Tensions inside the AoG war room heat up in the minutes leading up to the first ever bubble team draft.

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March Madness is upon us. With only a week to go until we find out the NCAA Tournament field, the staff  here at Anchor of Gold has taken it upon ourselves to push our college basketball knowledge into an ultimate competition to see who understands the NCAA Selection Committee the best. Today marks the dawning of a new era; one that will crown the AoG king of bracketology. Behold - the first ever Bubble Team Draft.

The rules are simple. Five authors will pick their teams. Every team that lies outside the AP Top 25 as of March 1, 2010 is eligible for selection - all Top 25 teams are considered locks. Authors pick their teams based on how strongly they feel each team will make the field of 65. The draft is run like a standard fantasy draft; each participant can select one team per pick, and picks will run in a serpentine fashion - i.e. whoever picks last in the first round picks first in the second round and vice versa. Once the NCAA Tournament field is final, scoring will be as follows:

Correct pick: 5 points
Incorrect pick: -2 points
Seed 1-6: 1 bonus point
Seed 7-9: 2 bonus points
Seed 10-11: 4 bonus points
Seed 12+: 7 bonus points

The participant with the highest score earns eternal college basketball bragging rights and a gift basket filled with a variety of essential Krebstar products. The author with the lowest score - from here on to be referred to as the "loser" will have his AoG salary suspended until he can prove his worthiness in meaningless fantasy games. The system rewards risky picks, but also punishes dumb ones (i.e. my eventual homer pick of the University of Rhode Island), so participants are warned to choose wisely. The draft as currently planned will cover six rounds - 30 teams in all. The draft order?

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Just got finished with a rousing discussion with the boys over at Rocky Top Talk about the SEC Tournament. Glenn and Ken from A Sea of Blue and mlmintampa from Alligator Army were also there to discuss the overall dominance of the SEC East and how postseason play is shaping up. The podcast is titled "The SEC Tournament," and the Vandy portion runs from 27:30 to 39:00. A hat tip for the boys at RTT for finding a way to share my beautiful voice with the blogosphere. You're welcome, internet.

*** Pomeroy and Sagarin numbers through games played Sunday March 7th, 2010 ***

Thoughts?

More photos » Mark Humphrey - AP

Muscle and Hustle. Either a great nickname for Steve Tchiengang or an incredible WWF tag team. You decide. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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On February 9, the Commodores hosted #12 Tennessee coming off an upset loss to Georgia. The 'Dores had looked sloppy, listless, and uncomfortable when they dropped their second SEC game in Athens, and a loss against the Volunteers at home would stand to unravel a lot of the goodwill the team had built in the previous weeks. That night, the team came out firing on all cylinders and used a career night from Jeffery Taylor (26 points) and Jermaine Beal (20) to scorch the Vols in Nashville.

While the stars were the headliner, a transformation was taking place on the bench. Until the UT game, Steve Tchiengang had yet to play more than 13 minutes in an important game. Against the Volunteers, the Cameroonian big man looked composed, confident, and most of all - tough. Since that night, Tchiengang has gone from fringe big man with potential to valuable rotation player; more importantly, he earned his way into that role.

In a jump of a just over twice the minutes, the Cameroonian's rebounding numbers have more than tripled. His presence on the glass was a major factor in the team's 6-2 finish and ascension to #13 in the country. A couple other interesting statistics pop out; in the first set of games, Tchiengang only went to the free throw line nine times - just four games out of eight. In the last half of the SEC schedule, he attempted 21 free throws and got to the line in every game, showcasing a more aggressive interior style of play. The big man has also gained a little confidence at the three-point line, putting up five threes in the second set compared to just one.

Tchiengang's emergence has had an impact statistically, but most of what he's contributed can't be measured in numbers. He's been a stalwart on the bench and his presence has cut into Festus Ezeli's court time, giving the team's other African big man more time to develop off the bench. He's proven to be the team's strongest player inside and is the muscle counterpart to Andre Walker's finesse game at the four. His development in 2010 has been one of the team's most promising - and under-reported - stories.

Steve Tchiengang has provided the muscle this team has needed inside in the games that have mattered most. Though he's not the tallest or most athletic power forward on the court, he's been the consummate college player this season, playing with hustle and frustrating opponents. Though other players will get most of the credit for Vanderbilt's wins in March - and often, rightfully so - Tchiengang is showing that he's the backbone this team needs to extend their season into April.

More photos » Frederick Breedon - AP

Second chances and offensive slumps...two Commodore killers in Jermaine Beal's final game at Memorial Gym. (AP Photo/Frederick Breedon)

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Wow. That...ended poorly. Just as it looked like Vanderbilt would pull out a sloppy comeback win like they did against Georgia and Florida, the Gamecocks refused to make the mistakes that would allow the 'Dores to get back into the game. Devan Downey made sure that the fans in Nashville would remember his name by putting the nails in Vandy's coffin. His monster-three in response to Jermaine Beal's big shot put USC ahead with under two minutes to play, and combined with his frantic footwork in dribbling out the clock, ensured that the Gamecocks would finish the regular season on a high note.

Hopefully, the loss will help flush all the sloppy play and poor rebounding out of Vanderbilt's system as they head into postseason play. Their second half collapse today was punctuated by missed shots around the basket and an inability to clear the glass on defense. Vanderbilt had excelled at out-passing the full-court press and turning pressure into easy baskets for most of the season, but today they just couldn't shake the Gamecocks. While the loss won't affect Vandy's SEC Tournament seeding, it will give their critics another morsel to chew on while ranking Tennessee six or seven slots higher than them.

It's a tough, annoying loss; made all the more painful knowing that it was Dolla Beal's last game at Memorial Gym. Still, the wake-up call might be what the team needed to play to their full potential in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments. Coach Kevin Stallings will surely be putting these guys through the ringer leading up to their first game next week. Other observations:

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Post your pregame, in-game, and post-game comments and thoughts below.

If he were an 8-bit player in the late eighties, this is what Dolla would be looking like.

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6 point first half favorite. 10.5 for the game. 

Best bet of those two is the first half line. Load up on that and then enjoy Dolla getting it done in the second half. 

Prop bets to consider:

Beal minutes played o/u 35

Beal points scored o/u 25

Meriweather minutes played o/u 3

Meriweather points scored o/u 1.5

Under on Beal minutes, over on Beal points, over on Meriweather minutes, over on Meriweather points. (True Story: Meriweather has applied to VULS and if he gets in is going to try and knock out that last year of eligibility while in his first year of law school.) 

Dynamite. 

More photos » Frederick Breedon - AP

Dolla Dolla Beal, Y'all. (AP Photo/Frederick Breedon)

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In the spring of 2006, Vanderbilt was at a bit of a crossroads. The Commodore careers of Mario Moore and Julian Terrell had come to an end in an unfitting fashion. Preseason promise soured and lofty expectations were not met. The gutshot of an underachieving team turned into a nightmare when it was announced that DeMarre Carroll would transfer elsewhere. Really, it's amazing how quickly things can go south (Gamecock fans I'm sure can empathize with this sentiment).

Jermaine Beal, not even graduated from high school but committed and signed to a scholarship to play for the Commodores, had a message for Vandy fans:

"Relax. I'll be there in the fall and I'll be taking care of business" (or something to that effect).

Thank you, Jermaine Beal, for keeping your promise.

90 Wins. 40 SEC regular season wins. You never saw a losing season in conference play. You have a career win percentage of 70.3% and an SEC win percentage of 63.5%.

You came here, not without flaws, but eager to learn and more than willing to work. You leave as the winningest basketball player in Vanderbilt Men's Basketball history. Your statistics speak for themselves. You represent everything that makes it so easy and so great to be a Commodore fan. It's been our pleasure. Thank you for everything.

Gamecocks vs Commodores coverage

Schedule Breakdown

Vanderbilt is the second most efficient offensive team and the twelfth most efficient defensive team that the Gamecocks will have played this season. South Carolina is the 22nd most efficient offensive team and the thirteenth most efficient defensive team that the Commodores will have played this season.

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