Busting the brackets

My alma mater, Miami (Ohio), played a barn-burner against Valparaiso yesterday an one of ESPN's Bracket Buster matchups. The game really had very little significance; Miami came into the game 13-12, Valparaiso 15-11. Teams from the Mid-American Conference or the Horizon League with double-digit numbers in the loss column do not get into the NCAA Tournament unless they win their conference tournament, so this was basically just a fairly meaningless regular-season game. But it appears nobody told the players.

The RedHawks had their chances, but missed too many shots down the stretch in a 99-94 double-overtime loss. Miami's Michael Bramos was on fire in the first half, but couldn't hit a shot to save his life in the second; this is the nature of being an outside shooter. I myself once made eight straight three-pointers shooting alone at a YMCA gym, but I can tell you I've missed eight straight a lot more often than I've made eight straight. But enough about me. Bramos wound up with 23 points, Kenny Hayes scored 30, and Tim Pollitz put in 22 with 12 rebounds. It was a solid effort, but these RedHawks aren't destined for greatness. Nor are the Valparaiso Crusaders.

Fellow MAC school Kent State, however, pulled out a 65-57 win on Bracket Buster Saturday against No. 20 St. Mary's of California. The Golden Flashes held St. Mary's without a basket for more than six minutes down the stretch, and at 23-5, they've got a pretty impressive tournament résumé. What's perhaps even more impressive is that they won a game that ended around 1 a.m. eastern time.

And the Ohio Bobcats turned in an impressive 69-57 victory over '06 tournament darlings George Mason. Cleveland State (not a MAC school, but of local interest anyway), which made some noise early in the season before falling back, won a who-cares game 59-44 against Marist.

Ohio's other mid-major schools didn't fare so well. Akron came pretty close in a 57-52 loss to Virginia Commonwealth; Bowling Green got kind of embarrassed in an 81-65 loss to Detroit, which came into the game 6-20; and Toledo lost 77-69 to Delaware.

This Bracket Busters business has gotten kind of out of hand, if you ask me. It used to be the best mid-majors got to play in it, but now, there are about 50 Bracket Buster games. Most of these teams are never going to bust any brackets. What's the point of matching up Bowling Green and Detroit?

All right, I'm done ranting.