The brackets have been released for March Madness, and there are already teams lined up out the door that want to take their swipes at the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee for leaving them out of the field of 65. All of these teams have one thing in common, though. They all lost when it really counted and all had holes their resume. Here’s our March Madness edition of our Weekly Rap Sheet.

Rap Sheet Picture of the Week

Connecticut Huskies HC Jim Calhoun while watching his team crash out of the Big East Tournament to St. John’s.

It feels like this is a weekly ordeal, but at last, it’s finally over with. The 2009-10 Connecticut Huskies are no more. Poor HC Jim Calhoun had to sit there and watch his team blow it out its you know what against the Johnnies on Wednesday at the Big East Tournament. UConn turned the ball over 19 times in defeat. G Kemba Walker shot just 4/17 from the field, but at least it looked like he was trying out there. G Jerome Dyson, on the other hand, looked like he quit on his team. The superstar turned the ball over nine times and was just never mentally in the game. With their season hanging in the balance, the Huskies came up flat against a bad team and lost 73-51 to fall completely out of consideration for the NCAA Tournament.

Not only are we going to take a swipe at the Rhode Island Rams, but we’re going to go after all four bubble teams in the Atlantic 10 as well. None… Not one of you put together enough of a resume to even be considered one of the last four teams left home from the dance. URI looked alright until getting smashed to bits 57-44 by Temple. Even a close loss might’ve made the Rams look like a potential NCAA Tournament team. As for the Charlotte 49ers, Dayton Fliers, and St. Louis Billikens… C’mon guys. You really didn’t think you had a chance of reaching the big dance when you didn’t even qualify for your league semifinals, did you? Charlotte, we’re especially pointing the finger at you. You screwed up by losing to 12-20 Massachusetts on your home court to end your season with losses in seven of your L/8 games.

Yeah, Mississippi State Bulldogs, I hear you moaning as well, especially after you were just a matter of a few tenths of a second from winning the SEC. You’ve got a heck of a lot better gripe about going to the dance after playing the Cats tough, and your win over Florida in the SEC Tournament paired with two wins over Ole Miss should’ve been good enough to go dancing, right? Sorry… Tournament teams don’t lose to Rider on opening night at home by two touchdowns. You should’ve known that your season was over right then and there.

The Virginia Tech Hokies has a nice little gripe, right? After all, 23 wins, ten of which came in the ACC should’ve been good enough to get into the NCAA Tournament, right? Wrong. Play somebody. Brown, UNC-Greensboro, Campbell, Delaware, Iowa, Georgia, VMI, Penn State, Charleston Southern, Maryland-Baltimore County, Longwood, Seton Hall, and North Carolina Central. Those were your out of conference wins. Give me a break. Don’t fall flat on your face against Miami in your first ACC Tournament game, and you’re dancing. For now, don’t complain.

Arizona Cardinals: Lost out on S Antrel Rolle, LB Karlos Dansby, S Kerry Rhodes, and WR Anquan Boldin, which will seriously hamper any chances of defending their NFC West crown.
Atlanta Falcons: Signed CB Dunta Robinson to shore up a secondary that ranked 28th against the pass last season (241.9 yards per game).
Baltimore Ravens: Traded for WR Anquan Boldin, which gives QB Joe Flacco a consistent target to throw to, but also lost top WR from a year ago, Derrick Mason.
Buffalo Bills: Still no word on what’s going on with WR Terrell Owens, but aside from that, things have been relatively quiet in Buffalo.
Carolina Panthers: Finally cut ties with QB Jake Delhomme, possibly setting up Michael Vick’s grand return as a starting quarterback in the NFL.
Chicago Bears: Signed RB Chester Taylor, TE Brandon Manumaleuna, and DE Julius Peppers on the first day of the signing period, but still need to replace T Orlando Pace on the offensive line.
Cincinnati Bengals: Released WR Laveranues Coles and let S Roy Williams, DT Tank Johnson, and RB Larry Johnson become free agents.
Cleveland Browns: Signed LB Scott Fujita and resigned KR Joshua Cribbs to ensure that they have one of the most explosive special teams units in the NFL in 2010.
Dallas Cowboys: All has been quiet in “Big D,” save the fact that K Shaun Suisham was allowed to become a free agent.
Denver Broncos: Teams are trying to tender offers for WR Brandon Marshall, which could largely hurt QB Kyle Orton’s growth on a team that struggled down the stretch.
Detroit Lions: Signed DE Kyle Vanden Bosch and WR Nate Burleson, and though many recognize the Vanden Bosch signing as a great one for a poor defensive line, it’s questionable that Burleson earned $5M/year.
Green Bay Packers: Need to find a replacement for DE/LB Aaron Kampman.
Houston Texans: Working towards resigning WR Kevin Walter, but secondary help is still needed to replace the departed DB Dunta Robinson.
Indianapolis Colts: Resigned LB Gary Brackett, but have stayed relatively quiet in free agency otherwise.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Signed DE/LB Aaron Kampman to try to bulk up a defense which ranked 24th in the NFL at 23.8 points allowed per game.
Kansas City Chiefs: Resigned both LB Mike Vrabel and WR Terrance Copper.
Miami Dolphins: Cut ties with LB Akin Ayodele, QB Chad Pennington, DT Jason Ferguson, and LB Joey Porter, but did start rebuilding by signing LB Karlos Dansby.
Minnesota Vikings: Needs to find a replacement as RB Adrian Peterson’s backup, as RB Chester Taylor left via free agency.
New England Patriots: Resigned LB Tully Banta-Cain, G Stephen Neal, and DT Vince Wilfork to sure up the defending AFC East champs for another run in ’10.
New Orleans Saints: Still haven’t come to terms with S Darren Sharper, and have already lost LB Scott Fujita and backup QB Mark Brunell via free agency.
New York Giants: Signed S Antrel Rolle as perhaps the best DB on the open market, which will only help a defense which ranked 30th in the NFL in points allowed last season (26.7 per game).
New York Jets: Cut DB Lito Sheppard, but did trade for DB Antonio Cromartie, giving them the best tandem of corners in football (Cromartie and DB Darrelle Revis).
Oakland Raiders: Designed DE Richard Seymour as the team’s franchise player and released RB Justin Fargas, opening the door for more playing time for RB Darren McFadden.
Philadelphia Eagles: Still in dispute whether Donovan McNabb or Kevin Kolb will be the quarterback next season. Resigned RB Leonard Weaver, but cut both LB Will Witherspoon and RB Brian Westbrook.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Had to deal with a major off-the-field hassle, as QB Ben Roethlisberger was accused of his second assault. S Ryan Clark, RB Willie Parker, and backup QB Charlie Batch are all free agents.
San Diego Chargers: Traded the disgruntled DB Antonio Cromartie, and cut ties with RB LaDainian Tomlinson, but surprised many by bringing back RB Darren Sproles.
San Francisco 49ers: Signed QB David Carr to compete with Alex Smith and Shaun Hill for the starting quarterback job.
Seattle Seahawks: Lost DB Ken Lucas and WR Nate Burleson to free agency.
St. Louis Rams: Signed QB AJ Feeley to compete as a temporary starting quarterback for the signal-caller that will inevitably be drafted either this year or next year.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Allowed S Will Allen, S Jermaine Phillips, and WR Antonio Bryant to declare free agency.
Tennessee Titans: Will miss DE Kyle Vanden Bosch up front, but also lost TE Alge Crumpler, LB Keith Bulluck, DE Jevon Kearse, DB Nick Harper, and C Kevin Mawae.
Washington Redskins: Have stayed surprisingly quiet, but did sign G Artis Hicks to shore up a questionable and aging offensive line.

Let the complaining and politicking begin! With just one week of game’s left to be played in the college basketball season, teams across the country are going to be groveling to the Selection Committee to try to make their case for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. We’re ranting all across the sports world here at Bankroll Sports, though, and here’s who we’re upset with this week.

Rap Sheet Picture of the Week

Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, who was accused of yet another assault charge this week.

We’re coming right out with the gloves off. Hey Connecticut Huskies, do you really want to go dancing or not? Instead of whining about how hard your schedule was this year, why don’t you turn around and beat somebody? Or better yet, how about trying to figure out how to win a conference road game? After losing at Notre Dame and South Florida this past week, UConn doesn’t even remotely deserve consideration for an at-large bid to the dance, but you and I both know full well that wins against St. John’s on Tuesday and Marquette on Wednesday will probably somehow sneak the Huskies in the field.

Can someone explain to me what the heck the Arizona Cardinals and San Diego Chargers are doing? I understand that the Bolts wanted to cut ties with RB LaDainian Tomlinson before his career totally fell off the map, but what gives with trading DB Antonio Cromartie to the Jets for a song and a dance? Don’t you remember that it was New York’s defense which gave you all of those hassles in the playoffs last year? Do you think that unit is getting worse by giving them your second best defensive player?

And Arizona, what are you doing, too? You had the NFC West already neatly packaged for you even if QB Matt Leinart proved to be a total stiff. But you let WR Anquan Boldin, S Antrel Rolle, LB Karlos Dansby, and a host of others get away from you. Now, you’re no better than a .500 team in a lousy division… which may still be good enough to win the NFC West… which is worth ranting about in itself when you consider how good the NFC East and AFC South are…

To the Cleveland Cavaliers: If you’re going to get trounced by the Bucks by a touchdown without F LeBron James in the lineup, what does that tell you about your future if you let “The King” skip town? If your name wasn’t F Antawn Jamison (30 points) or G Delonte West (27 points), you didn’t score more than seven points in Milwaukee. What’s up with that? Oh that’s right. It’s just another example of how lousy the Cavs really are without their pride and joy in the lineup, and is a harsh reminder that this team had to be the worst in the NBA just to earn the right to land LeBron in the draft in the first place.

Finally, we’ll take a swipe at HC Phil Jackson, who called his F Pau Gasol “weak and sickly.” Now Phil, we know you’re the Zen master and all of that, but if I’m not mistaken, Gasol has put together double-doubles in four of his L/5 games, and has scored a total of 41 points in his L/3. Maybe it’s not your big man that is “weak and sickly” after all. Maybe it’s just your whole team. You’ve dropped three straight overall and now have both the Mavs and Nuggets in your rear view mirror trying to stalk you for the top spot in the Western Conference.

After two weeks worth of great Olympics betting action, the festivities in Vancouver have finally come to a close. There’s plenty left to rant and rave about in the American sports scene, none of which have anything to do with the efforts of the US hockey team, which claimed silver medals after losing in overtime to the Canadians in Sunday’s gold medal game.

Rap Sheet Picture of the Week
Purdue Boilermakers F Robbie Hummel, who suffered a season-ending injury in the same week that his team lost any hope of a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Last week, we took some time to rant about how poorly the Villanova Wildcats played against bubble teams in the Big East. Now, it’s time for the Georgetown Hoyas to step up and face the music. C’mon guys… Losing at home to Notre Dame, playing without its stud F Luke Harangody? That makes two completely inexcusable and embarrassing losses at home on the season, with the other coming at home against South Florida back on February 3rd. Only managing 15 rebounds as a team against the Irish was quite disgusting, and the end result was just as repulsive for a team that once upon a time believed it was good enough to be on the #1 line in the NCAA Tournament.

Don’t think that you’re getting away from this one, Boston Celtics. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hear you complaining now that you were playing without your best player, F Paul Pierce against the New Jersey Nets on Saturday night. No offense, but if you took your entire regular starting five out of the lineup, you’d still have a squad that was lined at -4 at home against the Nets. Oh, you don’t believe me? Tell me that you’d rather have Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Yi Jianlian, Trenton Hassell, and Brook Lopez over Marquis Daniels, Nate Robinson, Glen Davis, Rasheed Wallace, and Tony Allen. Get real fellas. If your boy Ray Allen keeps putting up 3/11 shooting nights, you won’t even survive the first round of the playoffs let alone make a run at the NBA title.

The New Mexico Lobos got arguably their biggest win of the season on Saturday when they knocked off BYU in the closing moments of their game 83-81 to clinch up the Mountain West regular season title. However, that’s not what we’re ranting about. We’re ranting about that ridiculous postgame altercation that HC Steve Alford had with one of the Cougars. Hey Coach, you know better than this. You can’t sit there and yell at a player on the opposing team (or your own team for that matter), “I’m going to tell you real clear… You’re an [expletive]!” That marred a big win for your team, Alford, and you owe your guys a heck of a lot better than that.

As an American, it’s really easy to rant on the Russians, but in this case, there were two boneheads that deserve it. Alexander Ovechkin decided that it was a great idea to bust up a camera after his hockey team was bounced from the Olympics. A great display of sportsmanship in an athletic event that is designed to promote the essence of being a good sport in representing your nation.

However, that wasn’t nearly the funniest, yet disgraceful Russian moment of the Olympics. President Dmitry Medvedev demanded that all of the Russian sports officials that were responsible for the debacle that was the country’s dismal 15 medal performance in the Winter Olympics to resign their posts. He claimed, “I think that the individuals responsible, or several of them, who answer for these preparations, should take the courageous decision to hand in their notice. If we don’t see such decisiveness, we will help them.”

So let’s get this straight, el presidente… You’re going to force out all of your Olympic coaching representatives right after the Vancouver games?

Man, are things going to be difficult for the other countries coming onto Russian soil for the 2014 Games in Sochi…

There’s plenty to rant about this week in the sports world. Not only were the Olympics hot and heavy, but the NBA’s trade deadline has come and gone as well. There’s also just a few weeks left until Selection Sunday. Here at Bankroll Sports, we’re ready to take out the trash and call out the stiffs that wrecked the sports world for the week that was.

Rap Sheet Picture of the Week
Phoenix Suns’ F Amare Stoudemire, who has to be wondering why he’s still stuck in the desert for the duration of the season.

Hey, Canadian Ice Hockey Team… What gives? You’re the host nation, you’re playing on your own ice in front of tens of thousands of your fans, and you’ve clearly got one of the best sets of 23 guys ever assembled on the same ice. Why the heck do you need a shootout to get past Switzerland and then do you lose to your arch rivals, the United States Hockey Team? That’s awfully unacceptable, eh? Now, as the #6 seed in the tournament, you’ve got to take out Germany just to earn the right to get into the quarterfinals of this draw, while the US and three other teams that played better than you did during the group stages are resting and watching.

We’ve already done some ranting when we talked about out NBA Trade Deadline Report Card last week, but there’s no way that we can’t continue to rant on the Phoenix Suns for the way that they handled the Amare Stoudemire situation. Phoenix clearly doesn’t want Stoudemire’s contract hanging around any long, and in spite of the fact that he leads the team in scoring, they talked for three weeks about getting rid of him. That angered the big man and took away some effective games from him. And when all was said and done, Phoenix traded him to… oh that’s right. The Suns never did move him. Now, Phoenix has a few more months of Stoudemire’s contract and, assuming that he doesn’t exercise his $17M option for next year, will be left with nothing but some extra cap space for 2011.

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What’s up with the Houston Rockets anyway? Wasn’t this team supposed to get a heck of a lot better by getting rid of Tracy McGrady and bringing in a bunch of pieces to the puzzle that were supposed to make this a playoff team? Don’t blame Kevin Martin and Jared Jeffries. Martin’s put up 27 combined points in his two games as a Rocket, and Jeffries was one rebound shy of a double-double on Sunday, but all that was accomplished this week was a dud loss in the Bayou and a smack down at the hands of the Pacers at home. That won’t get Houston to the playoffs. The only thing that that will do is move HC Rick Adelman a lot closer to the unemployment lines.

Just two weeks ago, a lot of college basketball pundits thought that the Villanova Wildcats had a gripe to be the overall #1 seed of the upcoming NCAA Tournament (click here for our latest look at the March Madness odds). Now, losses to Pitt on the road and at home against UConn have them spiraling out of control heading towards the Big East Tournament. It’s bad enough that the Cats would probably be on the #2 line if March Madness started today, but coming up is a roadie at the Carrier Dome. Yikes! Things could get a lot worse before they get better for Villanova.

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Rap Sheet Picture of the Week
The crash of two Korean speed skaters on the final turn of Saturday night’s race that allowed American
Apolo Ohno to take the silver medal and prevented South Korea from sweeping the podium.

I could just rant all week about the Big East. We’ll start with you, Notre Dame Fighting Irish. I thought you wanted to really go dancing at some point so that you could say that you didn’t totally waste four years of having C Luke Harangody on your roster. At least you stuck in front of the college basketball betting line against Seton Hall, but what gives about losing at home to the Johnnies? You’re not exempt of this one either, Louisville Cardinals. Yeah, yeah, that win against Syracuse was really nice on Sunday, but truth be told, that only made up for your complete 74-55 dud against St. John’s on Thursday. Speaking of upsets that make no sense whatsoever… Hey Connecticut Huskies, how do you ever expect to make March Madness when you’re only score 48 points at home against Cincinnati? Your four top scorers should be worth more than that every single night! Finally, Georgetown Hoyas, you just stink. Rutgers is awful. Period. A-W-F-U-L, awful! There’s no excuse, even on the road, for you to be losing to a team like that. And you think you’re a #2 seed in the dance? The only thing you’re number two in right now is my doghouse.

Man, Houston Rockets… You were the probably the worst of the worst last week down in South Beach. How do you only score 66 points in an NBA game? I mean seriously, how is that possible? Yeah, fine. So you were without Gs Kyle Lowry and Trevor Ariza. I get it. You were shorthanded. Me and four other boards with angry faces could probably shoot better than 30.2% from the field for a game, and I’m only 5’7″ on a good day. Oh, by the way… Don’t think that I’m not looking at you G Aaron Brooks. You can’t shoot 3/16 from the floor by yourself in a game.

How’s about a little more effort here, Air Force Falcons. Ok, so you were 22.5-point underdogs going into Provo against BYU on Saturday. Fine. At least try to pretend like you can win the game. Instead, you got rolled up, getting outscored 53-20 in the first half and ultimately losing 91-48. Your 22 turnovers made you look like a circus out there on the court. The Bad News Bears may have done better than that.

Nice week, G Antero Niittymaki. There’s a reason that the Lightning just can’t quite seem to get over the hump once and for all and crack back into the Eastern Conference postseason. After putting up a stretch of games that had everyone in Tampa Bay holding up “Getting Niitty With It” signs, he gave up four goals in the first period of Thursday night’s game against the Bruins, and followed that up by conceding five two nights later against the Islanders. Oh by the way, G Mike Smith, you’re not exempt from this one either. Giving up four against the Rangers on the final day of the regular season before the NHL hockey season took a hiatus for the Olympics wasn’t swift either.

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The NFL betting season came to a close on Sunday night when the Indianapolis Colts beat the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV. There was plenty to rant about in the week that was in the world of sports, so here at Bankroll Sports, we’ll pose these two words to the worst teams, players, coaches, and situations over the last seven days: C’mon Man!!!

I’m tired of all of these teams in the NCAA basketball betting world falling victim to sandwich games. I’m looking at you Georgetown Hoyas and Duke Blue Devils. G’Town looked awful in a home loss to South Florida, which was stuck between wins against both Duke and Villanova. The Dookies fell victim as well, barely beating Boston College in Chestnut Hill. They beat Georgia Tech in a huge revenge spot right before the BC game, and have North Carolina next week in Chapel Hill. Aren’t you supposed to bring it every single night? These aren’t the only two teams in this situation, but the Hoyas and Blue Devils are the ones that are guilty this week. C’mon Man!!!

What’s going on with the North Carolina Tar Heels? Who are these imposters wearing baby blue right now? North Carolina lost to both Virginia Tech and Maryland this week, and that loss to Maryland came by 21 points. The Tar Heels are now sitting in tenth place in the ACC, and they’re only a half game in front of being in dead last. Why is this team even remotely being talked about for the NCAA Tournament? Teams that are 13-10 are just trying to make the NIT. For you, the defending national champs, you only have two words coming your way: C’mon Man!!!

The Miami Heat are in really bad shape right now. They have lost five straight games and are only 1-4 ATS in those five. Don’t blame G Dwyane Wade. Flash is scoring 26.8 points per game this year and has averaged just under that in those five games. The problem? There are only two players in those five NBA betting battles that have scored more than 16 points in a game. F Jermaine O’Neal put up 24 against the Bulls on Saturday, while F Michael Beasley put up 21 on the Cavs earlier in the week. Wade, you’re exempt from this one. But for the rest of you: C’mon Man!!!

Yes, it was QB Peyton Manning that threw the pick that ultimately handed the Super Bowl to the Saints, but let’s take a minute to blame the special teams of the Indianapolis Colts. This was a unit that missed a field goal, only averaged 22.2 yards per kick return, and committed the biggest gaffe of the day, allowing New Orleans to recover the onside kick to start the second half. Indy took the lead in the third quarter after the Saints hit them with the onsider, but K Matt Stover’s missed field goal is what really broke the camel’s back. There are three facets to every football game, and the Colts failed miserably at the third one, which proved to be the most important. C’mon Man!!!