Stack the Plates. Pull back the Velvet Rope ... the Buffet is OPEN for Bizness.

Welcome, welcome, welcome Buffet subscribers. The Buffet has finally reopened in 2011, and not a moment too soon, BracketBuster Saturday - still searching for an explanation of the title of the day: what Brackets are being busted, exactly? We all know that when VCU pulls an upset over Oral Roberts, the committee will still find a way to "procedurally" place them in a first round matchup with whatever non-BCS school happens to find itself in a single-digit seed in this year's tourney - Sweet-NonBCSSchools-Matchup-Saturday is over a week in the rear view, which means one thing: look up at the Calendar, and you will see: MARCH 1. Now March carries a lot of significance.

The birth month of Buffet subscribers Jonathan Mencher and Nathan Richards, yes.
National Frozen Food Month? Yes.
The Buffet's impending return to VBV? Yes.

But, most of all, March 1st means, welcome back to the 12 Days of Conference Tourneys, sponsored by THE BUFFET.

For the next 12 Days, we will be celebrating that which is frozen in slotted plastic portable trays AND that which is frozen in its own lies.

On the first..

(*Ahem* Apologies, with last year's abbreviated Buffet, the staff here feels a little out of practice. Let's stay that again)

On the first...

(Still not quite right)

(now THAT'S more like it.)

A Norris on the Horizon and a Big South battle between Coastal and Lib-er-ty.

2011 Advance Auto Parts Big South Championship

The Big South. The Conference that gave us Jack Leasure, Arizona "AZ" Reid, Artsiom Parakhouski, and Pele Paelay bring us the 2011 version of its conference free for all. And a free-for-all it will be.

Who Will Win: Coastal Carolina would be the nice story for the 7 kids who remain, but VMI is the hot hand, the high scoring outfit, and the Buffet's upset pick.

Free-for-all you say, Buffet? It didn't appear that way in mid-January. After a second half meltdown and subsequent overmatched affair with Georgetown in mid-November - Regular Season Big South Champion, Coastal Carolina fired off 22 consecutive wins, including victories over C-USA's Charlotte 49ers, LSU out of the SEC, and a dominating 15-0 start in conference play. Then, the wheels starting falling off. It began in December, long before signs of on-court trouble surfaced, when South Carolina transfer Mike Holmes was dismissed from the team for a violation of team rules, which allegedly included a fight with a teammate - which the Buffet would consider unfortunate, if he wasn't just a year removed from what? Getting dismissed from South Carolina for the very same thing (perhaps renouncing the recruiting strategy of taking kids suspended from South Carolina's basketball team (See also, Gray, Chad) would be a great first step here) - yes, the Buffet wants the kid to get help and second chances when warranted, but, no it does not want to give sympathy to Cliff Ellis for this issue. What issue? Well, he has 7 scholarship players - because on top of the dismissal of Holmes, Willie Kirkland, a reserve guard has been suspended for academic issues, and now, Desmond Holloway, a JC transfer and team scoring leader (and rebounding leader once you subtract Holmes from the equation), has been suspended by the NCAA pending the results of an investigation into recruiting violations. Shocking, right? The college hoops coach who seems to factor "NCAA Probation" into his annual recruiting plan finds himself in potential NCAA hot water again.

On top of this, the team lost starting PG, Kierre Greenwood to a knee injury during the 22-game winning streak snapping loss to Gardner-Webb, and suddenly the Coastal Carolina box score looks like a typo, with a 6 man rotation (sometimes seldom used reserves Jordan Griffin & Jon Pack are thrown in the mix, because with 15 players injured or suspended, it would just be mean not to play them).

Since this all went down in total, CCC is 2-1, although with Greenwood's injury and the controversy swirling, the decline really began on February 15th, during the home upset loss to Gar-Webb. Since that game, they are 2-1, with a win over Big South 5th place finisher Charleston Southern and a tough home loss to UNC-Asheville (without the benefit of former Bulldog, the 7'6 Kenny George) on a magnificent last second steal and 25-foot 3 finish that the Buffet saw live, because the Buffet does things like turn on the end of close Big South games in late February.

Players have stepped up, most notably, Dexter Moore - the former reserve little man has nearly tripled his scoring output (12.7 from 4.7) as well as pulled down 3x as many rebounds (3.7 from 1.2), as well as the aforementioned Chad Gray, and the Buffet is just as impressed with Clif Ellis awarding this second chance and Gray making the most of it, as it was critical in the above-paragraphs - hypocritical? sure. But this is The Buffet Blog after all. Gray has upped his scoring to 20 ppg following the suspensions/fights/injuries from 14.7. Also chipping in with much bigger contributions are 6'1 sophomore guard Anthony Raffa (whose fortunes are lamented here by his hometown's Press of Atlantic City Blog http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/blogs/susan_lulgjuraj/tough-times-ahead-for-anthony-raffa-s-coastal-carolina-basketball/article_2b052218-4104-11e0-a666-001cc4c002e0.html) who has put up 16.7 point, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists (above averages of 10.9, 3.3 and 2.2) since it all went down and Sam McLaurin (11 pts, 9 rebs as opposed to 7.2 and 6.7).

Here's the question: those four players have played an average of: 29, 28, 34, and 29 minutes per game (respectively) over the last 3 ... is there enough energy in the tank to win 3 games in five nights? On their side is that day off between games, the fact that all games they play at will be held at the Kimbel Arena in Conway, SC inside the Williams Brice Physical Education Center, in front of 1,039 rapid teal bleeding Chanticleerians.

The biggest threat to Coastal Carolina overcoming the odds may not even be Big South 2nd place finishing Liberty. The Flames who began the conference season a spiffy 13-2 (the only 2 losses suffered at the hands of a pre-internal meltdown Coastal Carolina, including a 60-57 slugfest that featured clutch FT shooting from a now suspended Desmond Holloway, and a trio of consecutive 3 pointers that cut the game to 69-67 with 9 seconds left and a rim-deflecting missed final 3 point attempt by Flames leading scorer Evan Gordon with 1 second to go. Best explanation is perhaps Liberty (who are watching their former standout guard play on ESPN around 10x as much as they see themselves) overachieved a bit -- reflected in Dale Layer's election as Big South coach of the year and Jessie Sanders, their junior PG leader, named the conference's player of the year (Aside: motivation for CCC, who were undoubtedly overlooked amid the swirling controversy and a political desire of Big So coaches not wanting "of the year" labels handed out to people who would potentially vacate their wins, records, etc. -- Buffet food for thought). Assuming Layer can right the ship, look for his outstanding four-some of Evan Gordon (14.5 pts, 3 rebs, 2 assists), John Brown (11.5 pts, 10.7 rebounds), POY and stat filler Jesse Sanders (11.2 pts, 6.0 rebounds, 6 assists) and David Minaya (not former NY Meets imploder Omar's son, 10.9 pts, 3.3 rebs).

Instead, the conference's hottest team entering the tournament, is tourney 4th seed, the Keydets of the Virginia Military Institute -- winners of their last 5 conference games (and only a road loss in the Sweet-NonBCSSchools-Matchup-Saturday to Morgan State sandwiched in between), they might have the mighty mo on their side heading into the tournament. Keep a "potential chip on his shoulder" eye on overlooked POY candidate Austin Kenon (a conference first teamer and POY runner up), the tiny senior guard averages 18.3 pts, 3.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and hits shots just every time he takes them. He is backed by a team that averages 89 ppg as a whole and features two secondary offensive weapons, Stan Okoye (16.4 pts, 8.1 rebounds) and Keith Gabriel (14.3, 3.1) as well as two guys who represent the future of the Big South (Big So all-freshman teammates PG Rodney Glasgow, 5'10 guard from Olney, MD (9.8 pts, 4 assists and his 2.55 A/TO ratio) and Freshman of the Year, 6'9 DJ Convington and his 9.5 pts, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks.

UNC-Asheville, buoyed by the classic finish in Conway, has won 3 straight conference games, finishing the season at 11-7 and powering its way to a 3rd place Big South finish. Back at full strength with the return of D.J. Cunningham from injury -- they are led by junior G, and Coastal Carolina game hero Matt Dickey and his 14.9 pts, 3.7 rebs and 3.3 assists (although his 1.05 A/TO isn't winning him any playmaker of the year votes) and J.P. Primm (14.8 pts, 3.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists). The muscle is provided by Cunningham and his 7.7 rebounds. This team owns a win over 3 of the other 4 teams in the Big South top 5, but you must wonder about a team whose primary ball handlers give it back to the other team on average 8 times per game on their own (Chris Stephenson chips in with 2 TOs a game, himself). One guy to keep an eye on is Jaron Lane, a 6'4 sophomore guard, who has turned in a double-digit average over his last 5 games.

Other players/teams to watch include:

Big man Charles Corbin of Winthrop, 6'7 Senior F put up 11.1 pts and 8.2 rebounds a game for the Eagles.

The upset minded Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs, for one because everything about that school name mascot combination is outstanding, and because they won 3 of 4 conference games down the stretch, opened with a win over Charlotte, and was the providers of one of the first signs that Oklahoma was no good, when they forced a rally from Oklahoma after hitting 5 of 6 3s in their December 9th game to cut the game to 4 with 13:12 to play. (yes, we're stretching, both in legitimizing G-Webb and in insulting OU, which really, in a 2011 hoops context should be really easy). Jonathan Moore and his 13.5 pts and 4.2 rebounds and All-Buffet Name Candidate Laron Buggs and his 10 pts, 3.1 rebounds led the rejuvenated Runnin' Bulldog attack.

Big time scorer Jamarco Warren leads Charleston Southern, who come in winning 3 of 4 and gave Coastal Carolina strong test heading into the conference tournament. Warren, averaging 17.5 per game, is backed up by Kelvin Martin and his 12.2 pts and 8.9 rebounds and last year's conference Freshman of the year, Jeremy Sexton and his 10.8 pts and his frightening 38% FG shooting (and 319 launched shots this season)

While the season was not a success, 9-18, 7-11 in conference and lost 5 of 6 to finish the season (and the victory was a 1 pts, 2OT home escape), their promising freshman signee (and HS McDonald's AA nominee) Du"vaughn Maxwell quit the team just before the recent 3-game slide ... notwithstanding, High Point does have a pair of strong performers ready to provide one last highlight to the Panthers' fans in 2011 -- 6'3 Jr. Nick Barbour and his 17.9 pts, and 6'2 Junior Guard, Shay Shine (All-Name Nominee) 14.0 pts, 4.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists.

Tuesday March 1

Big South Quarterfinals:
7:00 pm - (7) High Point at (2) Liberty, local TV, Full Court, espn3.com
7:00 pm - (6) Charleston Southern at (3) UNC-Asheville, bigsouthsports.com (PPV)
7:00 pm - (8) Gardner-Webb at (1) Coastal Carolina, bigsouthsports.com (PPV)
7:00 pm - (5) Winthrop at (4) VMI, bigsouthsports.com (PPV

Thursday March 3

6:00 pm - (7) High Point at (3) UNC-Asheville, ESPNU
8:00 pm - (4) VMI at (1) Coastal Carolina, ESPNU

Things You May Not Know: Big South Edition

Best informational website: Gardner-Webb: who in addition to player profiles is sure to an include a Cee-Lo approved F.You to other schools, as it make sure to name the schools their basketballers passed over in favor of enrolling at G-Webb.

Nick Barbour, High Point: Is a transfer from George Washington Universty - it is not impossible to argue that he's got a better shot at both an automatic and at-large berth playing at High Point the next 2 years.

Justin Creek, High Point: his sister plays for the Indiana Fever of the WNBA. A league that Stacey King has a lot of respect for:

Evan Gordon, Liberty: is the younger brother of LA Clipper and 2010 US qualifying team standout, Eric Gordon -- making Liberty the official destination of future Taylor Griffins and Robin Lopezes everywhere.

Jessie Sanders, Liberty: currently plays with his brother, John Caleb, and is the 2nd conference POY in his family's history, as his older brother Thomas Sanders was the Atlantic Sun POY for Gardner-Webb (now a member of the Big South, hmmmm) in 2008.

Brad Greenberg, Radford: the Highlanders head coach is the brother of Virginia Tech coach, In the Waiting Line rent payer and tri-daughter hugger, Sean Greenberg

HORIZON LEAGUE 2011 MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Norris. Vaughn. Brandon. Robo. Shelvin. Vytas. Averkamp. Howard. Rahmon. Ja'Rob. Gordon Haywood went to the NBA and chaos ensued in the midwest. Butler fell back to the back. Cleveland State shied away from success. Valparaiso who flashed a top 45 RPI at one point, then flashed a streak of losing 3 of 4 conference games to the end the season. Enter Wisconsin-Milwaukee. A 9 game Horizon winning streak - including great wins at Cleveland State, at Butler, home versus Valpo, and then their 94-87 thriller over the Penguins of Youngstown State last Saturday to clinch a regular season conference title and by virtue of the Horizon League tie-breaker system, clinching the top seed and the right to host the 2nd & 3rd rounds of the tournament, as well as, the finals, should they qualify.

Who Will Win: It may seem like a cop-out to pick Butler, so keep, they aren't the shoo-in (nor the #1 seed in the tournament) they are usually considered to be. But they seemed to pull it together in dynamic fashion to close the season, are the offensive efficiency and Pomeroy ratings kings of this league, and despite their struggles, their experience and talent depth - as much as it pains the biased Buffet to pick against Norris - will prove to be too much for the rest of the conference up in Milwaukee.

Who are these Panthers? Overlooked coming into the season by 2010 Nat'l title runners-up Butler and the returning and loaded Cleveland St. Vikings, suddenly its UW-M that everyone is scrambling to learn about. So, come Buffet readers, get your learn on: they've got names (Ja'Rob McCallum, Jerard Ajami, Tone Boyle), they've got players (Anthony Hill, Boyle, Tony Meier) and Rob Jeter, a bona fide coaching star. Jeter's coaching job is evident in how he's molded this season -- what started with ignominious losses to some poor hoops outfits including Florida Atlantic, DePaul, and a 3-5 conference record ... in a world typically dominated by Butler with their annual henchman (a endless rotation of Wright St, Cleveland St, and sometimes UWM), 5 losses would seem to be insurmountable. Unless you just stop losing. which beginning with a road OT win against Butler, where Kaylon Williams, Anthony Hill and Tone Boyle combined for 49 of the team's 86 points -- UWM decided to run the Horizon table (a slight reality check was given on Sweet-NonBCSSchools-Matchup-Saturday by Turner Battle and Buffalo). A team that goes 8 deep with double-digit minutes (and 11 deep with a rotation of 3 others), the Panthers awoke when Anthony Hill, Tony Meier and Tone Boyle took over. Hill - who could be the Conference Player of the Year, not named "Norris Cole" - is a 6'7 senior whose scoring and rebound was improved along with his team leadership role from 9.1 to 15.3 and 4.5 to 6.4 respectively. Tony Meier, a 6'8 Jr Forward, adds 11.8 pts and 4.4 rebounds to the cause, and on the outside is Tone Boyle, a JuCo transfer who sat out last season with a back injury, returned to contribute his 13.3 points and 3.2 rebounds. The stat-filler is the unsung Kaylon Williams, an Evansville transfer, this PG led the Missouri Valley Conference in assists as a true freshman, and filled up the stat sheet with 8.5 ppg, 5.5 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and a Doug Gottlieb-esqie 58% shooting from the free throw line.

The Buffet is curious to see if the Horizon League tourney will be the culmination of a season of developing a team for Coach Jeter. The run at the end suggests this is the case, but the 15-point loss to a mediocre (as much as that pains the Buffet to say) Buffalo team betrays this.

Who threatens them? NORRIS. NORRIS. NORRIS. NORRIS. Let's just put this out there:

26-4-5

19-5-7

26-10-2

14-10-6

25-11-7

27-6-7

41-20-9

16-6-10

27-5-4

22-10-5

Yes, you are seeing 5 double-digit rebound games, including a 20 rebound performance from a 6'1 guard. Yes, you are seeing Oscar Robertson incarnate hanging in Cleveland, hailing from Dayton (yeah, Brian Gregory's monumentally boring Waiting Line outcast would HATE to have this performer) ... Cleveland St is more than Norris Cole, playing 7 guys double-digits, and with Trevor Harmon and his sweet stroke, 13 points and 4 rebounds, and Jeremy Montgomery and his 12 points and 3 rebounds, and Aaron Power Pogue and his 8.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4 fouls per game. But this is about Norris. From the kid who couldn't crack 15 minutes and 5 points as freshman -- he has climbed from 13.3 to 16.3 to 21.6 points in the last three years. That 41-20-9 game against Youngstown State was the thing of legends -- but Cleveland St comes into the tourney limping badly. A 10-2 conference start became a 13-5 conference finish, including a first place sacrificing 87-83 loss to UW Milwaukee, a Buffet-parlay busting 81-78 loss at Detroit, as well as a 12 point loss at home to Butler (devastating because the Bulldog's season sweep pushed Clev State out of the top 2 seeds for the Horizon tournament, and out of the cushy "Bye until the Semis" that comes with it, and to qualify for the NCAAs they'll have to win 4 games instead of 2), demonstrating their inability to seize the 2011 moment (not to mention a In the Buffet viability statement loss at ODU 74-63). It does however make the 41-20-9 game all the more impressive, as it was following a 2 game losing that Norris refused to accept - but as the only senior on the entire roster, will the rest of the Vikings demand greatness from themselves and follow the Norris into the Tournament?

Butler. From barely missed a halfcourt heave for title to 5 conference losses and a loss to Evansville at Hinkle had everyone asking - what happened to Butler. Well, they lost an NBA lottery pick and Matt Howard has been overrated for years, that's what happened. Also, what really happened? Blowout road losses to UW-Milwaukee and Louisville can't be defensed (although Butler did shoot almost 10% below their average in both those games). A tightly played game at Duke that went south when foul trouble and leg cramps for Shelvin Mack derailed the Bulldog's road upset bid. Otherwise, the Bulldog's other 6 losses came by an average of 4 points -- and the two games skewing that figure higher? A pair of late January overtime games that ended in 6 point losses. Those pair of OT games became a 3 game losing streak when Butler inexplicably dropped a game to the 7-20 Penguins, perhaps worn out from the previous OT games, what it did do was serve as a wake-up call, as Butler rattled off 7 straight Horizon losses to finish the season, pull into a tie for 1st place, and ultimately end up with the 2nd seed in the conference tourney (and the bye until the semis). The names are familiar in this upper classmen dominated squad - Matt Howard, Sr F, who leads the team with 16.8 pts and 7.9 rebounds per game -- while the Buffet pokes fun at him for not quite developing into the dominant Horizon League player (he was the team's leading scorer in 2008-2009) he once seemed destined to be, increasing his points by 5 per game and rebounds by nearly 3 to pick up production slack after Heywood and Willie Veasley graduated and Shelvin Mack, the senior guard averaging 15.3 pts, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists. But the disappointment up until the last run had been with players such as Shawn Vanzant, Ronald Nored and Zach Hahn, all of whom (and especially Nored) who played significant minutes on last year's nat'l title game qualifier, just have not elevated their games as you would have hoped. However, starting on February 5th (otherwise known as the Buffet's parents' anniversary), Shelvin Mack and Shawn Vanzant took the Bulldog season in their own hands. Mack has averaged 17.2 points in that stretch, including games of 32 and 20, and VanZant, a season long 6.8 ppg scorer has put up 11 points per game over the last 7. Another discovery has been big man Andrew Smith, his numbers won't wow you, but some timely double-digit scoring performances, and increase of rebounding (3.3 boards) and minutes played (from 20 to 32 minutes played) have been the real fuel to the Bulldog winning streak. Butler rides the hottest Horizon hand into the tourney, has the most experience, and for the first time all season has finally giving a collaborative effort to replace the lost leadership. They are the Buffet's prohibitive favorite heading into the tournament.

Valpo. It was amazing to the Buffet when researching this post, to discover that it has been 13 years since Bryce Drew hit the shot heard round the world otherwise known as the abysmal full-court defense that got Rob Evans the head coaching job at Arizona State. But, if you ask most college basketball fans about Valparaiso they'll either cite that shot, shrug and tell you they've never heard of the school, or, as Buffet subscriber Stephen J. Avillo would, complain about the Lutheran school having a dry campus. What they did have was the school best hoops squad since the 2004 Mid-Continent Conference championship. A 7-1 conference start, led by junior guard (notice a trend here involving leading performers on Horizon league squads?) and So Illinois transfer Brandon Wood (16.2 ppg, 4.3 reb, 3.3 spg, and 1.7 steals per game) and senior forward Cory Johnson and his 14.2 pts and 4.2 rebounds. Those two leaders are aided by Ryan Broekhoff, a 6'6 swingman from Australia averaging 10.7 points and 5 rebounds and Howard Little, a senior guard averaging 9.7 points and 5 rebounds himself.

The other two contenders to make some noise in the tournament are the Wright State Raiders and DEEEEEE-TROIT BAS-KET-BALL (Titans) , who were putting together a nice little 2011 conference campaign until a late season 2-4 swoon dropped them to fifth in conference. They did however paste UW-Milwaukee in Dayton and lost by 1 point (54-53, in a eye-hurting, typical Horizon league slug fest) in Milwaukee, and holds a home court win over Butler, and dropped 2 games by a total of 2 points to 3rd and 4th seeded Cleveland St and Valparaiso. Plainly, don't sleep on the team who is probably best known as Butler's Horizon League bridesmaid in most of the last few years. Not because they incorporate a famous Buffet alter ego into their rotation (freshman forward, and certain to become a feature of many a Buffet to come, Cole Darling), but also because they are led by a player who will be sorely missed next season once this 5th year senior (granted this extra year due to a 4 game/injury shortened would-be junior campaign), Vaughn Duggins. The 6'3 guard (*trend alert*) from Pendelton, Indiana has raised his already accomplished college game this season - bringing his scoring average up 4 points to 18.0 point, lowering his TOs per game by .3, and continuing what seemed to be a point of emphasis in 2009-2010, FT%, again right at 81%. I wouldn't want Wright State to hang around with me in any tourney game and then get the ball in the hands of The Vaughn"ted" One. That's asking for an elimination. Duggins co-author of crime is a 2011 All-Buffet Name Team candidate - N'Gai Evans, a single digit scorer in 2009-10, he has become a 14.2 pt, 4.0 reb, 3.3 assist guy. A 3rd contributing guard, Troy Tabler, chimes in with 11.4 ppg.

For the Titans, it's been an up and down season that never gained any traction with consistency. An early season scare of Syracuse (Detroit led by 3 at halftime, but then schooled by 14 in the second half) did led to a 5 wins in 7 games streak, but that quickly evaporated into 1 to 3 losses for every 1-3 wins and a non-descript 15-15 season and 10-8 Horizon mark. These are not the days of Brandon Cotton. But with a favorable 1st round matchup, perhaps some well-needed momentum can be picked up by a team who does hold wins over both Cleveland St & Butler, and took UW Milwaukee to overtime. Even more importantly, this team is young. They feature 5 juniors (3 of whom are among their leading producers) and 6 freshman (2 of him, including the leading scorer, are among their top point getters) This team can also score, which in the Horizon is akin to controlling the Ukraine in Risk, they play 8 people 16 minutes or more, and 5 of them average double digits - led by Ray McCallum (13.5) and Chase Simon (13.5), and followed by Eli Holman (11.8), Chris Blake (10.8) and Nick Minnerath.

Other Horizon players to watch in 2011 are:

Rahmon Fletcher from Wisconsin-GB, senior G and his 16.0 pts, 3 assists and 2.5 rebounds

Robo Kreps, the senior guard from Illinois-Chicago, also averaging 16 pts and 4.1 rebounds

The three headed performers from severely underacheiving Loyola, Geoff McCammon (14.5 points, 43% 3pt shooting), sophomore forward Ben Averkamp, and senior guard Terrance Hill and his 12 points per game.

Vtyas Sulskis (*2011 All-Buffet Name Team*) and his 13.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest.

Tournament Schedule

Tuesday March 1

Horizon First Round:
7:00 pm - (10) Illinois-Chicago at (3) Cleveland State, horizonleague.org (FREE)
7:00 pm - (8) Loyola (Chicago) at (5) Detroit, horizonleague.org (FREE)
7:00 pm - (7) Wisconsin-Green Bay at (6) Wright State, horizonleague.org (FREE)
8:00 pm - (9) Youngstown State at (4) Valpariaso, horizonleague.org (FREE)

Friday March 4

Horizon Quarterfinals

(6) Wright State at (3) Cleveland State, horizonleague.org (FREE)
(4) Valpariaso at (5) Detroit, horizonleague.org (FREE)

Saturday March 5

Horizon Semifinals

(6) Wright State/(3) Cleveland State winner at (1) UW-Milwaukee - ESPNU
(4) Valpariaso/(5) Detroit winner vs. (2) Butler - ESPNU

Tuesday March 8

Horizon Finals - 9:00pm E - ESPN

Things You May Not Know: Horizon League Edition

Chase Simon, Detroit: Central Michigan transfer who is the cousin of former Chicago Bull and New Mexico Lobo Randy Brown

Ray McCallum, Detroit: the 17th ranked recruit in the country last season, and 2010 McDonald's All-American, is the son of Detroit head coach, wait for it. wait for it. Ray McCallum

LaMarcus Lowe, Detroit: the Western Michigan transfer is the cousin of former Iowa State Cyclone, Charlotte Hornets (not a typo, this team did exist, younger Buffet readers) and Chicago Bull Eddie Robinson.

Nick Minnerath, Detroit: the Junior forward's neck looks like a journal of lost William Shakespeare manuscripts.

Norris Cole, you may have heard of him, Cleveland State: is the brother of Philadelphia Eagles starting D-lineman, Trent Cole.

Jeremy Mongtomery, Cleveland State: has a brother, Jonathan, who plays on Chicago State's basketball team and is cousins with Washington Wizard and former Nevada-Reno Wolfpack member JaVale McGee.

Matthew Graves, Butler: Brad Stevens top assistant is a former Butler standout who led them to the NCAA tournament in 1997 & 1998 as well as the older brother of former Butler great, AJ Graves.

Ja'Rob McCallum, UW-Milwaukee: nephew of Detroit head coach Ray McCallum, cousin of Detroit Titan freshman, Ray McCallum

Ryan Allen, UW-Milwaukee: brother of Memphis Grizzly and former Oklahoma St Cowboy Tony Allen

Christian Wolf, UW-Milwaukee: nephew of former NBA center and Bucks assistant, Joe Wolf.

Troy Table, Wright State: Son of former Cleveland Indian, Pat Tabler.

Goodnight from the Buffet, day 1 -- be back with the Atlantic Sun, Ohio Valley & the Patriot League.