The Phish push Dukes out west

   As many of you know, I have a deep love for the band Phish. They're awesome and that's all you need to know. Check them out if you are not familiar. The four band members met at the University of Vermont in Burlington around 1983 and the rest is history. UVM and Phish are synonymous. Burlington is quite heady.

   WELL, the Catamounts ($5 to anyone who can define a Catamount without cheating) took on the Albany Great Danes this afternoon in Burlington for the American East championship. Going into today, Mr. Lunardi had UVM in a 15 seed in his projected bracket. It was seemingly an easy win for UVM, who would enter their second straight dance with the win. The two times the teams met this season, UVM won both by a combined 32 points. (70-45 & 50-43).

   UVM players might have spent too much time this past week prepping for the newly announced  Phish tour besides focusing the Great Danes. Let's just say Albany dropped a "Joy" onto a what should have been a very jammy Catamount second set. (That may seem like a foreign language to many. Sorry not sorry). In english, Albany upset UVM, 53-49 inside a raucous Catamount gym. I blame the absence of Trey, Mike, Page, and John for the UVM loss.

   JMU director of basketball operations, Luscious Jordan is also probably ecstatic about the Albany win. He transferred into the Great Dane basketball program after playing two years at Loyola College (MD). With the right formula, JMU has the slightest chance of meeting Albany in a play-in game. I only say this because basically anything is possible when it comes to 16 seeds this year. 

   You may be asking how in the world this connects to JMU. Well, with the loss UVM will not be dancing. They'll remain in Burlington and probably hit the slopes, gear up for Phish summer terr', or drink their troubles away downtown at Nectars. 

   Albany, who isn't very good will seemingly enter the tournament as a 16 seed and probably have to begin their journey in Dayton as a part of a play-in game. This does make the Dukes look better though.   Lunardi still has Duke as a 1 seed despite the early check out in Greensboro last night.  He now has JMU in the West regional taking on a #1 Gonzaga team in Salt Lake City. 

   This new projection has the Dukes in a state they've only seen once; Utah. The year was 1978 and Utah State wiped the floor clean with JMU, 102-66. Don't fret though; it was 35 years ago. 

   The Dukes have played on the other side of the Mississippi just three times this season. They're 2-1. The loss came on opening night in California against the UCLA Bruins, 100-70. The two wins came San Jose State and San Diego in the Vegas Hoops Classic played in Sin City. 

   Dukes have never faced Gonzaga. The Bulldogs haven't lost a game since January 19. 14 game winning streak.

'Here come the Dukes," Lewis & Clark