NCAA Men's Basketball on February 18th: Rivalry Week

Rivalry Week in NCAA Men's Basketball is upon us! There will be a series of games that college fans can't help but be excited for. Here are small previews of each game:

Louisville at Syracuse

This used to be one of many heavyweight basketball games that the Big East would showcase annually. Those times have disappeared as Syracuse and Louisville are now in the ACC. Nevertheless , the rivalry remains strong. This year, Louisville is ranked 12th while Syracuse is not ranked. Look for Syracuse to bring their A game as they host Louisville. The Cardinals should definitely be on upset alert.

UNC at Duke 

Nothing in college basketball gets more traditional than this. The name of the two teams speaks for itself. This is arguably the top rivalry in college basketball period. Each and every year, both of these teams have expectation levels of greatness: Championship or Bust. This year, Duke can potentially get a #1 seed bid in the  NCAA Tournament. As of right now , UNC is ranked 15th in the nation, fighting for a high seed. The crowd will be rocking inside Cameron Indoor Stadium; Especially when the TarHeels come to town.

March Madness

The time is finally upon us. March Madness is officially in full swing! This year, over 11 million people have submitted a bracket on ESPN. Billionaire Warren Buffet is offering 1 billion dollars to the person that makes the perfect bracket. As you can see, there is a lot of anticipation for this year's tournament!

This year's Selection Sunday came with a few surprises. Louisville is actually rated a 4th seed  after having a 29-5 season! They are put into a region along with the likes of Duke, Michigan, and undefeated Wichita State. Fair much? In the East region, most people have 4th seed Michigan State making it past Virginia to the Final Four. That surprises me, because while Michigan State does have experience, Virginia is not a team to take for granted. In the South bracket, most have Florida at least going to the Final Four if not the championship game(I have them winning it all in one bracket).With that being said, one team NOT to forget about is VCU. They are the type of team to wait until tournament to really play hard. They have a great defense, and they posses the ability to score. While Arizona has the "easiest" road to the Final Four, they can still be beaten. One thing that allows this to happen is the fact that a team only has to  beat them once, unlike the NBA which each team plays each other multiple times. Even if one team is not necessarily better than another, one bad day can have the weaker team advancing in the tournament. Look out for San Diego State in the West bracket, as they have the talent to go deep in the tournament.

As we embark on a new year of craziness, make sure that you fill out your brackets, sit back, and enjoy the madness. To make your March Madness even better, make sure you download my app called "March Madness Questionnaire" in Google Play. Let's see how much you really know about March Madness!

NCAA Football 14: First Gameplay

   It's finally here: NCAA Football 14. For sports gamers, it's been the most anticipated game this year thus far for the '14 games. Offering new features for Dynasty mode, recruiting, atmosphere, and more, I must say that the game did not disappoint.
 
   The gameplay was very smooth. It was very easy to control the player in whichever way I wanted him to go. The cuts that the gamer now has the ability to is amazingly realistic.

 In NCAA Football 14,players can now cut from one direction to another on the dime.  After playing one time, I can see a MAJOR  upgrade in the way tackling was made. In NCAA Football 13, tackling would either be in two ways: you either tackle the opponent in a regular way, or they just get close-lined. In football, that's not always the case. There are high tackles, lower body tackles, and 'whatever it takes to get the player down' tackles. Throughout my game, I was able to hit my opponents up high, hard, and even twirl them down from the ankles. I was also able to hit them from the waist. That part of the game was great to see.
 
Another part of the game that I found interesting were the players' movements. From time to time, you would see players stumble or slip. This was a great feature to add into the game because like in real college football, players slip all of the time. I loved the way it was added because even though it's there,  it's not prevalent to the point where it disrupts the game. It won't be a feature that would make or break a game.

   Acceleration has become very important in the game. What I mean by that, is saying that if one player is faster than another, it will show. In the open field, the person with the ball will either separate from the defender or get tackled , depending on their speed.

From what I've seen thus far, this game seems to be very promising. As I enter the glory mode and the dynasty mode, I can only hope that the game will continue to impress.