I think I’m just going to turn off the sports networks for the week. I just heard Digger Phelps and Hubert (I hate everyone not in a “BCS conference) Davis pick Mississippi State and Pittsburgh as the sleeper teams in the South Region. That’s right Davis is picking Mississippi State to beat the Tigers in the 2nd round. Their disdain for all things “non-BCS” conference or “not appearing on ESPN” is shining through.
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As I wrote in a blog back on March 10, it seemed for a while like much of Tunica’s low-lying property would be completely under water by the end of last week due to rising water on the Mississippi River.

There was even some concern that The Willows Sporting Clays & Hunting Center at Grand Casino, which I wrote about Sunday, would be under water for a while.

Luckily, the water never got that high.

Tunica is soggy, but not under water - and The Willows is still operational.

While everyone else is filling out basketball tournament brackets, I’m browsing the winners from the bass tournaments held last weekend.

Such is the life of an outdoors writer.

In the Crappie USA event on the Columbus Pool, Steve Coleman of Tiptonville, Tenn., won the semi-pro division with 10.97 pounds. He was fishing the Aberdeen Lake area in 5.8 feet of water, using lime and chartreuse jigs. In the amateur division, Chuck Justice of Louisville, Miss., and Alton Reeves of Aberdeen, Miss., won with 9.8 pounds. They were also fishing Aberdeen Lake, using chartreuse and blue tubes with an orange jig head in 5.8 feet of water.

For complete Crappie USA results, click here.

In the Stren Series event on Alabama’s Lake Eufaula, Randall Tharp of Gardendale, Ala., won with a four-day total of 64 pounds, 3 ounces. He earned $25,000 and a fully rigged Ranger boat.

No one from the Mid-South really made much noise in the event. Lloyd Pickett, Jr., finished 90th with a three-day mark of 28-3. He failed to make the final-day cut.

In the Bassmaster Elite Series Citrus Slam on the Kissimmee Chain, Strike King pro Kevin Van Dam won with 59 pounds, 7 ounces of bass.

According to B.A.S.S. reports, Van Dam found a good, big-bass bite tossing a Strike King Red Eye Shad. He fished scattered hydrilla clumps located in 7-10 feet of water on Lake Toho.

B.A.S.S. said Van Dam was allowing the bait to drop all the way to the bottom, pulling it up rapidly, and then letting it fall to the bottom again.

Here’s one thing you’ll hear a lot this week: The Memphis Tigers can’t shoot free throws.

Here’s one thing you probably won’t hear this week (except here, of course): Nobody else in the South Regional can, either.

For all the hand-wringing about Memphis’ free-throw woes, which I’ve talked about constantly as completely overblown and statistically insignificant, I haven’t read or heard a word this week about how Memphis’ potential opponents shoot free throws. So I went and looked it up. Here’s what I found.

Mississippi State: 64.4%
Texas Arlington: 65.8%
Pittsburgh: 65.8%
St. Mary’s: 66.5%
Oregon: 68.9%
Texas: 68.9%
Stanford: 69.6%

All of those teams are in the South Regional. All of those teams are ranked 150th or worse in the country in free throw percentage. Stanford shoots exactly 10% better from the line than Memphis. So if they played, say, in the Elite Eight and the free-throw percentages held to form, you’re talking about a two-point advantage for Stanford if both teams shot 20 free throws. Stanford would be expected to make 14-of-20 in that scenario, while Memphis would be expected to make 12-of-20.

So why, again, does this seem to be such an important issue?