tonight. Congratulations." Lyuindula ended the scoring with

Game 7, 2016 NBA Finals: Kyrie Irving with a game winner. Reigning two-time MVP Stephen Curry against four-time MVP LeBron James. Clevelands curse vs. the Golden Boys of 73 wins. At one point 44.5 million people were watching LeBron vs. Steph, and the game had an average TV rating of 15.7, the highest-rated NBA game since Michael Jordans final championship dagger against the Jazz in 1998. The intrigue, storylines, and brands of the teams and players were just as captivating as the game itself. It was must-see TV.April 5, 2010, NCAA title game: Gordon Hayward comes within inches of giving Butler a national championship instead of Duke. The stars? Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack vs. Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler. Over 48 million people tuned in to at least part of a game featuring the school from Indiana, with less than 5,000 students enrolled full time, yet their final game in the 2010 season against Duke drew a 15.0 average TV rating. At the time, this was a better rating than any NBA game since 2002, and not much worse than college footballs 2010 BCS National Championship between Alabama and Texas (17.2 rating).Wait, what? How does a college sporting event featuring two teams with combined undergraduate enrollment under 11,000 outperform any game of its professional counterpart for the previous seven years? How did only 2 percent more households that same year watch the football equivalent featuring Texas and Alabama?Fall may have just begun, but for college basketball fans, March cant come soon enough. Football may be Americas game, and baseball is Americas pastime. What is college basketball? I like to call it the proud owner of the title Americas Tournament. While more people in the U.S. would rather watch football than basketball on a Thursday night, when the calendar turns to March, that gap nearly vanishes.Fans love the Cinderella, at least one of which appears in the NCAA tournament seemingly every year. George Mason, Butler, VCU and Wichita State -- all are from smaller conferences and made it to the Final Four with an 8-seed or higher in the last 11 years. No other major college or professional sport can consistently produce teams that make the unexpected happen as often as the NCAA tournament. Why?I conjecture it has to do with three main reasons:? The size of the field? Single elimination? Mis-seedingField of 68The first couple years of the College Football Playoff have been a great success. The regular season is under increased scrutiny, and youre guaranteed to get four very good teams in the playoff even if not everyone agrees they are definitely the four best. First, lets settle the obvious. The teams that make the field of 68 arent the best 68 teams in the sport. Unlike football, there is intrigue that all 351 Division I teams players control their own destiny to the national championship. Some teams way outside the best 68 in the country make the tournament. Some may argue this makes the NCAA tournament watered-down, but that couldnt be further from the truth.Although 68 teams make the tournament, in a given year generally 40-45 of those make the NCAA tournament as an at-large, which is the top 11-13 percent of all teams (19 percent of all teams make the tournament including the automatic qualifiers). This actually creates a more even playing field. Compare that to the NBA and NHL (the top 53 percent of teams make the playoffs), MLB (top 33 percent) and NFL (top 37.5 percent). If the top 40 percent of teams were in the NCAA tournament in 2016, according to ESPNs Basketball Power Index (BPI), that would have put High Point and Northeastern, teams few casual fans are familiar with, among the final teams in the field.The 2010-11 VCU Rams were an 11th-seeded at-large team and thus were considered among the top 45 teams in the country, according to the selection committee. This means they were among the top 13 percent of all the teams in the country. For a financial comparison, what kind of salary would put someone in the top 13 percent? According to the U.S. Census in 2014, the top 13 percent of household incomes in the United States were at $145,000 per year or more. Is the NCAA tournament watered-down? Its as watered-down as a country club that requires a household income of at least $145,000 to join. There may be some weaker competition in the highest seeds of the NCAA tournament bracket, but mostly it is a tournament for the basketball-rich.]Survive and advanceLets consider a few examples that may demonstrate how survive-or-go-home games increase the chances of weaker teams winning, and by extension the excitement of the tournament.Team A has a 61 percent chance to beat Team B on a neutral court. Suppose both teams get a 4 percent bump for playing at home. In a seven-game series, with Team A having home-court advantage, the probability is that Team A has a 74 percent to win the series. In a win-or-go-home, single-game elimination on a neutral court, Team A will advance only 61 percent of the time. The NCAA tournament gives weaker teams a much better chance at advancing than the NBA playoffs. Lets say teams seeded No. 13 or higher have, on average, a 7 percent chance to win a round-of-64 game. Whats the chance that at least one of them will win? The answer is 72 percent. Going back to 2002, only twice in 15 years has no team seeded 13 or higher advanced to the round of 32.Contrast this with the opening-round series in the NBA, which feature a best-of-seven format. In the past five seasons, only one team out of 20 (5 percent) among the bottom quarter of playoff teams (seeds 7 or 8) advanced past the first round (the Philadelphia 76ers upended the Chicago Bulls in 2012). In the NCAA tournament, 12 teams out of 80 (15 percent) in the bottom quarter of tourney teams (seeds 13-16) advanced out of the first round. This, of course, is a limited sample, but it demonstrates the added uncertainty and therefore excitement a single-game, win-or-go-home scenario creates.Maybe winning one game doesnt make team a Cinderella, but winning two or more does. In 2016, BPI expected an average of 2.3 teams seeded 9-16 to make the Sweet 16. In the NCAA tournament, unlike college football, it is not a question of if a small school can win on a big stage -- it is a question of, which one?Committees human errorMost of the buzz regarding the field of 68 is about who the favorite is and who got left out, but the bigger question is, Who got mis-seeded? The committee doesnt mis-seed as much when analyzing a teams resume as it does when analyzing a teams actual strength. A team may have a weak resume due to bad luck in a few games and still be one of the stronger teams in the country. BPI accounts for strength, and very often a team is much stronger than it appears.Take, for example, Mr. Davidson 2008, Stephen Curry. His team was awarded a No. 10 seed, presumably because it was in a weaker conference and glaringly had seven nonconference losses. The context of those seven, how close the games were, and where the games were played are crucial context to evaluate how good a team is. Three of those losses were to UNC, Duke and UCLA, all very good teams that season, and another was to ACC school NC State. BPI saw that the Wildcats were the 15th-best team in the nation heading into the tournament that year, a far cry from the 10th-seeded lens most people saw them through. While the 15th-best team isnt expected to be in the Elite Eight, it shouldnt be a surprise when they are.Combine having a relatively small percentage of the top teams making the tournament, the randomness that occurs from having only one game to play each round, and the perceived strength of the team sometimes being much different than reality, and you get a lot of excitement and a lot of madness. Will there be a Cinderella in the tournament? A double-digit seed in the Final Four? A small school making a name for itself? Its happened before and it will surely happen again. When? Odds-on favorite is six months from now. Custom Denver Nuggets Jerseys . The 19-year-old Olsen played 34 games with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL this season. In that time, hes recorded 17 goals and 17 assists with 36 penalty minutes. Alex English Jersey . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. http://www.nuggetsproshop.com/Tyler-Lydon-Nuggets-Jersey/ .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. Michael Porter Jersey . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. Gary Harris Nuggets Jersey .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place. HARRISON, N.J. -- The mood in the Montreal Impacts locker room on Saturday was as candid as it was unforgiving. It is time for thorough introspection. "I think weve tossed enough (games) out already," said goalkeeper Troy Perkins after the Montreal Impact lost 4-0 to the New York Red Bulls. Montreal, which is 1-3-2 in its last six games, fell to 9-5-4 overall. The Impact and Red Bulls (9-7-7) have the most points in the Eastern Conference with 31 points apiece. However, Montreal is still first overall in the conference because it has played two fewer games than New York. The Red Bulls also have two more losses than the Impact. "When youre afraid like this -- we (knew) we had to score some goals and (earn) some points here -- but when you dont believe in something, you dont have a chance," said Impact manager Marco Schallibaum. "The team that comes from far away to be in first place is good. But to stay there is very difficult because everybody wants to beat you. "We must be stronger on the field. Thats why I say they (were) too afraid. When youre (in) first (place), you must play like a top team and in the first half we werent a top team." Facing a New York team that had entered the game having lost three of four, the Impact had eight shot attempts on goal and Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles only had to make four saves. His most difficult saves were diving stops in the 49th and 71st minutes. "We didnt score tonight," said Montreal midfielder Justin Mapp. That was somewhat problematic as New York spent the majority of the match dictating play. The Red Bulls finished the game with 11 shots on goal. "At some point it is probably frustrating," Perkins said of the New York attack. "Over the past four games its beeen like that.dddddddddddd." Thierry Henry, Eric Alexander, Tim Cahill and Peguy Lyuindula scored for New York. Henry also added two assists. Henry was directly responsible for New Yorks first three goals. He set up Alexanders game-opening goal at the 10 minute mark with a quick pass. Alexander split three defenders in the box before driving a shot past Perkins to the far left corner to give New York a 1-0 lead. Five minutes later, Henry doubled the advantage when he tapped Fabian Espindolas crossing feed into the net. New York midfielder Tim Cahill headed Henrys corner kick in the 63rd minute past Perkins to increase the Red Bulls lead to 3-0. "Hes a good player," Schallibaum said of Henry. "Hes been showing us for 20 years hes a good player. We know the quality (of) Thierry Henry and he (showed) us again tonight. Congratulations." Lyuindula ended the scoring with a penalty kick goal in the 87th minute. The forward was taken down in the box and he converted for his first goal in the MLS. "Peguy has a vision of the game thats better than most people," said New York coach Mike Petke. "He sees things, his control is great; hes a setup man he hasnt been able to find the back of the net. As a forward thats frustrating. "I think its very important that Peguy stepped up and took that shot and converted it. Its all about (scoring streaks) and its all about confidence for forwards specifically. So now hopefully we could count on one more (forward) thats going to get on a roll. That would be great." Midfielder Davy Arnaud (45th minute) and Defender Matteo Ferrari (61st minute) were assessed yellow cards. The announced attendance was 17,235 included a small but energetic Impact cheering section in the upper deck. ' ' '