Reading material (Soft Pretzel Logic)

Reading material

For the first time since 1999, the Philadelphia region has sent three teams to the NCAA Tournament.

Now that the bracket is finished, I'm going to leave this post at the top of the blog and just update it with stories as they come through.

And remember to enter Philly.com's Hoops Hysteria contest, in which you can win a 50-inch plasma TV from Bob and Ron's Worldwide Stereo if you have the best bracket.

You can also compare your bracket to a panel of experts from the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com, or you can play in the Soft Pretzel Logic group just for fun.

Check back here tomorrow for my picks, as well as audio and video from the Coaches vs. Cancer breakfast.

From the Daily News

Dick Jerardi: Late season excellence puts Temple, Saint Joseph's, Villanova in Big Dance

Owls knew their NCAA day would come
Villanova Wildcats relieved just to be invited to NCAAs
Saint Joseph's Hawks can exhale, on way to Big Dance

Capsule previews of Michigan State, Clemson and Oklahoma

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20080316_NCAA_East_Region_capsules.html">East region
West region
South region
Mdwest region

From the Inquirer

Bob Ford: Philly teams find a way to NCAA tourney
The resume gets job done for Villanova
Hawks let out a collective sigh of relief
St. Joe's, Nova join Temple at dance
On College Basketball | 16 tournament questions that demand an answer
East | UNC repeats as NCAA top seed
Midwest | Jayhawks the best of Midwest
South | Memphis leads strong contingent
West | UCLA, of course, is the team to beat

Fan information

St. Joe's

Comments (4)

Philly:

Can you help me understand how SJU gets an 11 seed while Temple is left with a 12 seed. Temple beat SJU twice and won the A-10. I only saw two big wins from SJU this year - Xavier twice.

Posted by Philly | March 16, 2008 8:09 PM

Posted on March 16, 2008 20:09

jim:

Media-maven Joe Lunardi has the ear of the committee and given his SJU place of employment, he slipped them all a few jacksons to bump up the hawks!

Not sure what other rationale there is.

I agree with the other post

TU deserves higher than SJU

Posted by jim | March 16, 2008 8:53 PM

Posted on March 16, 2008 20:53

DC:

Why are Temple fans so obsessed with St. Joes? At the end of the game last night you all seem so obsessed with telling us all how much SJU sucked instead of cheering for your own team.

Are you that insecure?

Posted by DC | March 16, 2008 9:17 PM

Posted on March 16, 2008 21:17

jim:

Hey DC

Chill out, cuz.

I never claimed to be a TU fan. All i did was support the post from "Philly"

I am not obesessed or not obsessed with St Joe, or even Temple for that matter.

Relax. Breathe deep. And remember, this is college basketball. It's not life or death. I sure hope not, at least.

Posted by jim | March 16, 2008 9:39 PM

Posted on March 16, 2008 21:39

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Author

Jonathan Tannenwald is a producer with Philly.com.

I fell in love with the Big 5 at first sight upon moving to Philadelphia in 2002. At various points in my journalistic career, I've covered all six of the region's Division I teams. During that time, I've eaten many soft pretzels from the Palestra's concession stands, which is how this blog got its name.

In addition to the blog, I host and produce the Inquirer's College HoopsCast. It's a weekly podcast that features all the latest news and analysis from around local and national college basketball. Regular guests include Inquirer writers Mike Jensen, Joe Juliano and Mel Greenberg.

I also occasionally contribute to the Inquirer's women's basketball weblog, Women's Hoops Guru. If you've come here from there, this blog deals mostly with the men's side of things, though I do write about women's basketball and other sports when they fit in.

When not focusing on college hoops, I host and produce the Inquirer's PhilliesCast with Phillies beat writer Todd Zolecki, and can occasionally be found behind the camera shooting videos of the Eagles, other professional sports teams and the tiger cubs at the zoo.

One of the great things about City Series basketball, and college basketball as a whole, is its sense of community. So I want to hear from you. Post a comment or send me an email by clicking on my name above. But don't be profane, and don't post hate speech. I'm sure you'd like to take a shot at that commenter on the opposite side of a rivalry from you, or say something nasty about a team you don't like. But this blog isn't the place for it. Thanks.

About

This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on March 16, 2008 6:42 PM.

The previous post in this blog was The West.

The next post in this blog is Game schedule announced.

Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

Soft Pretzel Logic

A blog about college sports in the Philadelphia region and across the country.