Jensen: Hoops expert barking up new tree
It was bound to happen: Bracketology has gone to the dogs. One of the sponsors for this month's Westminster Dog Show came up with the idea of having Joe Lunardi, the father of bracketology, come up with his picks for the dog show.
It was bound to happen: Bracketology has gone to the dogs.
One of the sponsors for this month's Westminster Dog Show came up with the idea of having Joe Lunardi, the father of bracketology, come up with his picks for the dog show.
Bracketology for bearded collies?
"No, it's barketology," Lunardi corrected.
If you are so lucky to see the Purina commercial, Lunardi has made his canine selections, with considerable technical assistance. Instead of touting some mid-major on the bubble, Lunardi will say things like, "I love the matchup between the English springer spaniel, a five-time winner, and a formidable entry, the lagotto romagnolo. . . . I really have an eye on the Skye terrier to gnaw through this bracket. . . . Watch out for a potential bracket buster in the Belgian sheepdog, a true sleeper."
This does not mean Lunardi is leaving the world of college hoop brackets, which is actually his side job since he is the assistant vice president for marketing communications at St. Joseph's as well as the men's basketball radio analyst for the St. Joe's Hawks.
It's long been my observation that Lunardi tends to bend over backward not to show favoritism toward his Hawks when making his brackets for ESPN.
"That's a very fair call," Lunardi said. "I would even extend that to the Atlantic Ten and the other Philly teams."
In the bracketology business, outraged cries of favoritism are built in.
"I guess I was the first to put Villanova on the top line," Lunardi said of St. Joe's greatest rival, meaning he was first this season to have the Wildcats as a top seed. "I was getting messages I was biased toward Villanova, which is amusing on many levels."
Since St. Joe's is on the bubble, Lunardi is naturally being watched closely where he has the Hawks. At one point, Jerry Palm, another top bracket man, had St. Joe's barely in the field while Lunardi had the Hawks barely out. (They currently have it reversed.)
"Here's what I would say about the Hawks, specifically," Lunardi said. "I will not put them in until they've really earned it. If I'm at [teams 68-69], and it's St. Joe's and say Seton Hall, and it's a paper-thin margin, it's just not worth it."
In that case, Lunardi would be rooting against himself.
"All I really want is get the Hawks in the tournament," Lunardi said of his true rooting interest.
Where does Lunardi have things right now? He has Villanova, now top-ranked in the polls, second overall behind Oklahoma. That's noteworthy because the top overall seed in the East is likely to be in the region that ends up at the Wells Fargo Center next month for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. If an Atlantic Coast Conference team, such as North Carolina or Virginia, or Maryland from the Big Ten, ends up ahead of Villanova, that school would likely go to the East since it would be the closest region host to their school. All that will play out through the conference tournaments.
Lunardi currently has Temple sort of out of the fray, since the Owls technically are the top seed in the American Athletic Conference, which by his rules puts them as the automatic qualifier. If Temple was an at-large, Lunardi would have the Owls among the first four teams out - absolutely in the hunt but with work to do. (Last year, Lunardi's only miss on his final projection was having Temple in and UCLA out.)
As for St. Joe's, Lunardi currently has his Hawks as getting one of the last two byes, narrowly avoiding a play-in game. That also indicates the Hawks have work to do to stay in the field.
"I don't look for a reason to keep them out, but I absolutely look for reasons to put them in," Lunardi said.
As for his sojourn into barketology, Lunardi summed it up this way: "God Bless America."
@jensenoffcampus