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Tag: SMU

  • NIT Tournament Reveals Bracket, SMU Is No.1 Seed

    Well, clearly the NIT tournament is not one that everyone gets excited about, but some teams that do not make the NCAA tournament are able to continue playing, and have even been able to make a statement in the NIT in past years.

    After being one of the big snubs in the NCAA tournament, SMU was given the No.1 overall seed. SMU was ranked in the top 25, but due to the lack of strength of the American Athletic Conference, the committee did not feel that they qualified to play in the NCAA tournament.

    SMU had a successful season until the end, much like Syracuse, and the Mustangs didn’t have consecutive losses until ending the regular season with losses to Top 25 teams Louisville and Memphis. Following that, they suffered an embarrassing loss to Houston in the first round of the tournament.

    The SMU Mustangs are led by veteran coach Larry Brown, and are clearly the favorite to the win the NIT. They are joined by Minnesota, St. Johns, and Florida State as teams from major conferences that each have a chance at winning the NIT.

    The disappointed coach spoke on his team’s NIT appearance when saying “We could have beaten Louisville at home. … We didn’t play our best game at Memphis, but we didn’t get blown out by either team. But when we didn’t beat Houston, I kind of thought this could possibly happen.”

    The moment that every college basketball fan had been waiting for finally happened last night when the selection show revealed where each team would be heading in the NCAA tournament, and those who would be left out, heading to the NIT instead.

    Florida leads the way in the NCAA tournament with the No.1 overall seed, but this year could see anyone heading to the championship, and it might not be a surprise, in a year that has seen several top teams go up and down throughout the season.

    Florida Gulf Coast, who many people will probably remember as the No.15 seed that made the “Sweet 16” from last year, is also in the NIT tournament, and will play against Florida State in the first round. SMU opens the tournament against UC Irvine from the Big West conference on Wednesday night.

    As opposed to the NCAA tournament, which now features 68 teams, the NIT is only host to a group of 32 teams. The NIT bracket includes 13 automatic qualifiers, which are teams that won their regular-season conference titles without getting an NCAA bid.

    Image via Facebook

  • Deion Sanders Jr. Backstage Visit an NCAA Violation?

    Deion Sanders Jr., the son of former NFL star Deion Sanders (or “Neon Deion,” or even “Prime Time,” depends on what you prefer) might have just gotten himself into a bit of trouble.

    Last week, Sanders Jr. and some teammates from Southern Methodist University (SMU) went to the Lil Wayne concert in Dallas, but unlike most concert-goers, the SMU players got to go backstage. This event may or may not be an NCAA violation.

    While the elder Sanders was in Harlingen, Texas to watch a scrimmage, he received a phone call from his son telling him that he was being investigated because Sanders Sr. took him to the . Sanders Sr. then hung up and spoke with the media about the incident. Adam Lawson of the Valley Morning Star was in attendance and he tweeted out some of the information.

    But it seems it isn’t the NCAA that is looking into Sanders Jr., it’s SMU.

    Brad Sutton, an SMU official said, “It’s not the NCAA. It’s our compliance office. Just doing their due diligence. We don’t expect to find anything amiss, but it’s our responsibility to check stuff like this out.” SMU is checking to make sure the players got into the concert and backstage for reasons other than them being football players.

    It also seems Lil Wayne is no stranger to the Sanders family.

    SMU apparently didn’t make SMU football coach June Jones aware of the investigation, but he doesn’t see what the issue is with the incident. Coach Jones said, “If Deion wants to take his son somewhere, I think he can.”

    If Lil Wayne really is one of Neon Deion’s “best friends,” wouldn’t it make sense that Sanders Jr. would also know Lil Wayne? Don’t most people know their parent’s friends? And is it a crime that Sanders Jr. happens to have a famous dad who knows famous people?

    [Image via Deion Sanders Jr.’s Twitter]