Players With Massachusetts Ties in the NCAA Tournament

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Ok, we're a day late on this, but if you're looking for any kid with Massachusetts roots playing in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, we've got them all listed below for you. Note that these guys may be Massachusetts natives, or simply guys who prepped in the Commonwealth. Some, obviously, are both.

Also note that, while each of these former Bay State stars is on the team listed, you may not get to see each of them play. In some cases, like Newton native and Northwestern sophomore Aaron Falzon, that's due to injury, and in other cases, such as Purdue's Jacquil Taylor from Cambridge, it's just because they aren't yet a part of the usual rotation.

Anyways, without further ado, here are all the players with Massachusetts ties participating in the Big Dance. As always, if we've made an error or left somebody off, tweet me @HerewegoJoe.

Your 2015 Final Four Preview

Can lovable goofball Frank Kaminsky and his Badgers knock off undefeated Kentucky?

By Andy Dougherty (@AndyDougherty10)

No. 1 Duke faces No. 7 Michigan State. No. 1 Kentucky takes on No. 1 Wisconsin.

Saturday’s Final Four should be one of the best in years. For only the fifth time in history, 3 of the Final Four teams are No. 1 seeds. Combined, the four teams have won 15 national championships and made 46 Final Fours, so they are all accustomed to the big stage. The Michigan State Spartans are the only surprise team remaining, but honestly, it’s more surprising to see them as a No. 7 seed than it is to see them in the Final Four, where they’ve been in 7 of the last 17 seasons.

Let's break down both of the national semifinals.

Ranking the NCAA Tournament Field by "Likability"

Pictured: Noted basketball player that many people do not like, former Duke Blue Devil Christian Laettner.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Selection Sunday is over, and now it's time to start your office bracket pool.

Inevitably, your bracket will fall apart before the night games Thursday, so I'm not even going to try to tell you who is going to do what during the tournament (except that Kentucky is going all the way, and that Purdue got screwed).

What I will do, however, is remind you that there are some teams/schools that are just so fun to root against, and there are some squads you find yourself pulling for, for whatever reason.

What usually makes a team "likable?"

Pay is Coming for College Athletes… Eventually

Former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter is attempting to form a Player's Association for college athletes. Hence, the sign on his podium.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Yesterday I wrote one sarcastic sentence about the Chicago office of the National Labor Relations Board's decision that Northwestern football players are, in fact, employees of their school.

With that decision comes the right for these players to form a union. It's important to remember that this ruling ONLY affects Northwestern football players, and that it is far more important for symbolic reasons. This thing isn't even done being appealed by Northwestern, so I wouldn't exactly expect a National Collegiate Football Players (NCFB) union popping up any time soon.

But this ruling, along the NCAA's increased feelings of squeamishness over Ed O'Bannon's anti-trust lawsuit against it, clearly signal that some change is coming.

The change being that people will view college athletes with a little common sense.

Let's talk money.

NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Friday Preview

The battle for Kentucky could come down to coaches Rick Pitino (left) and John Calipari (right).

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

During last night's Sweet 16 games, Dayton officially became the tournament's Cinderella, as the 11th seeded Flyers knocked off Stanford.

It will be Dayton's first trip to the Elite 8 in over 30 years, and for all their hard work, they'll get to face a Florida Gators team that looks darn near unbeatable right now.

Wisconsin and Arizona each took care of business as well, but who will join these four teams in the national quarterfinals? That's what we'll find out tonight, and this evening's slate of games is a doozy.

NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Thursday Preview

Arizona's Nick Johnson has an amazing Twitter avatar. But is it enough to get the Wildcats to the Elite 8?

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

The Sweet 16 has eight games spread out over the next two days. Friday's slate holds the marquee game of the round (and by "marquee" I mean "most recognizable) in Louisville-Kentucky, but Thursday arguably has the most interesting game from a matchup and personnel standpoint. Here are the four games tonight:

Bob Lobel: Massachusetts Roots in March Madness and the Upcoming Remy Trial

By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

Some quick notes before we do the weekly launch. That may actually be “weakly” after these first two items.

Item one, at the NFL league meetings in Orlando, all the coaches posed for a group photo. Actually all but one.

You guessed it, Mr. Bill was absent, and that’s why we love him.  There is always room at the table for a maverick. A winning maverick, of course, but nonetheless a maverick. 

The other quick hitter was mentioning another maverick of sorts. This one picked Duke to win the NCAA basketball tournament. I don’t really have a good reason for picking them, except I wanted to get out of the bracket game early this year because I was sick of trying to show I know anything about college basketball anymore.  

NCAA Tournament 2nd Round Preview

Could Mercer be any more "scrappy underdog"-ey?

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Before you start with the "it's the 3rd round" nonsense, just understand that you are wrong.

We have not played two rounds of basketball, we have played a few preliminary games and a full round. Coastal Carolina didn't earn a bye, and neither did Wofford, so the NCAA can continue this "say it's a round later than it actually is" farce, but we're not drinking that Kool-Aid here at SuiteSports!

Anyways, my rant has finished, now here's your SECOND Round preview.

NCAA Tournament: Day 1 Preview

The tournament kicks off today - who are the favorites?

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

The NCAA Tournament technically started Tuesday night with the first two play-in games. But those games really don't matter. Even after VCU advanced to the Final Four as a play-in winner in 2011. The odds of that happening again (if only because the odds of winning five games in a row as a No. 11 or No. 12 seed as opposed to four in a row) are astronomically low. Especially this year when the play-in teams are, well, not very good. But I digress.

The NCAA Tournament REALLY starts today. There are 16 games, with each region and each seed represented. A few games have upset potential, a few games have blowout potential. Let's start to break them down:

NCAA Tournament Bracket - First Impressions

Forget who will win it all - what is even going on with this bracket?

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

Here are a few random, scattered thoughts on this year's bracket. Some of these points were covered in our special Selection Sunday podcast, some of them weren't, so you'll just have to read and find out.

Hey, Wichita State - Congrats on that undefeated season. Now get ready to lose.

The Southwest region is an absolute nightmare. Wichita State, Michigan, Duke, and Louisville (the top four seeds) all have semi-legitimate claims to No. 1 seeds, and Louisville landing on the No. 4 line is an out-and-out farce.

Taking You to School: Selection Sunday Special

Editors Jeremy Conlin and Joe Parello welcome in RoundballDaily.com's Kels Dayton to discuss the newly released NCAA men's basketball tournament bracket.

How do our guys see each region shaking out, which players should you keep an eye on, and who should be on upset alert? All that, and more, in this Selection Sunday edition of "Taking You to School."

What We Think We Know About Wichita State

At 34-0 with one of the nation's best defenses (allowing under 60 ppg) and most balanced offenses (4 players averaging double figures), Wichita State has everything... Except a quality win.

By Joe Parello  @HerewegoJoe

Yesterday, the Shockers of Wichita State completed the greatest season in program history.

Yes, I think it is safe to assume that 34-0, with the school's first Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship since 1987, is enough to call this Wichita State's best team ever, regardless of what the Shockers do in the NCAA tournament.

Of course, what they do there will lead to some fantastic confirmation bias, one way or the other. After all, WSU hasn't beaten a ranked team this season. Oh, and their historic win Sunday? That came against lowly Indiana State, a team clinging to NIT hopes. As for the usually rugged MVC, it looks to be a one-bid league this year.

But dang it, they're 34-0!

Midweek #HotSportsTakes

Find out what our editors think of LeBron's goofy-masked 61 points, and the other big stories of the week.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe) and Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

Midweek #HotSportsTakes is a new weekly segment here on SuiteSports, where we will offer shallow and somewhat incendiary analysis on random hot-button sports topics of the day.

But hell, we may get sick of this after a week or two, so who knows if it will last. In the mean time, here are our thoughts on a few things floating around the sports world.

Ed. Note: Jeremy wimped out and wouldn't talk hockey, Jim Harbaugh being a sociopath or adorable huskies racing in the Iditarod. Don't worry, Joe's got you covered.

Ok, Now it's Basketball Season

Tyler Ennis' 35-foot buzzer beater officially kicked off basketball season for me this week.

By Joe Parello  @HerewegoJoe

I make no bones about it, I'm a football guy.

Now, basketball is my second-favorite sport, but it isn't exactly a close second. To me, there are three sports seasons: 1. Football season. Basketball season. 3. Waiting for football season.

Now that the Super Bowl is finished, and National Signing Day is in our rear view mirror, it is officially basketball season, and I've got a lot of work ahead of me to catch up with the rest of the basketball watching world.

Top Plays of 2013

2013 is almost over. Time to re-live some of the best moments.

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

2013 is almost in the books. It's been a very interesting year in sports. The reigning NFL Champion won't be in the playoffs. Peyton Manning broke a whole slew of records. The BCS is in its final year. LeBron James and the Heat won back-to-back titles. The Red Sox went from last place to first place. A 15-seed made the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

We're here today to share our choices for the biggest plays and best moments from each sport and each league. Some of them are no-brainers, some might come as surprises. And some we couldn't pick just one so we had to use a few.

We'll start with the two no-brainers:

Taking You to School: The Resurgence of New England Hoops

On this week's edition of "Taking You to School," host Joe Parello, editor Jeremy Conlin and Roundball Daily's Kels Dayton discuss the suddenly stellar play of New England college basketball teams. Is UConn a legitimate national title contender, and are UMass and Providence for real?

Plus, what do we make of phenom Andrew Wiggins' play thus far? Is he underwhelming, or simply the victim of his own hype? And, how big is tonight's Heat-Pacers game, both for Indiana's psyche, and for home court advantage?

All this, and more, on "Taking You to School."

Popular Sports Internet Radio with RF Sports Radio on BlogTalkRadio

Taking You to School: Basketball is Back

Has Duke's Jabari Parker been the most impressive freshman so far this year?

Our "Taking You to School" basketball podcast returns with host Joe Parello, editor Jeremy Conlin and Roundball Daily's Kels Dayton discussing the biggest hoops stories of the day.

This week, the gang tackles which fantastic freshman will have the best college season, and then NBA career. Plus, which disappointing team in the East can recover, and are the Clippers the favorites in the West? How about Michigan State, are they the best college basketball team in the country?

All that, and more, on this week's edition of "Taking You to School."

New Sports Podcasts with RF Sports Radio on BlogTalkRadio

Celtics Hire Brad Stevens, Search For Cutting Edge

Brad Stevens points in a new direction of NBA coaching (Flickr)

By Jeremy Conlin

The Boston Celtics announced Wednesday evening that Brad Stevens (formerly the head coach at Butler University) had been hired to replace Doc Rivers as head coach. The move came as a surprise to many, although much of the surprise came from how unexpected the move was. There are many high-profile coaches currently unemployed, including Stan Van Gundy and 2013 NBA Coach of the Year George Karl, and Stevens had not been rumored to be a potential candidate for any of the openings over the last two months.

The Anti-Decision: Andrew Wiggins and the Biggest Basketball Signing of a Generation

By Joe Parello  @HerewegoJoe

Everybody remembers "The Decision."

In about five seconds, LeBron James pissed off 29 cities (Nearly bringing the apocalypse to Cleveland) and coined the phrase "Taking my talents to…"  It is a preface that every Blue Chip college football/basketball player now uses when they commit to a program.

It was a decision so Earth moving that ESPN gave it a damn hour special, a ridiculous idea considering we all tuned in to hear one sentence. But LeBron was a special, once in a generation type of player, so we allowed him to grab the spotlight and hold it as long as he pleased.

Andrew Wiggins is a little bit different.

Studs and Duds: Flipping Out

By Jeremy Conlin and Joe Parello

Studs and Duds is a weekly feature on Suite Sports. Who had a good week? Who had a bad week?

Studs

Filomena Tobias

This Florida woman, now famous for violently flipping off Chicago's Joakim Noah after he was ejected from game two of the Bulls' playoffs series against the Miami Heat, is all kinds of awesome. First of all, she captures the essence of a very particular kind of South Floridian: The Rich Trash.

Yeah, she has money, but you have no idea how she got it (Well, according to Deadspin she married four different rich dudes, and was accused of killing one of them). And, instead of being classy with her money, she throws it in everyone's face and just generally acts like she's better than you, despite the fact that she has done nothing in her life to earn said money. And just look at that guy she's with, he's clearly miserable and trying to convince himself that he's happy. Awesome.

Does she give some of that money to charity, or at least use it help out friends and family? Nope, looks like she spends it all on jewelry, pants that should only be worn by someone 20 years younger, pills and Heat tickets.

The craziest thing about this is the pride it gave my fellow native South Floridians. Instantly, memes were made showing her as a sign of Miami's attitude and toughness. Seriously, this is the way we want the rest of the country to view us. Like, for reals.

Man, I miss South Florida.

-JP