Bryant will Win the NCAA Tournament - Reason Why By David Yas

1. The Bulldogs earned their second NCAA tourney berth in four years cementing their spot as the conference powerhouse. Maine barely put up a fight in the America East final, falling 79-59. 

   
   

2. Bryant senior guard Earl Timberlake, a First-Team All-American averaging 15.2 points a game, is so good that college newspaper writers have run out of headline puns after “Timberlake In Sync Again”; “Timberlake to Critics: Cry Me A River”; and “Earl Rallies Bulldogs in Sexy (Come)Back.”

   
   

3. The student fan section of Bryant College says they are dedicating the season to the memory of Bryant Gumbel. When informed that Greg, not Bryant, Gumbel passed away last year, the students replied “Yeah, but still.”

   
   

4. Bryant's mascot, Tupper the Bulldog, is named after Earl Tupper, the businessman behind Tupperware. Bulldogs coach Phil Martelli Jr. says he keeps his starting five fresh for each game by storing them in plastic and reheating them in the microwave for 4-5 minutes.

   
   

5. There’s now a total of eight NCAA tourney appearances between Bulldogs coach Phil Martelli Jr. (1) and his legendary father Phil Sr (7), as well as a total of zero hair. Both coaches are as bald as they are bold.

David Yas.