The Blue Workhorse

The weak were weeded out. What once was a field of 65 is now down to 4.

Michigan State surprised many by knocking off the tournament’s overall #1 seeded Louisville Cardinals. North Carolina contained the Blake Griffin-express in a 12-point victory that wasn’t really even that close. Villanova won the Big East battle over Pittsburgh with a game-winning shot from Scottie Reynolds in the final seconds, and fellow Big East member Connecticut held off the pesky Missouri Tigers to advance to Detroit and the Final Four.

Each will head to Ford Field with thoughts of national championship, and it is only thanks to some great individual performances throughout the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. But who had the most outstanding individual performance in the Elite Eight? Who has earned the right to be named the ‘Elite Eight Workhorse?’ In honor of the elite eight, here are the eight candidates:

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While there have been some great team performances this year in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, it has been the individual performances of players such as Blake Griffin, Ty Lawson, and Cole Aldrich that everyone is talking about.

We’ve given you the candidates for the players who have had the most outstanding performances in the first two rounds (1st Round Workhorse & 2nd Round Workhorse), and after a Sweet 16 that saw several blowouts we’re back with the Sweet 16 candidates.

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The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is traditionally about great and, often improbable, team runs spurred by uncanny individual performances, and this year’s tournament has been no different. There have been a couple of upsets and a plenty of near-upsets. Those contests each had their own outstanding performances.

But who had the most outstanding performance to make them worthy of the distinction of being named the ‘2nd Round Workhorse?’ Here are our candidates (in alphabetical order) with a poll at the bottom:

The college basketball season started last week, but it gets going full speed today with ESPN’s first annual College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, which technically started last night when Memphis took down UMass 80-58 in a game that started at midnight (Eastern Time at least).
To get you into the groove of college basketball (even in the [...]

Week 5 was a week of upsets with six of the AP’s Top 25 falling victim.

Week 6, however, was relatively tame. Only three teams fell, and none were major national contenders.

The major story of Week 6 came out of Nashville as Vanderbilt came back to defeat Auburn and get their first win as a ranked team in over half a century.

Another week means another re-evalution, and thus, we give you our new The Blue Workhorse College Football Top 25 after Week 6. Some things to note from this week’s rankings:

* Last week, every single position in the Top 25 saw a new name beside it. This week, the top 11 remain the same except for USC and Texas Tech switching spots.
* With a 4-1 record, Michigan State bounds into the Top 25 at #18. Also moving into the Top 25 for the first time is North Carolina after their 38-12 win over Connecticut. Both teams have an opportunity to prove their new rankings with games against tough opponents: MSU heads to 5-0 Northwestern while UNC hosts 4-1 Notre Dame.

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Last week, almost every favorite won. This week…college football became a world of upsets.

The craziest part: besides Georgia’s loss to Alabama, the six other upsets were all by teams outside the Top 25! Who would’ve expected an Oregon State squad that lost to Stanford and was hammered by Penn State to upend USC or Wisconsin to blow a 19-point lead to a Michigan squad that hasn’t had an offense all season?

Another week means another re-evalution, and thus, we give you our new The Blue Workhorse College Football Top 25 after Week 5. Some things to note from this week’s rankings:

* With all of the upsets, there is not a single team that is in the same position as last week.
* After a week hiatus, Oregon and Fresno State return to the Top 25.

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There were several great games in the first round of this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament, whether it has been an upset (San Diego over Connecticut, Siena over Vanderbilt), a near upset (Duke surviving Belmont), or double-digit comebacks (Villanova over Clemson, Drake against Western Kentucky only to fall in OT), and each of the great games has had key players.

But who had the best game of the first round and has earned the right to be deemed the “1st Round Workhorse” or most outstanding performance of the first round of the NCAA tournament?

Here are our candidates (in alphabetical order):