NBA Eastern Race (Written by Haley Greenberg)

As March Madness is winding down in College Basketball, professional basketball is just about ready to battle it out in the playoffs. Currently Atlanta, Cleveland, Chicago, Toronto, and Washington have all secured 5 playoff spots within the Eastern Conference. There are 3 spots left meaning Milwaukee, Miami, Boston, Indiana, Brooklyn, and Charlotte are all in needs of wins.

          

Jabari Parker Earlier in the season.

  I would definitely say that this season has not been good for the Eastern Conference. The quality of the teams has been lower than usual this year as winning percentages are significantly lower. Although the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers are doing well, many of the teams fighting for a playoff spot have lousy records. One team that I want to see make a comeback this season is the Indiana Pacers. The team is extremely close to making it in to the top 8. Since losing Paul George, the team has not done well. If he is able to play, will it be worth it for maybe 4 playoff games? Or should the Pacers save him for next season and hope for a full recovery?

            Do I believe that the Heat deserve a spot? Undecided. They still have a chance to make it to the playoffs, but I do not believe that they are ready for them. Ever since the dramatic loss of LeBron James and Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade has not been able to keep his team together. Although Wade is still playing at a high level, the team is clearly in a transition stage. I think that they need time to regroup and draft new players to get the organization back to (or at least semi-back to) their old playing game.

            Milwaukee is another team in close contention to make it into the playoffs this season. The team needs Brandon Knight, but they are now settling with Michael Carter-Williams, which has definitely not helped them win games. However, I think that this team is an up-and-comer, and it is promising that 6 out of their final 7 games are against losing teams. The team may catch a break for the 2015 playoffs but need some definite work over the off-season.

            The playoff race is coming down to some final crucial games. Although 5 spots are secured, there are still 3 worth fighting for.

March Madness Questionaire

What a tournament it has been so far! I can't wait to see what the sweet sixteen has in store. Look for more craziness as the tournament continues. With powerhouses such as North Carolina, Duke, Syracuse, and Kansas out, a series of lower-seeded teams have the chance to make a run at the national title. Since alot of people feel as if they know alot about March Madness, I challenge you guys to take my quiz. All you have to do is download "March Madness Questionnaire" on Google Play. Let's see how much you REALLY know about this game we call college basketball.

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!

Fading Away

     With March Madness in full swing, alot of college basketball fans are wondering this: Why isn't there a college basketball game out? Well, once upon a time there was.
     Since 1995, Electronic Arts Sports (also known as EA Sports) created a game made specifically for college basketball. In 1998, the popular "NCAA March Madness" series began in 1998, which was originally only available to PlayStation.

 
 From then on, NCAA March Madness took the gaming industry by storm, with many memorable features such as having the ability to create players and sending to the user's school of choice, building up a dynasty for up to 30 years, and having a "lockdown stick" in order to pressure the basketball. In 2004, the series began to fully blossom into a well respected game throughout the sports industry. By 2006, the March Madness series had it's greatest IGN rating off all time: 8.7 In the latter years of the game, sales annually declined as producers seemed to lose new innovation that would the game selling at a high level. In 2009, the name changed from "NCAA March Madness", to "NCAA Basketball". Unfortunatley, by 2010 the game was discontinued.

     As a fan, I present these questions: Will there ever be another college basketball game? If so, how will it maintain interest from college basketball fans and newcomers of college basketball? With these questions at hand, college basketball should remain hopeful; for a game to eventually rise, and never fade away.