Say what you will about the man, but this is a great picture. (Via Wikipedia)

So UCLA finally found their new basketball coach and it was….well…Steve Alford

Alford was hired Saturday to be the new head coach of the Men’s Basketball team at the University of California-Los Angeles (or UCLA, if you’re too cool).

UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said some stuff about the hire. I guess Mr. Guerrero is happy about the, even though he couldn’t get Shaka Smart or Brad Stevens. He’s looking at the silver lining of things, which is nice.

UCLA even has comments from Alford and he sounds excited.

This will be Alford’s fourth Division I basketball coaching job. He’s also been a coach at Southwest Missouri State and Iowa. At New Mexico, Alford compiled a record of 155-54, but they never made it to the Sweet 16.

Alford takes over for Ben Howland, who was fired earlier in the week.

Of course, it sucks for New Mexico, since they kind of gave him a 10-year contract extension around the start of the tournament. Then the team lost to Harvard and everything went wrong. New Mexico fans are taking it well, I guess. Although this one guy feels betrayed. You can read more fun reactions here.

Meanwhile, the UCLA fans are…I guess chilling out on a Saturday? They have things to do, no time to react.

The USC fans, well, they’re probably out doing stuff too. I’m sure nobody will notice when Tim Floyd rejoins the Trojans (okay he won’t), but that’s a story for another time.

Let the smooth stylings of Doug Gottlieb get you through this recap. (NCAA/CBS/Turner Sports)

Well, the Pac 12 did it as they have teams in the Sweet 16 of this NCAA Tournament. Congratulations! I believe you have more in the 16 than Conference USA.

The two teams that advanced on are Arizona and Oregon (SURPRISE!)

Arizona defeated Harvard. Truth be told, it wasn’t even close. The score was 74-51 and Harvard looked nothing like the Harvard from Thursday night. In fact, I think the Harvard from Thursday night would have destroyed the Saturday night Harvard team, but now we’re talking about time travel, which can be very complicated. Mark Lyons led Arizona with 27 points in the win over Harvard. This is the first Sweet 16 appearance for Arizona since 2009.

LEAVE THE MEMORIES ALONE!

Oregon meanwhile told the selection committee to stick the 12-seed where it isn’t anatomically possible as they knocked off St. Louis 74-57. Damyean Dotson had 23 points for the Ducks as they advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007.

Oregon will play Louisville in the Sweet 16. So there’s that, at least. Arizona will play the winner of Iowa State and Ohio State. That said, the west looks pretty good for Arizona. Ohio State is the only top five seed left in the West. Gonzaga, New Mexico and St. Louis are all out of the tournament.

California came close, but it wasn’t enough. But they did cover the point spread or something. California lost the game 66-60 to Syracuse. The game was long and painful. It needed to end at some point. Richard Solomon led Cal with 22 points.

Meanwhile, one of the teams eliminated from the tournament could be looking for a new head coach soon. Yahoo Sports is reporting UCLA Coach Ben Howland will be fired. A couple of sources told Yahoo Sports Howland has been notified of his termination.

So farewell to you, Mr. Howland, if the story is true.

UPDATE: I of course say “if.” Now it seems UCLA is disputing the reports that they’ve fired Head Basketball Coach Ben Howland. So…I guess the plot thickens…

A possible hitch in the Jonathan Franklin Mayoral Campaign. (Screenshot via ESPN3)

Oregon State might find itself in the top 25 very soon.

Why? Because they knocked off 19th-ranked UCLA Saturday afternoon in Pasadena, 27-17.

Sean Mannion had two touchdown passes in the second quarter. The first TD pass went to Brandin Cooks for 75-yards, while the other was to Markus Wheatley for 42-yards, giving the Beavers a 17-3 lead. Mannion finished the game with 369 yards passing and two touchdowns.

Brett Hundley kept the Bruins close with a 65-yard touchdown pass to Shaquelle Evans.

A Storm Woods touchdown run in the third quarter gave Oregon State the 24-10 lead. Woods had 20 carries for 90 yards, making him the leading rusher for the game.

Hundley rallied the Bruins again in the fourth as he had a QB keeper for a touchdown. The freshman had a strong outing for the Bruins, completing 27-of-42 passes for 386 yards.

UCLA was forced to go to the passing game after the Oregon State defense shut down Jonathan Franklin. Franklin was held to 45 yards on 12 carries.

Oregon State upset then 13th-ranked Wisconsin, 10-7, on Sept. 8 for their first win of the season. Interestingly enough, the Beavers were able to shut down Wisconsin’s Montee Ball, two weeks ago in that upset win.

This has been the second game Oregon State has played this season. Their first game, which was suppose to take place Sept. 1 against Nicholls, was postponed. They also had a bye week, last week.

With a trip to Tucson to face Rich Rodriguez’s Arizona squad, Oregon State could be looking to knock off some more ranked teams.

Florida State received solid pitching from the very beginning and some timely offense as they sent UCLA home from the College World Series. The Seminoles won 4-1 and will face Arizona in a rematch on Thursday at 5pm ET on ESPN2. They will need to beat the Wildcats twice to reach the championship series.

FSU got on the board in the very first inning with just one hit (a James Ramsey one out single). Stephen McGee and Justin Gonzalez walked with the bases loaded to force in two runs.

The Seminoles put up another two-spot in the 4th inning on Jayce Boyd‘s bases loaded bunt single. An error on the play scored the second run.

That was more than enough offense for the pitching staff for FSU. Veteran Scott Sitz started and allowed one run on five hits over 6.2 innings. He surprisingly struck out eight (he is not a strike out pitcher). No strikeout was bigger than the three in a row he picked up in the 6th inning with a run in for UCLA and the bases loaded.

Sitz was followed by big man Hunter Scantling, who threw 1.1 perfect innings of relief. Closer Robert Benincasa came on in the 9th inning and retired the Bruins in order, including two strikeouts and the final one looking to end the game.

On offense for FSU, it was once again the top three in the order that did the damage. Sherman Johnson, Devon Travis, and Ramsey went a combined 6-for-9 with four runs scored and four walks (and zero strikeouts).

» Continue reading “FSU Gets Rematch with Arizona, Bounces UCLA”

Arizona beat Pac 12 rival UCLA to advance in the winner’s bracket on Sunday night, 4-0. The Wildcats are just one win away from the College World Series championship series.

If you like pitching, you should have been watching the second game on Sunday at the College World Series. Arizona’s Konner Wade and UCLA’s Nick Vander Tuig were locked in a pitcher’s duel, setting down the opposing offenses in order for three full innings.

With one out in the bottom of the 4th inning, Johnny Field picked up the game’s first hit. Two straight singles loaded the bases for Seth Mejias-Brean, who drove in two runs with a single. Bobby Brown followed with a two-run double to give the Wildcats the 4-0 lead.

That was more than enough for Wade, as the only jam he had to escape from came in the 5th inning. UCLA picked up their first hit with two outs in the 5th inning on a Pat Valaika single. Cody Regis and Kevin Kramer followed with a singles. Wade rebounded to get Kevin Williams to pop up to end the threat.

Wade picked up his fifth complete game, a five-hit shutout. The game ended fittingly, as Wade retired the Bruins in order.

Outside of that 4th inning, Vander Tuig was good. He allowed those four runs on six hits and a walk over 6.1 innings. He struck out eight.

*UCLA falls into the loser’s bracket and will face Florida State in an elimination game on Tuesday night at 8pm ET on ESPN. Arizona awaits the winner of that game on Thursday at 5pm ET on ESPN2.

The College World Series got underway in Omaha on Friday afternoon with the Cinderella team, Stony Brook, facing UCLA. Maybe the first trip to Omaha got the better of the Seawolves, as they lost to the Bruins, 9-1.

UCLA jumped on Stony Brook starter Tyler Johnson in the very first inning. He allowed five runs on five hits and walk in that inning. He fell behind just about every hitter.

Meanwhile, Stony Brook could do nothing against UCLA starter Adam Plutko. He allowed just one run on five hits and two walks over seven innings. He struck out seven. Freshman reliever David Berg came on and threw two hitless innings of relief.

UCLA leadoff hitter Beau Amaral collected two hits, as did Kevin Kramer. Jeff Gelalich, Pat Valaika, and Kevin Williams each drove in two runs in the win. For the Seawolves, Maxx Tissenbaum collected two of the team’s five hits.

» Continue reading “UCLA, Arizona Win on Day 1 of College World Series”