1,000♦ BINGHAMTON

Let’s get the familiarities out of the way … you all know where Baltimore is located. But Binghamton is in upstate New York, a bit Southwest of Syracuse, near the border of Pennsylvania. I’ve been there several times, and trust me when I tell you this is a town dying for something like this. But that’s not why I’m taking the Bearcats; try looking at how well this team is playing right now.It’s been 45 days since they’ve lost a game, and the team they lost to is this same Maryland, Baltimore County team that is in town to defend its league title. Only problem, Binghamton is the top-seeded team in the America East Championship, it comes in on a 10-game win streak, it beat the Retrievers by 20, 71-51, just 17 days ago, on Feb. 26 and though UMBC found its way to the final, it’s still 15-16 on the year and is the No. 6 seed.The Retrievers boast a solid backcourt, but Binghamton plays an impressive brand of defense, and has been quite solid over its last six games, giving up an average of just 59.1 points per game. And the lowest output for UMBC in last 12 games … the 51 it scored here in Vestal, New York. It was the second-lowest output for the Retrievers this season. As for the frontcourt, one might believe UMBC has the edge with go-to guy Darryl Proctor, but this kid Reggie Fuller is the only forward in the Bearcats' four-guard lineup, and he played awfully well down the stretch. He comes in as the team's top rebounder, and that’s an advantage for us. Despite having first-team all-conference Proctor on the floor, the Retrievers have been out-rebounded by an average of three boards per game.Listen, Binghamton hasn’t seen excitement like this in a long, long time. Maybe since the NHL’s Rangers had their farm team in town. And the Bearcats are 11-2 at home this season, including a five-game win streak at the Events Center. This game will be sold out, and the atmosphere is contagiously raucous. So honestly, I don’t care that UMBC was able to get past No. 3 seed Albany to defend its title … this is year of the Bing. For tonight, forget about being the minor-league town for the NHL’s Senators and the Major League-Mets, it’s all about the Bearcats taking care of business and dancing into this madness of March.



200♦ MEMPHIS

Scroll through these numbers … 49, 41, 47, 60, 42, 60, 63, 47, 47 and 37. Those are the last 10 games for Memphis, and how much it’s given up in each one of them, dating back to the regular season, as far back as Feb. 11. Case you’re wondering, the 37-point allowance? That was in a 63-37 win over Tulsa. The line that day: -14 points. And let’s be real here, with all the talk about who deserves the No. 1 seeds, and most loud mouths on television diarrhea dialogue spewing crap about the Big East, I’ve yet to hear anyone build up these Tigers. I’ve been telling you for a month and a half about how much John Calipari wants nothing more than to get a top seed, because of how well he’s done when waltzing into the Big Dance with a No. 1 or 2 seed. And forget No. 2, and the memory of Derrick Rose – the Tigers are a deserving No. 1 seed after they win their fourth straight conference tournament crown. These two met in last year’s final, and the Tigers won by 26. Memphis has won the last nine meetings, while covering four of the last six. I am not going against the Tigers, who aren’t receiving any respect whatsoever by analysts around the nation … except me.

Lay the chalk.