After reaching the 2008 Final Four, the North Carolina Tar Heels shocked many (including themselves) when they laid an egg in their semi-final game and never got a shot at a National Championship. With a star-studded team and a weak NBA Draft class, several players for the Tar Heels were put on the spot to decid between leaving and making millions or staying and having another possible shot at a National Championship. One by one, Wayne Ellington, Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Marcus Ginyard, and Danny Green all declared they were going to return to North Carolina in hopes of winning it all. And so the story of the 2008-09 UNC Tar Heels began, with the storybook ending of them winning the 2009 National Championship earlier this month. “Storybook ending” doesn’t really fit the ‘09 Tar Heels quest, “expected ending” seems a bit more fitting. An overwhelming amount of experts and fans picked UNC to win it all, even President Obama, which isn’t surprising because he makes most of decisions based on what other people think.

We have all heard of “March Madness,” but the madness could be maddier. The NCAA basketball tournament has received increasing praise the past couple years because they use a playoff to determine their champion. College football; however,  has been the victim of much criticism with it’s BCS system they have had in place for about ten years. For all the proponents against the BCS, North Carolina winning it all in basketball was the worse thing that could have happened. Even though they have a playoff, ultimately the best team won it all, so why have a playoff at all? They could have pitted North Carolina against a randomly selected team from the top 10 in the country and North Carolina still would have won.  And so the BCS money rakers will argue, “why do we need a playoff when we already know who the best team in the country is?” It’s well known that nobody is going to change the BCS, but there is still room to change up the March Madness format.

We have officially copyrighted the following format under the name “JIB Bracketpalooza.”  Our format is simple and in two parts. A selection committee will be required to pick the top 12 teams and then 52 other good teams. The committee will seed the top 12 teams 1-3 and put the groups of three into four regions. Now here is where it gets interesting, the top 12 teams will each get to pick their first round opponents from the other 52 teams selected. After the top 12 have selected their 12 opponents, the remaining 40 teams will each have a “lottery ball” thrown into a rollercage and the rest of the matchups will be a lottery. If the point of a playoff is to find the best team, then seeds should not matter at all. A true champion will beat every opponent put in front of them, whoever thinks otherwise is mad, mad, mad, mad…

After a long and grueling season, the NBA Playoffs are finally here. The Los Angeles Lakers are still the team to beat in the West with several worthy contenders below them, but the powers have been shifted and distributed in the East. With Kevin Garnett being sidelined, the Boston Celtics have been deducted to just a really good team. Usually that’s okay, but this year the Orlando Magic are also a really good team and the Cleveland Cavaliers are a great team. Lebron James and the Cavs and a record-setting season (by Cleveland standards) and have taken claim to home court advantage throughout the Playoffs. The Cavs were 39-2 at home this season (one loss was with all the starters sitting to rest for the Playoffs), so you have to believe that the Eastern Conference is Cleveland’s to lose. As for the Western Conference, the Lakers are at the top of the pack but it really is anyone’s to win. You can throw out “intimidation” in the West, no team is afraid of playing the other. Here’s a quick rundown of all the first round matchups in each conference with some predictions:

Eastern Conference

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #8 Detroit Pistons – How fast the Pistons have fallen and how quickly the Cavs surrounded LeBron with some talent after he made hints of wanting to leave Cleveland. After firing their head coach to move in a different direction, the Pistons have only gotten worse. Cavs win series 4-1.

#2 Boston Celtics vs. #7 Chicago Bulls – The Bulls made a late push after some great deals at the trade deadline, but even without Garnett, the Celtics will start their Title defense with a major statement. Celtics win series 4-0.

#3 Orlando Magic vs. #6 Philadelphia 76ers - The Eastern Conference hasn’t been stacked so deep in a long time, the Magic are the best #3 seed they’ve had in a long time. The 76ers simply don’t have the firepower to keep up with “Superman” and Co.  Magic win series 4-1.

#4 Atlanta Hawks vs. #5 Miami Heat – This will be the most tightly fought battle in the East, Dwayne Wade vs. the Hawks. Wade will carry over his superb season into the Playoffs. If the Hawks proved anything last year in the Playoffs, it’s that they are a resilient squad. Heat win series 4-3.

Western Conference

#1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. #8 Utah Jazz – The Jazz are prehaps the most pesky #8 seed that we’ve seen in years, but they stink on the road and don’t have home court advantage. Lakers win series 4-2.

#2 Denver Nuggets vs. #7 New Orleans Hornets –  Who’s afraid of the big bad Nuggets??? The answer to that is simple-nobody. Chris Paul and the Hornets will make Denver work for every shot and try to quicken the game. Hornets win 4-2

#3 San Antonio Spurs vs. #6 Dallas Mavericks -  The Spurs are battered and bruise, the Mavericks are on a roll, amd Mark Cuban is still a freak. All that chalks up to be one entertaining series. Spurs win series 4-3.

#4 Portland Trailblazers vs. #5 Houston Rockets – Of all the teams in the West, Portland is the one that looks most likely to take down the Lakers in the Playoffs, but the Rockets are no pushover. Sad to say  that they are better without Tracy McGrady, they won’t have to deal with his curse of never winning a Playoff series this year. Blazers win series 4-2.

We left a few disappointed last week when we didn’t release a report card that could have gotten a coveted ‘A’ or ‘B,’ but just as many were relieved not to get their less than satisfactory grades. Love it or hate it, we are back at it again this week, with our second to last report card of the regular season:

John Stockton, the NBA all-time leader in steals and assists, was elected the the Basketball Hall of Fame this week.

A – The ‘09 Basketball Hall of Fame Class - One of the best parts about sports is honoring the greats is retiring their jerseys and even better,  enshrining them into their respective Halls of Fame. This year’s class is headlined by Michael Jordan, the greatest player of all time, if we forget about his two-year debacle with the Washingotn Wizards. Behind him is John Stockton, the greatest point guard of all time,  David Robinson and Jerry Sloan (some may forget he has his jersey retired by the Chicago Bulls). In the modern era of NBA marketing, there will be several players disappointed when they retire and aren’t enshrined into the Hall of Fame. Carmelo Anothony and Gilbert Arenas will headline the list of ones left out, but at least they will have their jerseys being worn by kids in third world countires around the globe.

B – The Billups Factor - The Denver Nuggets have their place in the Playoffs. it’s the seventh or eighth seed with implosion and dissappointment in their imminent future. At least they still have that one series they won over the #1 seed Seattle Supersonics back in 1994 was Dikembe Mutumbo was 20ish…maybe. The Nuggets had thought they had changed their fortune when they traded for Allen Iverson, but it was trading away A.I. that vaulted them to where they are now. Iverson was a scorer and a play-maker, but never a leader. When the Nuggets traded for Chauncey Billups early this season, they got everything they needed and are now sitting comfortably in the #2 seed. Lost in why the Nuggets are where they are is Chris “Birdman” Andersen. The tatooed, illegal drug-using, failure of dunking (refer to his tatoos, his being suspended a year for drug use, and him failing miserably in the ‘05 Dunk Contest) has contributed greatly this year in the posistion left vacant by Marcus Camby.

C – The NBA Green Week - In an effort to remain in good standing with the environmentalist and Al Gore, the NBA had it’s first “Green Week” to raise awareness of recycling and raising funds to improve the earth. As part of the week of festivities, players went around to their local communities planting trees, educating children on being green, and skipping in fields. The league also had every player wear  NBA Green tees over their jerseys on the bench (that you can buy on NBA.com for a very green price of $24.99), and a sleuth of teams sported green jerseys. Those teams with green jerseys included the Nuggets, Chicago Bulls, and Boston Celtics…imagine that.

D – The Sliding Sixers - If there is one way you don’t want to go into the Playoffs, it’s on a losing streak. Right now the Philadelphia 76ers are doing just that, having lost their last five games and dropping two spots in the Eastern Conference seedings. The Sixers had been more than impressive in their efforts to get a high seed on the Playoffs because they were doing it without Elton Brand, their huge offseason addition. Basically, the Sixers are now doing what they were expected to do, which isn’t as disappointing, but no more desirable.

F – The Offtune Jazz - The Utah Jazz did not play a single game with their full starting lineup until late February and went on a roll to win 12 straight. For whatever reason, the Jazz have fallen hard the last couple weeks. Their reputation of being a horrible road team has not changed, the Oklahoma City Thunder have a better road record than the Jazz this year. This past week the Jazz have dropped road contests to the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs (they have not won in San Antonio in 10 years), and home contests to the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors. For the Jazz’s pathetic effort of late, they will most likely win a first round butt whooping at the hands of the Los Angles Lakers. CONGRATUALTIONS!!!