Articles by Connor Groel

Basketball

Connoracketology Week 17 (Mar. 4)

This edition of Connoracketology uses games played through March 3rd to determine its seed rankings. The bubble has shrunk.  It’s the phrase no one wants fighting for the last few tournament spots wants to hear.  But that’s exactly what has happened.  By taking the lead in their respective conferences, Boise…

Basketball

Connoracketology Week 16 (Feb. 24)

*This edition of Connoracketology seeds team based on games played through Feb. 23     For my full explanation of the bracket and the bubble, be sure to check out my podcast, which will be released tomorrow.  For now, here’s the bracket.  Bold teams are division leaders, italicized teams are in…

Misc.

Vacating Wins and Titles is Wrong

     In 2014, the Jackie Robinson West Little League in Chicago won the U.S. Championship.  Oh wait, no they didn’t.  It was Mountain West Little League from Las Vegas.  In fact, the Jackie Robinson West Little League didn’t win any games.  They lost six times by a score of…

Misc.

Slow Down the Hype Train 2: Teams

  So a week ago I was talking about how quite frequently sports fans tend to exaggerate and blow things way out of proportion, especially in calling players the “best” and comparing them to the greatest players of all-time, usually when the comparison is inappropriate.  In case you missed it, here…

Basketball

Connoracketology Week 15 (2/17/15)

     *This edition of Connoracketology uses games played through Feb. 16, 2015 to determine its rankings.         The last eight days have been unreal.  The bubble has completely blown open, and at this point there are dozens of teams that could end up in the last few…

NBA

NBA All-Star Weekend Reactions

     Last night’s NBA All-Star Game saw the West defeat the East 163-158, and concluded the annual All-Star weekend.  Now that the festivities are over, and the NBA’s second half is about to begin, I thought I’d share my reflections on all the events, including my favorite, least favorite,…

Uncategorized

Introducing: Connoracketology (Week 14)

This version of Connoracketology uses games played through Feb. 8, 2015      Welcome to Connoracketology, where I attempt to predict the 68-team field for March Madness if the season ended today.  This weekly series will be replacing my weekly NFL picks series, and will come out every Monday, coinciding…