After winning their first conference title since their 2006 state championship season last year, Scotland has the task of doing one of the toughest things in sports: defending a title.

While the Mid-Southeastern conference is no more, I know that the Scots would love nothing more than to win the inaugural Southeastern Conference title this spring.

They're off to an impressive start so far.

Sandwiched in between a pair of shutouts this season, is a pair of one-run wins, including a 5-4 win in 11 innings at Jack Britt on Wednesday.

Curt Britt has lived up to the hype that he brought to the team last year as a freshman during his sophomore season.

Britt is not only 2-0 on the mound, but he has yet to allow a run. At the plate, he has the only long ball on the Scotland roster, a solo shot in a 7-0 win over Pine Forest.

It's not been just a one-man show on the mound for the Scots, Damien Burr and Logan Weagraff each have picked up wins this season while Josh Collins has earned himself a pair of saves. Alex Fricke picked up his first varsity save during the 11-inning marathon against the Buccaneers.

Batting-wise, Britt has led the charge with a pair of multiple hit games, including a 3-for-4 performance at Jack Britt. Greg Jorgensen has also produced a pair of multiple hit games.

With six seniors on the Scotland (4-0) roster, there is plenty of talent and leadership to go around. The pitching staff goes about six deep, which will benefit them especially in the early season where teams could possibly play up to three games a week, like they will this coming week.

Scotland will really be tested this coming week because they play three games in four days. They'll host Terry Sanford at McCoy Field on Wednesday before starting SEC play at Purnell Swett Friday night and then turnaround and host an endowment game with New Hanover Saturday afternoon.

It does not get any easier from there because they'll host second-ranked Pinecrest on Mar.23 and then possibly face Hoke County's ace pitcher, Ronald Womack on Mar.26. The senior threw a no-hitter against the Scots last year.



If the Scots can get through this patch of teams with a winning record or even win all five of them, then another conference crown could not be far off.

It's almost here

Get your brackets ready because the first day of the NCAA tournament is a mere three days away.

The real tournament will not really get underway under Thursday afternoon, but Tuesday night will be a very special night for two teams.

The play-in game is the one night of the college basketball season where all of the ESPN television audience is watching, simply because it is the only on that night.

For these two teams, normally the 64th and 65th teams named to the field, and usually from mid-major conferences, they face each other at the University of Dayton’s homecourt with the winner getting a chance to do something that no other team in NCAA tournament history has done: become the first 16th seed to knock off a No.1 seed.

Before filling out your brackets, whether its for an office pool or just for the fun of it, here are few tips that you should keep in mind:

First, in the round of 64 it is usually a safe bet to pick all the No.1, No.2, No. 3 seeds from every bracket.

Having said that, all of those seeds making it to the round 16 is very unlikely. It has happened only once and that was last year.

The No.2 seed does not have history on their side in the first round because since the tournament field was expanded to 64 in 1985, the second seed is the most vulnerable to being upset, it has happened four times with it most recently happening in 2001.

My second tip for the first round, if you are going to pick a lower seed for your upset pick, your best bet is either a No. 10 seed or No.12 seed and here’s why.

The tenth seed in the tournament has advanced to the second round, 39-percent of the time, the twelfth seed is not close behind though, making it to the next round, getting there 34-percent of the time.

Third, the No.8 vs. No.9 matchup is always the trickiest to predict in the first round because both teams are pretty evenly matched, usually one of the lower-seeded teams from one of the six power conferences and percentage-wise, it is very close, (54-46, No.9 seed).

There is always one of the so-called Cinderella teams that comes to the tourney and destroys everones’ bracket.

In year’s past it was Gonzaga (1999), George Mason (2006) and the most recently Davidson (2008).

Davidson really did not surprise fans the way that Gonzaga and George Mason did because everyone knew that they were good, considering that you had the leading scorer in the nation in Stephen Curry (now a member of the Golden State Warriors) and their body of work during the season was full of wins over big teams.

This year, there is not real clear cut pick for the Cinderella team, but you know they are out there.

When you get the second round, which will start on Saturday, the games become harder to predict and all the way hype of a team goes out the window.

The NCAA tournament is full of upsets, buzzer beaters, controversial calls and shocking finishes, but it leaves fans with stories that they’ll be talking about for years to come.

Is UNC on the outside looking in?

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column on tournament outlook not looking good for North Carolina.

After Thursday night, their hopes of a tournament bid of any kind (NCAA or NIT) are barely on life support.

To get into the Big Dance, the Tar Heels needed to either win the ACC tournament or make it to the finals.

North Carolina (16-16) found themselves somewhere they had not been since 2002, playing on the day one of the conference tournament.

Their loss to Georgia Tech put all questions of the Tar Heels going to the tournament to bed.

Even a bid to the NIT (National Invitational Tournament), where they have not been since 2003, may not even be a possibility, if upsets occur to the top seeds in the other conference tournaments this weekend.

This has been a rough season for a young North Carolina team that played most of the year without it starting big men, Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller and some of their talented recruiting class.

It is a dark time for North Carolina, but knowing what kind of coach Roy Williams is and the kind of recruiter that he has become, this will not last long, but bouncing back after this season will be a major challenge for the hall-of-fame coach.