Mayer: March Madness and What Could Have Been for ISU

The NCAA Tournament has not disappointed. We ask for madness and that is precisely what the greatest tournament in sports has dished out. The first 15 seed in history has reached the Sweet 16, a college version of lob city, while La Salle or Wichita State will be an elite eight team. There has been no lack of "onions" shots (looking at you Aaron Craft). While everyone roots for the underdog, what would the Sweet 16 be without some blue bloods; Hello Kansas, Duke, and Indiana.

Courtesy CBS

The action ramps back up on Thursday and I'm expecting some classics as the tournament moves on. It seems to be a cliche every year when people talk about the field being "wide open", but you have to believe it right now. Louisville may be the overall number one and playing the best ball, but there is nothing close to a 2012 Kentucky.

One thing that has been hard to overlook for folks in the Wabash Valley is some of the names in the Big Dance and what the Sycamores accomplished against those teams. Wichita State is representing the Missouri Valley Conference well in the Sweet 16. If you remember, the Sycamores delivered a drubbing on the road vs the Shockers. That was truly a shock (yes I'm sure no one has ever used that pun before) seeing as how Wichita State had not lost at home in something like 20 years.

Courtesy USA Today

Now head into the memory bank to the tournament in Hawaii. Indiana State beat Miami behind last second Jake Odum magic. Given those were different times way back in December. No one had any idea how good Miami would be and they were playing without big man Reggie Johnson. Although, it seems the same fate has fallen upon the Hurricanes as Johnson will have to miss the Sweet 16 matchup against Marquette.

Gone but not forgotten are the Creighton Blue Jays who won the MVC regular season and tournament. They are off to the new Big East which really makes next season promising for ISU (we'll get there in a second). The Sycamores laid the smackdown on the Blue Jays who were ranked #16 at the time. That game was arguably the best for ISU all season. The Sycamores also took down Ole Miss, a team that won the SEC tournament, beat Wisconsin in the first round, and was a couple of missed shots away from making the Sweet 16.

All of this points to one thing: the Sycamores are a talented basketball team. They proved capable of beating some very good squads in three conferences. We can also analyze some of Indiana State's bad losses and will come out with a puzzled look. A team with no seniors often showed their youth. One game the Sycamores would look like a team that could win the MVC, the next like a squad destined to never win again.

Courtesy Indiana State

The main point to come away with is ISU will return their entire starting roster next year, although Rhett Smith seems to be on his way out. Mike Samuels, the 6'1" center who was out all season will be back. We saw the maturation of Devonte Brown, Justin Gant, Khristian Smith, and a late season emergence from Brandon Burnett.


MVC heavyweight Creighton is gone. Jackie Carmichael of Illinois State and and Colt Ryan of Evansville are gone. Jake Odum is still here and he is only getting better. Put it this way, Sycamores fans are going to have high hopes next year. Instead of an NIT loss, they could be celebrating an NCAA win.

Mayer: Indiana State-NCAA Tournament Bound?

I'll start this off by saying a whole lot of the college basketball season is remaining. There are only so many teams that have their names already sharpied into brackets. Indiana State is far from a guarantee, but the likelihood of an at large bid increased greatly with a phenomenal victory at Wichita State.

Courtesy ISU Athletics

The Shockers were the #15 team in the country, had recently taken over the top spot in the Missouri Valley Conference, and had won 19 straight games at home. Coming in, it looked like a chance for ISU to claim a season altering victory. The Sycamores showed up big time and played their gritty brand of basketball to perfection (with the help of a 2-3 zone that stopped the Shockers from getting inside often).

Put it this way, if the season ended today I would fully expect the Sycamores to get in. They may be one of the last four teams in, but that will do. Indiana State is in third place in the MVC with a 14-7 (7-3) record. They're only a half game behind Creighton and one game behind Wichita State with games at the Hulman Center remaining against both teams.

I've said this before; Indiana State is two different squads depending on the intensity level they bring to games. That is a cliche often used in sports, but it could not be more true with this Sycamores team. Simply put, they are not talented or mature enough to win tough games without playing a relentless style. However, when they attack on defense, out hustle the other team, and play with physical tenacity, the opposition is often worn down.

Courtesy ISU Athletics

This can be seen from looking at some of the games ISU has won and lost. The Sycamores have impressive victories over Top 25 teams in Miami and Ole Miss (neutral court) and Wichita State (road). Indiana State is 39th in RPI. When deciding the tournament teams, wins against Top 25 teams are huge...away from home is even more important. The Sycamores strong RPI also greatly helps their cause. ISU stuck with Creighton and San Diego State in losses as well.

On the other hand, the Sycamores lost at Illinois State and SIU, two teams that are not as close to as good as Indiana State. Although, the Redbirds were picked high in the MVC pre-season, they have not panned out as expected.

Despite those losses, it is clear the Sycamores are for real. They have the ability to play with the top teams in the country and if they execute their brand of basketball, it's difficult to beat them. Eight games remain for Indiana State to prove themselves worthy of a shot in the big dance.

Courtesy ISU Atheltics

Mayer: The President of Sports

In case you didn't notice we just had a presidential election come to a close yesterday. This got me thinking about a potential President of Sports. So, basically someone that is the head hancho of sports everywhere; from little league to Yankee Staduim, from high school soccer to the Premier League, the Olympics, cricket, skateboarding, football, and everything else you can think of. I haven't gone through the process of figuring out how this sports government would work because it's not really necessary for this exercise. However, we won't call this Sports President a dictator. Commissioners and players from every league would have some kind of say and ability to veto the president and vice versa in a similar fashion to the United Stated Government.

Moving on. I, Lucas Mayer, do hereby accept the position as the first ever Sports President and swear to honor the traditions of sports while helping to grow all sports to the best of my ability.

Usually it would be a good idea for the President of Sports to start slow and bring up bills and new laws that in time will help sports excel. However, as my first act as President I must take immediate action.

Courtesy theunticket.com

EXECUTIVE ORDER #DEATHTOTHEBCS
    My first act as President is to dismantle the BCS. Effective immediately plans for a four team playoff will take effect and discussion about a possible expansion of said playoff will take place after the season. This could not be more perfect with Alabama, Oregon, Kansas State, and Notre Dame still undefeated ( as well as Louisville) along with a slew of talented and deserving one loss teams.
   Additionally, the way in which bowl game revenues are distributed will be changed. Bowls will now take volunteers, that's right volunteers, to be in charge. The absurdity of men doing little work and receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars to "organize" bowl games is a thing of the past.
   There will be great outrage and backlash from certain people among this matter, but I should have the support of the fans, players, and coaches. In my sports government money doesn't buy votes, so deal with it fat cats.

Courtesy intothefuture.onmason.com

THE GREAT AMERICAN PASTIME BILL
   I will propose that instant replay will start effective 2013 for Major League Baseball and all other baseball outlets from college up. Strikes and balls will stay in the umpires hands, other then that anything can be replayed. The call for replay will come from an extra umpire who sits above the field. He will page the head umpire if a call is questionable and the chief umpire will take a look. In addition, if a manager feels a call was wrong and the replay umpire does not initiate replay, said manager will have one "challenge" each game. The manager simply has to inform the umpire he's using a challenge.
  This might take some time to be passed as many have not accepted replay as a necessary part of baseball, but give me some time and I'll convince them.

Courtesy ncaa.org

THE NCAA IS A JOKE BILL
  If there was ever an entity that defined the wrong way to deal with discipline it's the NCAA. Everything is backwards, idiotic, absurd, or unfair. Reggie Bush accepted impermissible benefits at USC so Trojans playing at the school half a decade later are punished. Sexual assault allegations against Jerry Sandusky result in 14 years of vacated Penn State football victories. As of yesterday, Hanner Perea and Peter Jurkin must sit out because a legal guardian bought some IU stickers before either player was born.
  We'll need to create a special committee to fix everything that's wrong but to start.... the notion of vacating wins is over. NCAA athletes will be given a monthly stipend equivalent to the hours they would be able to work if time was not consumed by athletics. Therefore, future teams will no longer be penalized if players accept illegal benefits that go beyond their stipend. Instead the NCAA will make deals with all professional sports that will punish the player at whatever time the evidence comes forward. Better reason for teams to do thorough background checks. Coaches who commit recruiting violations will suffer the same fate wherever they are currently coaching, the future team will not be penalized. I'm going to stop here, but we could go at this one for days.

Courtesy blakestreetbulletin.com

THE PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUG ACT OF 2013
  This is pretty simple. The loopholes are being closed effective immediately. All athletes from high school up will be tested by urine, blood, hair, or any other form at anytime without warning. This may be a little too "Big Brother" for you, but it's time to eradicate the virus that is cheating through drugs in sports. All athletic and personal trainers for any team or athlete are subject to investigation if there is suspicion and must go through a rigorous performance review each year and in order to be certified. If found positive for any performance enhancing drug, the player will be suspended from the sport for a year for first offense, two years for second offense, and banned for life after the third offense. There will be an extensive appeals process put in place in case the result is faulty.

Courtesy the-cool-table.com

THE SPORTS NETWORK BILL
  The process of creating a channel for almost every sport in the mold of the MLB and NFL networks will begin. Some of these channels already exist, but for the major sports that are still waiting, their time is now. Smaller sports that can not carry an audience by themselves will be grouped together. Possibly Olympic Sports and Extreme Sports type channels. In addition, a general sports network will be created to rival ESPN. Since the "mother ship" has become so transfixed on entertainment, leaving us with Tim Tebow and Skip Bayless 24/7, a network that refocuses on the actual sports will be made. Some of what ESPN does is incredible, some of it is a whole lot of fluff. Each of these networks will be highly involved, online and with social media.

This is only the beginning! During my four years as the first Sports President I hope to create a Sports World that gives us the best out of all sports and provides for fans as much as possible. Thank you America!