Monday Madness- Recovering From The Preseason Tourney Hangover

Those precious few days of waking up hungover, eating plates of leftovers for breakfast/brunch and watching college basketball from noon to 1:30am are over. Today, it's back to reality, as most Americans head back to their mind-numbingly monotonous office jobs. Hey, at least it was fun while it lasted. Thus concludes the Thanksgiving holiday, and busiest college basketball week outside of March. But between family obligations, travel, football and shopping, it was easy to get lost on all of the college basketball action.

Hell, I spent the weekend at the Palestra with Extra P and Whelliston (story coming in the afternoon) and I’m still trying to get caught up. So with that in mind, this week's edition of Monday Madness will try to recap the numerous holiday tournaments for you, getting you caught up on what you missed while waiting in line 14 hours for that 10% off the plasma. Broken down, of course, by leftovers.

The best tourneys make the Stuffing Bracket (I’d eat it everyday if it was accepted by society), the worst making the Assorted Vegetables No One Ate At Thanksgiving Play-In Game.

Stuffing Bracket


Old Spice Classic

Teams – George Mason, Kansas State, Villanova, UCF, Rider, Penn State, NC State,

Championship Game
NC State 69 Villanova 68 OT

Best Game
NC State 69 Villanova 68 OT

Player of the Tourney
Michael Beasley, K-State

Team That Gained The Most
NC State/George Mason – NC State’s wins may have been close, but they showed everyone what the hype was all about bout. Mason’s win over K-State and close call to Nova proves that “this year’s George Mason” may be George Mason.

Let's Just Forget That Happened
Penn State – 0-3 with a loss to Rider. Not like many people in State College care anyway.

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Maui Invitational

Teams - Duke, Marquette, LSU, Arizona State, Princeton, Oklahoma State, Illinois

Championship Game
Duke 77 Marquette 73
Best Game
Duke 77 Marquette 73
Player of the Tourney
Kyle Singler, Duke

Team That Gained The Most
Duke – Welcome back to national spotlight Dukies! This team is much more athletic than last season and is a legit Final Four team.
Let's Just Forget That Happened
Princeton - We knew things were bad for the long time Ivy power, but who knew that they were lose-to-Chaminade bad?

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Anaheim Shootout

Teams – USC, Southern Illinois, Miami (OH), Mississippi State, San Diego, Cal-Irvine, Chattanooga, South Alabama

Championship Game
USC 70 Southern Illinois 45

Best Game
USC 57 Miami (OH) 53

Player of the Tourney
Michael Bramos, Miami (OH)

Team That Gained The Most
Miami (OH) - The Redhawks are the MAC’s best shot at an at-large bid since 1999.

Let's Just Forget That Happened
Mississippi State – Everyone’s sleeper is digging itself a pretty deep hole in November.

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Turkey Bracket


Preseason NIT

Teams – Texas A&M, Syracuse, Washington, Ohio State

Championship Game
Texas A&M 70 Ohio State 47

Best Game
Syracuse 91 Washington 85

Player of the Tourney
DeAndre Jordan, Texas A&M

Team That Gained The Most
Texas A&M – Aggies surprise many (including myself) and prove that are much more than just Acie Law.

Let's Just Forget That Happened
Washington – Possible bubble team failed to pick up marquee preseason win.

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Great Alaskan Shootout

Teams - Butler, Gonzaga, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, Western Kentucky, Michigan, Eastern Michigan

Championship Game
Butler 81 Texas Tech 71

Best Game
Gonzaga 74 Western Kentucky 71

Player of the Tourney
Peter Campbell, Butler
Team That Gained The Most
Butler – Certainly stated their case the nation’s best mid-major with wins over Michigan, Virginia Tech and Texas Tech

Let's Just Forget That Happened
Gonzaga – Loss to Texas Tech and close call to Western Kentuckty showed how much this team misses Heytvelt in the paint.

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Las Vegas Shootout

Teams – North Carolina, Old Dominion, BYU, Louisville

Championship Game
North Carolina 73 BYU 63
Best Game
BYU 78 Louisville 76
Player of the Tourney
Jonathan Tavernari, BYU

Team That Gained The Most
BYU – Shocked Louisville and took UNC to the wire. Showed they can be a Top25 mainstay all season
Let's Just Forget That Happened
Louisville – I’m sure Louisville fans were happy to drop vacation money to see the team play Old Dominion 2,000 away from Kentucky. Thank god the tourney was in Vegas.

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Sweet Potatoes Bracket
Philly Classic

Teams - Drexel, Seton Hall, Virginia, Penn, Robert Morris, Howard, Loyola, Navy

Best Game
Drexel 54 Loyola 52
Player of the Tourney
Brian Lainge, Seton Hall
Team That Gained The Most
Seton Hall – Not quite sure how they did it, but the Pirates remain unbeaten.

Let's Just Forget That Happened
Virginia – Expected to roll through the Palestra, instead the Cavs leave with first loss

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CBE Invitational

Teams – Michigan State, UCLA, Missouri, Maryland

Championship Game
UCLA 68 Michigan State 63

Best Game
UCLA 68 Michigan State 63
Player of the Tourney
Russell Westbrook, UCLA
Team That Gained The Most
UCLA – Nothing went right for the Bruins against MSU, but they fought they way back from a double –digit deficit to steal a win. Remember that come March.
Let's Just Forget That Happened
Maryland – Failed to pick up marquee win.

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Assorted Vegetable Bracket


Chicago Invitational
Teams – Xavier, Indiana, Illinois State, Kent State

Championship Game
Xavier 80 Indiana 65

Best Game
Xavier 80 Indiana 65

Player of the Tourney
Stanley Burrell, Xavier

Team That Gained The Most
Xavier – Held opponents to fewer than 40% shooting in both wins.

Let's Just Forget That Happened
Indiana – Someone outside of Gordon is going to need to step up on occasion.

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Legends Classic

Teams – Texas, Tennessee, West Virginia, New Mexico State
Championship Game
Texas 97 Tennessee 78

Best Game
Tennessee 74 West Virginia 72

Player of the Tourney
DJ Augustin, Texas

Team That Gained The Most
Texas – Smoked UT and NMST, might have most explosive offense in the country
Let's Just Forget That Happened
Tennessee – Travel to Newark and get your ass handed to you? That’s a bad holiday weekend.

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Quickie Monday Madness Superlatives

Team of the Week – Texas A&M
Upset of the Week – NC A&T over DePaul
Mid-Major to Watch – Maryland Baltimore County
Bad, Bad Week – Miss State
Player I’d Like To Party With – Russell Westbrook, UCLA
Freshmen of the Week – Patty Mills, Saint Mary’s
Ivory Update – 15 points in 22 minutes, he’s a star!