Probably a good thing, as Tech had just set a record for the worst loss in school history less than a week earlier when it lost to Texas A&M by 44 points, so it’s not exactly like the 58 point loss to the Jayhawks came out of the blue.

Although it was a bit of an up and down week for Tech, as they lost by 44 to Texas A&M, then beat #5 Texas 83-80, then lost to Kansas 109-51. So for the week they were outscored by their opponents 287-188, set two team records for worst defeat ever, but also managed to sneak in a win against a top 5 team.

So, umm, terrible job Bobby Knight’s son. Or, umm, great job. I really have no clue who to blame the sucky Tech team on, or who to give credit for the non-sucky team that randomly decides to show up some nights and disappear others. 

Props to Greg Oden for showing what all the fuss was about, he played a tremendous game, but for once the rest of the Buckeyes team failed to show up. Four for 23 from three-point range? Yeah, that’s not so good. Maybe next year they might try driving to the basket once in a while.

So all bow down to Florida, masters of college athletics. Bow down to the damn Gators.

So congrats to Gator fans, but do we seriously have to endure another championship game between Florida and Ohio State? I guess these are the only two teams allowed to vie for titles now. Yawn. Worse still, from watching the two semi-finals today it’s clear Florida is going to get medieval on Ohio State’s ass on Monday night and then we’ll be under the spell of Florida athletics, the greatest NCAA program of alll time.

When does football start again?

There is a little thing called the NCAA Final Four happening on Saturday. UCLA takes on defending champion Florida in a rematch of last year’s title game, while the biggest of the big men — Greg Oden and Roy Hibbert — are set to do battle in the paint in the Ohio State-Georgetown tilt. I know, your bracket was long-ago blown out, but these are going to be some fantastic matchups, so you better tune in.

For those of you hoping to see a fight or two, the NHL is heading into the final stretch before the playoffs. Calgary plays in Vancouver on Saturday looking to hold onto their slim grasp on the final postseason spot in the West, while Nashville battles Dallas in their bid to steal the Central division away from the Red Wings. On Sunday, NBC brings us some riveting action as Detroit takes on the Columbus Blue Jackets. (Sweet Sam Hill, even Versus would have passed on that matchup.)

The playoff picture is shaping up in the NBA as well. Who would have thunk that Toronto would be leading the way in the retched Atlantic division? What Svengali could have predicted the Wizards would have a chance to top the their division? Washington and the Raptors go head-to-head tonight at the Verizon Center. But you don’t care about the East, all you want to hear about is the stinking Suns and Mavericks. Well fine, the top two teams in the West square off on Sunday in Phoenix, with the Suns needing a win if they want to catch Dallas for the top seed. They might do it, too, with Dirk Nowitzki nursing a bone spur in his ankle.

What else? Well, baseball is still in preseason action, but who cares about baseball this early in the year? The MLS is gearing up to start their season soon (you’re a fan, you just don’t know it yet), and NASCAR has short-track action from Martinsville. Oh, and someone is probably playing golf somewhere this weekend (yawn).

No matter what sporting event trips your trigger, though, I’m sure the big plan for this weekend involves plenty of this:

Pretty nifty trick, no?

(Video via Lifehacker via tonari no shibfu)

Well, either way this 35 year old is leading his Ohio State Buckeyes to the sweet sixteen (barely). They were considered one of the favorites of the tournament, so we’ll see how far this old man can carry the team.

Virginia Tech lost today to Southern Illinois University, the Salukis. I have no idea what a Saluki is, but if a Hokie can’t beat it then they suck. VTech didn’t just lose this game, they got blown out by a score of 63-48. Jamon Gordon scored 16 points to lead the Hokie effort, but he sucks because he didn’t score more. One of five on free throws? Come on, man, this is the NCAA tournament we’re talking about here. You suck.

And you know what else sucks? That Coke ad with the guy who makes the Virginia Tech logo out of empty cans. That ad sucks because it’s so stupid, and Coke better stop showing it because clearly that strategy isn’t working. In fact, I’ve never seen a similar ad featuring any other school, so clearly Coke must have thought pretty highly of the Hokies, and therefore Coke sucks too.

As for the Cavaliers of the University of Virginia, they totally suck. A note to UVA head coach Dave Leitao: Your team can’t shoot from the outside, so maybe you need a better game plan going down the stretch. Have you ever seen so many bricks thrown outside of a brick throwing contest? Now if the NCAA decided to have a brick throwing contest in March, that might be a good tournament for the Cavs to enter, because they threw up enough bricks to build a stadium in which to hold a brick throwing contest. Enough with the bricks! You guys lost to Tennessee and so you suck.

So there you have it. The facts speak for themselves. It’s as plain as the nose on your stupid can’t-play-basketball Virginia nose: Virginia sucks at basketball.

Xavier took mighty Ohio State to the brink before Ron Lewis hit that amazing three-pointer to send the game to OT. Then Mike Conley, Jr., took command scoring the first seven points for the Buckeyes, lifting them to a 78-71 win over the Musketteers. Pitt needed an extra period to overcome Virginia Commonwealth, rallying behind Ronald Ramon and Levance Fields to win 84-79. Vanderbilt managed to upset Washington State, but needed double overtime for Derrick Byars and Shan Foster to lift the Commodores past the Cougars 78-74.

But even with all this excitement and drama, CBS announcer Gus Johnson very nearly ruined the entire day for me. Is there a bigger ass in all of college sports announcing? In all of sports announcing period? Seriously, Gus gives Joe Theismann a good run for his money. He just prattles on about whatever extraneous ideas that pop into his head, missing calls in the process. How many times do we need to hear about Thad Matta leaving Xavier?

But Gus’ biggest problem — one shared by all of the worst play-by-play announcers on TV (which is to say nearly all of them) — is that he doesn’t realize we’re watching the game too. With Xavier leading by three with seconds to play, you don’t have to make that seem any more exciting than it is, Gus. You don’t have to work it. You don’t need to break a sweat to make us understand that #1 Ohio State might get knocked out of the tournament. We’re here, watching the same game as you, we can feel the drama building.

And I’m glad to see that I’m not alone here. Grant Wahl from SI.com makes a good observation this morning on Johnson, noting that Gus “started sounding like A.C. Green on his wedding night.”

Today looks like it might hold the same potential for some great matchups, especially with Texas and USC going head-to-head, Tennessee and Virginia, and upstart Winthrop taking on Oregon. But please, CBS Sports, please keep Gus far away from these games; I’d suggest maybe keeping him tied up in a closet.

You’re a great coach, Hall of Fame material, but what the hell was going on out there today? Did you try and stop those kids from attempting crazy three-point shots? No. Have you mentioned to them that they can play defense without drawing a foul? apparently not. And if you’re going to hold for the final shot, for craps sake have a better plan than letting Edgar Sosa take a three from way downtown.

Big props to the Aggies, they played a great game, but Louisville could have, should have won that game if they had played a little smarter. So Rick Pitino, you’re now officially on my shit list. You and everyone else at Louisville. My shit list, baby, and that’s one place you don’t want to be. Dammit.

If this were a really well-organized operation, you might get to read some insightful previews of todays games, such as Maryland vs. Butler (you can’t stop those Bulldogs) or Virginia Commonwealth trying to upset Pitt (yeah, right). This is clearly not the case, though.

But you will get two things here at oddsnark that you probably won’t get from most of those cool-ass sports blogs out there. For one, we’ll let you know that Ellen Halverson is still in the running for the Red Lantern Award in the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race as she slogs her way from Kaltag towards the finish at Nome. Yes, Lance Mackey won the race four days ago, but the Last Great Race doesn’t end till everyone is in, and there are still 16 mushers trying to finish, so keep on the trail Ellen.

And second, we revive the story of Louisville cheerleader Becca Manns, who lost her picture phone and ended up with nude photos of herself plastered all over the Internet a couple months ago. To refresh your memory, here’s one of the tame pics from the series:

and for your obligatory NSFW pics, you can go to the NSFW site.

The Cardinals, in case you’re wondering, play a tough Texas A&M team later today. Too bad Becca won’t be cheering them on.

Anyway, it’s Friday, so to distract me from my bracket woes and to give you cubicle monkeys something to watch until this afternoon’s games start (careful watching that live coverage at CBS SportsLine, the boss might be watching), here’s a little basketball-inspired video on how to score two with a cheerleader:

Now that’s pretty damn amazing. Maybe if Duke recruited guys who could hit short jumpers like that, they might not have fallen to VCU.