conference Page 41 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Montana Is Going Dancing
Congratulations to the Montana Grizzlies , who in beating Weber State 85-66 won the Big Sky tournament and punched their ticket to the dance. [ESPN2]...

LIU-Brooklyn Is Going Dancing
Congratulations to the LIU-Brooklyn Blackbirds , who in beating Robert Morris 90-73 won the NEC tournament and punched their ticket to the dance. [ESPN2]...

Western Kentucky Is Going Dancing
Congratulations to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, who in beating North Texas 74-70 won the Sun Belt Conference tournament and punched their ticket to the dance. This is the same WKU that lost to a team playing six players then fired its coach for it. [ESPN2]...

Davidson Is Going Dancing
Congratulations to the Davidson Wildcats, who in beating Western Carolina 93-91 in double overtime won the Southern Conference tournament and punched their ticket to the dance. [ESPN2]...

St. Mary's Is Going Dancing
Congratulations to the St. Mary's Gaels, who in beating Gonzaga 78-74 in overtime won the WCC tournament and punched their ticket to the dance. [ESPN2]...

Loyola (Maryland) Is Going Dancing
Congratulations to the Loyola (Md.) Greyhounds, who in beating Fairfield 48-44 won the MAAC tournament and punched their ticket to the dance. [ESPN2]...

Here's How Oakland Squandered A Late 11-Point Lead And Was Upset By Southern Utah
"The Badlands Conference" is my favorite nickname for the Summit League, and it's an apt name given the conference tournament takes place in South Dakota, home to Badlands National Park. Last night's Summit quarterfinal between sixth-seed Southern Utah and third-seeded Oakland left the Golden Gri...

Creighton Is Going Dancing
Congratulations to the Creighton Bluejays, who in beating Illinois State 83-79 in OT won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and punched their ticket to the dance. [CBS]...

Belmont Is Going Dancing
Congratulations to the Belmont Bruins, who in beating Florida Gulf Coast 83-69 won the Atlantic Sun tournament and punched their ticket to the dance. [ESPN2]...

Murray State Is Going Dancing
Congratulations to the Murray State Racers, who in beating Tennessee State 54-52 won the Ohio Valley tournament and punched their ticket to the dance. [ESPN2]...

UNC-Asheville Is Going Dancing
Congratulations to the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs, who in beating VMI 80-64 won the Big South tournament and punched their ticket to the dance. [ESPN2]...

Sloan Sports Analytics Conference: Lots Of Smart People, And One Bro Who Likes Jerking Off In The Background
MIT's Sloan Sports Analytics Conference regularly features the best minds in sports—people like Bill James, Mark Cuban, et cetera. It also, apparently, features dudes who like making jerk-off motions behind Michael Smith, whose Numbers Never Lie program aired live from MIT yesterday. Here's Smith...

The Big East's Plan To Save Itself By Becoming Conference USA Continues To Take Shape
To review: Pitt, Syracuse, and West Virginia are going. Houston, Central Florida, and Southern Methodist are joining, with Boise State, San Diego State, and Navy eventually signing on just for football. And now, per CBS Sports, Memphis is in "the final stages of negotiations" to become an all-sport...

John Tortorella's 16-Second Press Conference Describes The Rangers' Performance Pretty Well
Getting shut out by the Edmonton Oilers, and Nikolai Khabibulin to boot? Allowing 27 shots to the Oilers? Having superduperstar goalie Henrik Lundqvist leave the game with foot pain?...

Oh, Great, Now Conference USA Is Merging With The Mountain West To Form A 22-Team Conference
Because why the fuck not, at this point? [MWC]...

BC Athletic Director: ESPN Is The Kindest, Bravest, Warmest, Most Wonderful Company I've Ever Known
Gene DeFilippo, addressing this: "I spoke inappropriately and erroneously regarding ESPN's role in conference expansion." [@PeteThamelNYT]...

ESPN Is Now Trotting Out Anyone It Can To Tell You It Had Nothing To Do With Boning The Big East
The folks in Bristol are getting a little defensive over those rather inconvenient comments made by Boston College AD Gene DeFilippo, who said ESPN had influenced the ACC's decision to expand by swiping Pitt and Syracuse from the Big East. An unnamed spokesman for the Worldwide Leader has already i...

Did ESPN Bone The Big East Because They Wouldn't Sign A TV Deal?
Boston College AD Gene DeFilippo, who was part of the ACC's expansion committee that lured Pitt and Syracuse away from the Big East, says something that shouldn't be a big shocker: realignment is about money. But to see it put so blatantly, and to see the four-letter network invoked so unapologetica...

A Soccer Player Melts In The Sweatiest Press Conference Ever
Over at Sharapova's Thigh, there's an 8-minute video of Espanyol striker Walter Pandiani gradually getting sweatier and sweatier over the course of a press conference. We're not big on "gradual" around here, so we've chopped it up to show how that light blue dress shirt never had a chance....

The Big East Is Reaping What Its Founder Sowed
Since when did Dave Gavitt become a paragon for all that is harmonious and decent and noble in college sports? Gavitt, who died a week ago today at the age of 73, was the founder and first commissioner of the Big East. And because Pitt and Syracuse have decided to seek higher ground by airlifting t...