around frantically.