Technical Tidbits 3/14

Though the Jackets didn't quite achieve the ultimate goal of an NCAA Tournament berth this season, they were named a four seed in the annual NIT just last night; they'll face off with five seed Houston for one final home game at McCamish Pavilion on Wednesday. The NIT, which features a smaller field of just 32 teams compared to the NCAA Tournament's 68, is the highest-quality alternative to the big dance itself. It will give the Jackets an opportunity to play against some of the best teams in the nation, many of which will likely be playing on pure frustration and rage at not being selected for the NCAA Tournament. The other schools in Tech's quadrant are top seed South Carolina, San Diego State, Washington, Long Beach State, and High Point -- the Jackets would face off with the winner of the South Carolina vs. High Point game if they manage to defeat Houston. Congratulations to the team on the first postseason appearance of the Brian Gregory era!

Georgia Tech baseball followed up a perfect 12-0 start to the season with a disappointing three-game sweep at the hands of the Florida State Seminoles down in Tallahassee, falling to a quick 0-3 within the ACC. The Jackets just couldn't get everything working at the same time, going so far as to blow a five-run lead in game two by allowing the Noles to score fourteen unanswered runs and win 14-9. The pitching staff, outside of former closer Zac Ryan, was an unmitigated disaster; the Tech hurlers surrendered the same number of runs during that three game series (30) as they had allowed for the entire season previously. I'm willing to chalk it up as an aberration, but a three-game sweep at the hands of a top-tier conference rival was not how Tech needed to kick off ACC play. The Jackets will look to get back on track when they take on Auburn tomorrow night at Russ Chandler Stadium.

The official announcement of the 68-team NCAA Tournament field yesterday afternoon can only mean one thing: the commencement of the annual FTRS bracket contest! Are you still fuming over something that either myself or someone else at the site has done or said in the past year? Do you need an opportunity to prove that you are the best reader out there? If so, then this is your big opportunity! Join today and prepare to howl maniacally as your darkhorse candidate Holy Cross squad careens towards a championship! My darkhorses won't do anything, though. The site automatically named my bracket "Cade's Okay Bracket" before I even made my selections, so I'm more or less predestined for mediocrity this time around.

Unfortunately, nothing ever goes right for the NCAA. Poor Mark Emmert is just over there trying to run his cartel non-profit in a dirty clean, flagrantly biased objective manner but has to put up with nonsense like having his NCAA Tournament bracket leaked before CBS even had the opportunity to drag out the selection process for six hours. This was probably Charles Barkley's fault, if you must know. He proved once and for all yesterday that pressing buttons under pressure is just not his strongest suit.

Who is your pick to take home the NCAA Championship this season?