Any win by a conference member only makes the collective league look stronger
as a whole. So suck up your petty differences and see the bigger picture.

For months we’ve been led to believe that we all had a chance. For months fan bases tried in vain to discover the intricate details for this 18 year old’s mind. Unfortunately, it was never as close as he made it out to be. It had been Ohio State all along.Since the highly anticipated news conference where Pryor famously decided not to decide. He cited his willingness to take trips to State College and Eugene as reasons for his indecision to a national audience. Since that fateful February 6th news conference? A trip on February 24th to Columbus, home of the Buckeyes for yet another trip this time with fellow Jordan Hall who was offered a scholarship on that visit. Props to Jim Tressel and his coaching staff for a great strategic play.

So its now official. Pryor is a Buckeye and Nittany Lion fans have the pure joy of welcoming Pryor into the White House for at least a year if not 2 during his collegiate career. If we don’t challenge him, we can be sure the SEC will lay a beating on him consistently in the bowl games.

Part V of a multi-part series breaking down this year’s Madness.
Part I | Part II (East) | Part III (Midwest) | Part IV (West) | Part V (South)

SOUTH REGIONAL

Record	overall	25-8	21-12
	conference	13-7	14-5
	against tournament teams	4-5	3-4
Resume	RPI	15	47
	SOS	43	51
	Quality Wins	6	8
Team Stats per game	Points	71.3	72.6
	Turnovers	13.7	12.8
	Rebounds	41.1	35.5
	Free throw %	0.731	0.741
	3pt %	0.373	0.372
	Blocks	4.4	4.4

Part IV of a multi-part series breaking down this year’s Madness.
Part I | Part II (East) | Part III (Midwest) | Part IV (West)

WEST REGIONAL

Record	overall	24-8	20-10
	conference	15-4	9-8
	against tournament teams	4-3	5-8
Resume	RPI	46	43
	SOS	114	49
	Quality Wins	5	7
Team Stats per game	Points	68.7	81.4
	Turnovers	12.9	12.6
	Rebounds	35.8	40.9
	Free throw %	0.706	0.742
	3pt %	0.37	0.382
	Blocks	4.3	4.4

Unfortunately for the Bears, they come limping into this contest having lost 6 of their last 10. Their last game prior to Selection Sunday? A loss to last place Colorado in the Big 12 tournament. Not exactly a hot streak to be playing upstart Purdue in their first round matchup. Baylor is one of those teams that literally live and die by the 3. The last team this reliant on the long range shots? Think Illinois the year they lost to North Carolina in the Championship game. So a cold spell could easily doom Baylor and turn their first round game into a nightmare. But this also gives them a good chance at an upset if the 3s begin falling. Look for a close contest between the Boilers and Bears but with Purdue prevailing in the last few minutes.

Part II of a multi-part series breaking down this year’s Madness.
Part I | Part II (East) | Part III (Midwest)

MIDWEST REGIONAL

One would assume that Wisconsin has the easiest route in the tournament by virtue of their high #3 seed. But while they might not have any trouble dispelling CS-Fullerton, they face a tough USC squad in the second round. If they make it past that, and thats a big IF, they face the winner of the Georgetown/Gonzaga matchup. That’s no easy feat either. While Wisconsin has probably one of the toughest routes to the Final Four, I’d pick them to make it the furthest as long as they execute their well renowned defense cooling down hot shooting teams like USC. A Wisconsin-Georgetown matchup between the Princeton offense and Wisconsin’s defense would be excruciating to watch, but would be a great matchup nonetheless.

Record	overall	29-4	23-8
	conference	19-2	15-4
	against tournament teams	6-4	1-2
Resume	RPI	11	79
	SOS	61	199
	Quality Wins	8	1
Team Stats per game	Points	67.3	82.6
	Turnovers	12.1	13.5
	Rebounds	38.3	39
	Free throw %	0.709	0.706
	3pt %	0.359	0.386
	Blocks	3.3	1.6

This is an easy game to predict. Wisconsin has a knack for slowing down fast-paced offenses. The only team this season to penetrate their famous defense was Purdue who beat the Badgers twice. But CS-Fullerton with an RPI of 79 and a strength of schedule of 199 is no match for Wisconsin with an RPI of 11 and a SOS of 61. For CS-Fullerton to even sniff victory in this first round, they must score at least 70. In conference play, Wisconsin has only managed to score more than 70 three times, two of them came in blowout wins against Penn State and the third coming against a dominating effort over Illinois. So, 70 would be a good benchmark for CS-Fullerton to aim for. Unfortunately for them, 70 against Wisconsin’s defense would be like running into a brick wall blindfolded. Mark it down. A blowout unwatchable game for the Badgers in Round 1.

Part II of a multi-part series breaking down this year’s Madness.
Part I | Part II (East) | Part III (Midwest)

EAST REGIONAL

Lets start with the region with the top seed, North Carolina. Fortunately for the Tar Heels, they do not have to travel far from home playing only 20 miles from Chapel Hill. This in addition to the fact that the #1 seed has never lost a first round game, it does not bode well for Coppin State/ Mt. St. Mary’s. But here at NittanyWhiteOut we care little about the other conferences, especially the SEC so we’ll focus mainly on Indiana.

Indiana will struggle just to get past its opening game with Arkansas who reached the SEC tournament final falling to eventual champion Georgia. Indiana lost to Penn State and Minnesota (middle of the pack Big Ten teams) entering the tournament. Though Indiana’s record and RPI are much stronger than Arkansas, don’t let those stats fool you. Since Kelvin Sanctions departure, Indiana posted a 3-3 record losing to Penn State and Minnesota to close out the regular season. Indiana’s record against teams in the RPI top-50? 3-5 which does not bode well for Hoosier fans considering Arkansas is sitting at #32 in the RPI.

Record	overall	25-7	22-11
	conference	14-5	11-8
	against tournament teams	4-5	6-6
Resume	RPI	23	32
	SOS	59	25
	percent	75.0	73.3
Team Stats per game	Points	75.1	73.6
	Turnovers	13.7	15.5
	Rebounds	40.8	39.5
	Free throw %	0.763	0.672
	3pt %	0.346	0.399
	Blocks	3.8	5.3

As for predictions for this game? Indiana is favored over the Razorbacks by an average of 1.5 and this will be a great 8-9 seed matchup. This Indiana team is good, very good. But they just haven’t been playing the same since the loss of their head coach. If they can simply get past the fact that he won’t be back and theres nothing they can do to bring him back, they will be able to run this Arkansas team out of town. More detailed breakdown of the matchup at The Hoosier Report for those interested. I will be rooting for the Big Ten teams to reach the Final Four. The committee made it just that much easier since they placed 1 Big Ten team in each region. So here’s to taking the first step and predicting a Hoosier victory over the Razorbacks. We’ll talk about the matchup with the Tar Heels when we cross that bridge.

Duplicate Post of the original version at www.nittanywhiteout.com.
Check out our current blog here.

Its tough for teams to just get past the first round of the tournament, like them we had to
fight our way through groups of small children just to make it into Disneyland’s California Adventure Park.

The first round games are always the toughest. Mid majors take advantage of this round where a first round victory can propel a team deep into the tournament. Need proof?

It was in the first round last year where #11 Winthrop beat #6 Notre Dame and #11 VCU took down #6 Duke.

In 2006, 6 underdogs took advantage of the first round when #12 Texas A&M beat #5 Syracuse, #14 Northwestern State upset #3 Iowa, #10 NC State beat #7 California, #13 Bradley beat #4 Kansas, #11 George Mason upset #6 Michigan State and #11 Wisconsin-Milwaukee beat #6 Oklahoma.

In 2005, #12 Wisconsin-Milwaukee beat #5 Alabama, #11 UAB upset #6 LSU, #14 Bucknell beat #3 Kansas, #10 NC State upends #7 Charlotte and #13 Vermont beat #4 Syracuse.

So there is no doubt that the big players are most vulnerable in the first two rounds especially if they are playing sloppy and looking past their first round opposition. For the mid majors, getting to the second round is a major achievement in itself and that deadly combination have left stunned powers in their wake.

With that said, of this year’s first round games, the ACC faces the least opposition to the second round. This is credited more so to the high seeds awarded to the 4 ACC participants like #1 North Carolina, #2 Duke, #5 Clemson and #7 Miami. But they face 1 team from the Big 6 (Villanova) and 3 mid major teams (Play-In, Belmont and St. Mary’s). Not exactly a tough slate of opponents. So chalk up 4 ACC teams in the second round.

Of the Big 6 conferences, the Big Ten received the middle finger from the selection committee.

• ACC season and tournament winner North Carolina received the top overall #1 seed,
• Big 12 season and tournament winner Kansas received a #1 seed,
• Big East season winner Georgetown received a #2 seed and surprise tournament winner Pittsburgh a #4 seed,
• Pac 10 season and tournament winner received a #1 seed,
• SEC season winner Tennessee received a #2 seed and surprise tournament winner Georgia a #14 seed,
• the Big Ten regular season and tournament winner, Wisconsin? A #3 seed despite having beaten a #2 seed Texas (at Texas) and Georgia (the SEC tournament winner)

I guess winning the Big Ten just isn’t that tough anymore despite Texas the #2 seed having lost to both Michigan State as well as Texas. Tennessee another #2 seed? They lost to that very Texas team. I whole heartedly believe that the regular season champions from the Big 6 conferences should automatically receive a #1 or #2 seed considering there are 8 of them to hand out. But here is a breakdown of the caliber of opponents teams from the Big 6 have to face to get past the first round.

Is it also safe to say the selection committee likes the Big East? The Big East picked up 8 seeds in the tournament (most out of any of the Big 6) and 7 of the 8 teams are seeded favorites with Villanova as the only exception.

Back from my much needed vacation to So Cal who would have thought so much could happen within a week.

First Penn State upsets then #17 ranked Indiana at home in overtime no less, then loses to the Illini in the Big Ten tournament, then Illinois goes on to make a run to the final of the tournament. If only we could have the first round game back.

And now Pryor has stirred up even more chaos by announcing that he is finally ready to announce.

Whats more, now banished ‘Michigan Man’, the coach of Stanford was apparently right when they discovered Michigan is as academically challenging as your local community college.

And on the day of my return? The NCAA announces their seeds and bracket for this year’s tournament.

So without further ado, heres a comparison of the best So Cal’s has to offer (pictures courtesy of Chris W. who was part our our entourage west) and the regional brackets.

Midwest Regional
Many would assume Wisconsin has the best chance out of the four Big Ten teams to make a deep run into the tournament due to their #3 seed, but like surfing, things are a lot harder than they look from a distance. When you are paddling out into the ocean, minute waves look ten feet tall and catching a good wave takes skill, determination and lots of luck. Wisconsin will need alot of luck just to make it out of this regional. Beating #14 CS-Fullerton will most likely bring a matchup with Pac 10, OJ Mayo led USC. If they even make it past USC, Georgetown will probably loom next and there is always Kansas to look forward to in this regional.

East Regional
In our Eastern corner, standing at 25-7, we have Indiana seeded #8 simply because they’ve been struggling since the departure of Coach Sanctions. In my honest opinion, if the Big Ten had its pick of the four teams they would most like to send to the tournament, I would have replaced Indiana with Ohio State. Hear me out before I am banned from the Hoosier state. Ohio State beat #15 Purdue, and #17 Michigan State to end the season before falling to the revenge minded Spartans in the tournament. Indiana on the other hand lost to Penn State (who did not even make the NIT) and Minnesota in the first round of the tournament, not exactly a ‘hot’ streak to walk into the tournament with. They face an Arkansas team that made the SEC final by beating #4 Tennessee and #18 Vanderbilt before falling to eventual tournament champion Georgia. So one teams regressing, the others rising, odds are Indiana will struggle to even make it out of the first round. Like Shamu at SeaWorld, Indiana is a trapped team. Their reward for beating a hot Arkansas team? A second round date with North Carolina the top seed in the entire tournament. At least Shamu gets a break now and again between shows, Indiana faces a non-stop gauntlet of a tournament.

West Regional
Anyone who has ridden the Tower of Terror in Disneyland knows the horror of being dropped repeatedly from a high altitude. The West Regional in our opinion is the toughest region of the tournament. Yes, many of the big hitters are all seeded in other regions, but the West is competitive across the board. The team with the worst record in this region? Georgia at 16 losses from the SEC. The very same Georgia that just won the SEC tournament. Then theres Purdue, surprise conference contenders from the Big Ten, UCLA beast from the West, UConn and everyone’s arch nemeses, Duke.

South Regional
When the Hollywood sign began to deteriorate in the 1940s, the city of Los Angeles decided it was a landmark and should be repaired with the help of famous donors. The new and current sign was unveiled in 1978 on its 75th anniversary. But like the top seed of the South Regional, Memphis, this Southern California landmark is overrated. When you go 33-1 in Conference USA play, it means exactly as it sounds. Granted their early season victories over Georgetown, Arizona, and USC were nice, it is just so much easier to cruise through a mid major conference than it is to grind it out game in and game out. And whats even more ridiculous is the lack of big hitters to impede Memphis’ way to the Final Four in this conference. Texas as the #2 seed? The same Texas that lost to both Michigan State and Wisconsin was the best the selection committee could come up with to challenge Memphis. You would think after the Hawaii debacle that Memphis should be facing the toughest road to the Final Four by virtue of their ridiculous conference simply to see if they are worthy. More to come on this ridiculous obsession with Cinderella mid majors, but Memphis is simply not that invincible.

Clumpy, well-smeared bird droppings are just about everywhere at the northeast corner of East College Avenue and South Allen Street.

They started to fall like a daily shower sometime early last month. For reasons unknown, hundreds of crows began roosting in the trees there at night.

So far, they haven’t stopped. But they have left their mark — slippery and wet under foot, streaked across public benches and street lamps, a foul topping for new-fallen snow.

So what is deal ol State going to do about these foul mannered rivals invading Happy Valley?

OPP crews for the past few weeks have used power washers to scrub the
sidewalks clean. They also deployed biological cleaning agents to “remove debris and reduce odor,” Ruskin said. Penn State’s pest-fighting contractor, Terminix, is expected to deploy a thermal fogger over several days. The device sounds like a leaf blower and pumps out a nontoxic fogging agent, Ruskin said. He said it won’t hurt the crows but that “we hope to annoy them enough that they go away.”

1. As a general question, evaluate your recruiting class. Is it more or less what you expected, were you pleasantly surprised or horribly, horribly disappointed? Were your team's needs adequately addressed or will you be starting a two star running back at center next year?

First off, Penn State hasn't had a recruiting class with less than 15 commits since 2001 when they had 11. This year we hauled in 14 with a potential jewel of a 15th in Pryor so I am satisfied but not excited with this year's recruiting class.
I would have definitely preferred a few more wide receivers seeing as we lose Williams and Butler to graduation and/or NFL next year, but with the limited amount of scholarships we could have offered this year, we got what essentially were the basics. Great linebackers and a decent running back in Brandon Beachum will carry Penn State a long way in the following years.

2. Who were the big catches in your recruiting class? Name two players matriculating to your school whose existence everyone else in the Big Ten will curse for the next four years.

Michael Mauti will make his mark in the linebacking lore of Penn State. And it would be a lie to say Big Ten coaches haven't had nightmares of Penn State linebackers since their inception into the conference. Mauti will simply be another name they will curse the night before playing Penn State. It was simply shocking to see that Penn State actually recruited Mauti from Louisiana considering our track record with Southern recruits NOT from Florida. But Mauti actually turned some heads when he played in the US Army All-American game.

A second would be Jack Crawford. Penn State has always been adequate in developing defensive ends and with 4.5 speed, Jack Crawford should be a beast coming around the corner flushing quarterbacks out of the pocket. With offers from Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan, Rutgers and Boston College, Crawford was a good steal out of New Jersey.

3. You can't win them all. Maybe some slick talking carpetbagger schmoozed his way into your living room, sold you a set of ginzu knives made out of tin foil, and walked off with your wife and your star recruit. Perhaps an in-state lock who grew up with [Insert University Here] posters on his wall and your coach's face tattooed on his arm decided to go elsewhere for reasons no one seems to understand? Did your recruiting class lose someone big on signing day, who was it, and was your school able to yoink someone else to cover his loss?

This one's easy. The loss of Michael Shaw to Michigan hurt. More so than most Lion fans will admit. But with junior Evan Royster, sophomore Stephfon Green (an all star recruit last year), and junior Brent Carter waiting for their turn, Penn State should be set at the position for next year, but the loss of a big name, highly ranked recruit always hurts.

But surprisingly the biggest recruit we lost out on simply because we didn't go all out on this kid was Darrel Scott. This might seem contradictory seeing as I just mentioned that we are not desperate for a running back recruit, but a 4.4, 200 pound running back who scored 45 touchdowns his junior year is always good for any program. He was actually considering Penn State in addition to his final two choices of Colorado and Texas, but as usual Penn State rarely puts forth any effort in recruiting out of the Northeastern zone and we fell out of his radar rather quickly.

4. There's been a spirited debate about this whole "Coaches' Code" among the members of the Big Ten coaching fraternity. Do you believe this exists or is it a line being floated by the guys who couldn't keep their recruiting classes together? Bonus points for declaring your coach a poacher or a poachee in creative fashion!

I made it clear how I felt about Rich Rod in a recent post for stealing 2 recruits from fellow conference members and was simply dismissed as sour grapes by fellow bloggers. But lets face it, stealing recruits from conference members is in fact much worse than taking them away from other schools out-of-conference. Why? Because these are the same people you have to meet, greet and hang out with annually and more often than once. Its like the idea of not taking a shit where you sleep. But Brian at Mgoblog pointed out instances where coaches have 'stolen' recruits and I'd like to note that all of Penn States' steals have been from out-of-conference rivals so at least Joe Paterno can look at his fellow conference coaches in the face at the Big Ten banquet without his peers feeling the need to punch his face in. What Michigan fans point out is true, anything goes when it comes to recruiting, but there is indeed an honor code which has in turn been translated into 'coaches code' between Big Ten coaches. This is the same honor code that coaches honor when they punt the ball being up by at least 2 possessions and begin running the ball when they're up by a bit in the fourth. Its not a written contract, its just a show of respect. Rich Rod obviously did not get the memo when he fled West Virginia in the dead of the night, a classic move by a classy guy.

5. Finally, who's the slickest, smoovest, most Billy Dee Williamsesque recruiter in the Big Ten? Who's the worst, most incompetent, "trip over the flat tire on his Yugo" recruiter in the Big Ten?

• $595.20 in round-trip airfare from San Diego to Oakland in November 2005 for Bush's stepfather, LaMar Griffin, his mother, Denise Griffin and younger brother to attend the USC-California game at Berkeley. The fees were charged to the credit card of Jamie Fritz, an employee of Ornstein. The document detailing the charges was provided by Lee Pfeifer, an estranged business associate of Ornstein's.
• $250.65 for limousine transportation from the Oakland airport to the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco that November weekend for the Bush family, charged to Fritz, according to a document. Ornstein acknowledged both he and Bush's family stayed at the luxury hotel.
• Suits for Bush's stepfather and brother to wear during the Dec. 10, 2005 Heisman ceremony in New York, a makeover for his mother for the event and limousine transportation;
• Weekly payments of at least $1,500 to the Bush family.
• $623.63 for a hotel stay by Bush at the Venetian Resort & Casino in Las Vegas from March 11-13, 2005, charged to Michaels, according to a document signed by Bush.
• $1,574.86 for a stay by Bush at the Manchester Hyatt in San Diego from March 4-6, 2005, paid for by Michaels, according to a hotel document, a hotel employee and a source.
• Approximately $13,000 to Bush from New Era to purchase and modify a car, three sources said.
• As reported by Yahoo! Sports in April, $54,000 in rent-free living for a year at Michaels' $757,500 home in Spring Valley, Calif., according to Michaels and San Diego attorney Brian Watkins.
• Also from previous Yahoo! reports, $28,000 from Michaels to help Bush's family settle pre-existing debt, according to Michaels and Watkins.
• Thousands of dollars in spending money to both Bush and his family from the prospective agents, according to multiple sources.

according to a Los Angeles Times story that documented the rampant presence of agents at USC during the 2005 season.

In January, according to the Times, USC offensive line coach Pat Ruel surveyed the lobby outside the football offices and saw more than a dozen unfamiliar faces.

Furthermore, sources told Yahoo! Sports that representatives of a fledging marketing firm from which Bush and his family allegedly received improper benefits were allowed in the USC locker room during the 2005 season.

Sources also said USC running backs coach Todd McNair knew of Bush's involvement with the marketing firm before last season's national championship game against Texas.

"There has been an unspoken rule that if a guy commits and you've been recruiting him hard, you always call them up and say, 'Are you sure about this?' If he says, 'Yes,' you back off," Tiller told the Indianapolis Star - Joe Tiller