- Folks, if there was ever a day in our history where we actually fit the word ubiquitous in our little slogan at the top of the screen there, today is that day (ok, maybe tomorrow and Saturday too). Nevertheless, we will be providing coast to coast coverage at no fewer than six of the major conference tournaments today and throughout the weekend — ACC, Big East, Big 12, Pac-10, Conference USA and the WAC (tomorrow we’ll add the Mountain West to our slate) . We’ll be reporting from each venue with RTC Live (see RTC Live box above left), but we’ll also provide nightly diaries from our correspondents on site as well. Whether in the comments, the live-blogs or lurking, we hope to have you stop by throughout the weekend.
- From the that-didn’t-take-very-long department, Jeff Goodman reported last night that Iowa State’s Craig Brackins is expected to announce his intention to go pro within the next few days. Iowa State’s season probably ended in an 82-75 loss to Texas in the Big 12 Tournament first round yesterday evening. Brackins’ teammate, Marquis Gilstrap, had applied for a sixth year of eligibility, but the NCAA denied his request and he too has finished his career as a Cyclone.
- The SEC Tournament begins today, and the league may re-visit how it seeds its teams as soon as next year given that schools such as East #3 Tennessee and #4 Florida went 12-0 against the SEC West this season but still did not earn a bye into the quarterfinals. If you include the two SEC East teams who received byes — Kentucky and Vanderbilt — these four teams went an incredible 24-0 against the western half of the conference. Re-seeding teams #1-#12 would reward the four best teams in the league rather than the two best in each division.
- You undoubtedly know that Oregon’s Ernie Kent has told his players that he’s out as the coach of the Ducks and that he predicted his team would win the Pac-10 Tournament this week, but did you know that former Seton Hall coach PJ Carlesimo is angling for the job? Will Latrell Sprewell also be joining the staff as an assistant?
- In case you missed it elsewhere, we have the potential for one of the greatest feel-good stories in NCAA Tournament history this coming weekend at Montana if Anthony Johnson’s wife, Shaunte Nance-Johnson, can help her team (the Lady Grizzlies) make it to the NCAAs in much the same way her husband did last night (a ridiculous 42-point shooting exhibition). Even if she doesn’t put the team on her back — she is a reserve, after all — the fact that she was the one who resurrected AJ’s career a few years ago when he was out of basketball completely is cause for celebration. We don’t know for a fact that a husband/wife pair have never played in the NCAA Tournament at the same time, but the odds of it are minuscule and we’d absolutely love to see it happen for both of them. Sorry, Sacramento State/Montana State, no offense intended, but we here at RTC (America?) will be rooting for Montana on Friday to move into the Big Sky Championship game and beyond.