Greedy CBS accidentally leaks NCAA tournament bracket to Twitter

There were no surprises during CBS Sports' NCAA Tournament Selection Show — at least not if you were paying attention to your Twitter account.

The NCAA said Sunday night it is looking into how a copy of this year's March Madness tournament bracket got leaked online during the network's newly extended Sunday Selection show.

The bracket was being shared on Twitter about 20 minutes after the start of the two-hour broadcast, generating thousands of retweets just about the same time Charles Barkley was onscreen fumbling around with a touch screen monitor making his picks.

So all you Twitter followers already knew about the Syracuse inclusion and Monmouth snub before CBS had a chance to announce it on TV.

It's not clear who posted the tweet, which was labeled "Spoiler alert." The account used a Kansas logo as its avatar photo, with the name "Sarcastic Prick."  

The user later changed the name and protected the account, shortly before it appeared to be deleted and turned over to a different user.

"We go through great lengths to prevent the tournament field from being revealed early and the NCAA took its usual measures to protect this from happening," the NCAA said Sunday night in a statement. "Unfortunately, and regrettably, the bracket was revealed prior to our broadcast partners having the opportunity to finish unveiling it. We take this matter seriously and we are looking into it."

CBS declined comment about the first real upset of the tournament.

The revised broadcast drew wide criticism on social media for drawing out the selections and turning the highly anticipated show into a snooze fest. Some Kentucky players actually fell asleep during the show at the home of coach John Calipari. And others waiting for their draw found out about their matchups early as news of the leaked bracket went viral.

Other highlighted teams looked even less enthused.

At Notre Dame, coach Mike Brey said he got a text from his son, Kyle, a tight ends coach at Youngstown State, saying the leaked bracket showed the Irish playing the winner of the Michigan-Tulsa game in Brooklyn.

"I thought he was messing with me," Brey said. "So I just deleted it. Fifteen minutes later we show up, and then I found out we had a little leakage going on. Nothing's secure, huh? That's great. That is so typical. It's so typical of college basketball."

At Pitt, Sterling Smith set the Panthers at ease early during the selection show, sharing the leaked bracket that showed them as the 10th seed in the East Region. "We were wondering what we were going to do for that entire time. All of a sudden we knew rather quickly," said coach Jamie Dixon.

Xavier forward James Farr said he saw the leaked bracket on his phone while the Musketeers were still waiting to learn their seeding and opponent, but he didn't say anything to his teammates. "I didn't want to ruin anything," Farr said. "I thought it was somebody's prediction of the bracket."

It serves CBS right for holding the audience hostage for an extended hour while they tried to rake in the extra bucks from ad revenue.

Another example of sports trying to milk the cow dry but, ending up getting pinched on the teat.

West Point cheerleaders made out with each other for football recruits aboard party bus: Report

Lurid new details have emerged about questionable recruitment practices at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where prospective football recruits were taken by a VIP party bus to a bowling alley, offered drinks and watched as two cheerleaders made out with each other.

The school has acknowledged the claims, which were first outlined in a news article published by The Gazette of Colorado Springs Sunday.

Officials at West Point said the academy self-reported the recruitment violations to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, disciplined 20 cadets and reprimanded two officers, along with football coaches, for promoting underage drinking.

The wild, alcohol-soaked road trip took place back in January when 14 recruits boarded a party bus along with members of the football team and two cheerleaders, and headed down to the Palisades Mall in New York.

The bus — with a "club-like" atmosphere — made a pit stop at a bowling alley equipped with a bar, where the players and prospective recruits reportedly consumed large quantities of alcohol. 

At some point during the trip, two cheerleaders began making out with one another, and also kissed a football player and one of the recruits.

In addition to the boozy ride, the NCAA learned from the internal report that cheerleaders and female cadets had been set up as "dinner dates'"for prospects — a claim that has been disputed by Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen Jr.

West Point spokesman Theresa Brinkerhoff said the academy did not publicly detail the incident at the time because it was handled "administratively," the New York Daily News reported.

The players involved, among them Army starting quarterback Angel Santiago, are expected to play against the Air Force Academy at West Point's Michie Stadium on November 1.

The specific punishments for the officers, players and coaches have not been revealed, but no football players were kicked off the Army team, nor were any suspensions announced.

Brinkerhoff told the NCAA two members of the football staff had been removed from team activities for a week following the incident.

Gov. Christie signs bill to permit sports betting in New Jersey: Report

New Jersey is moving ahead with plans to permit betting on sports in the state and one racetrack already said it will start taking bets as early as next weekend.

Despite a federal challenge lodged by major professional sports leagues and the NCAA to halt betting on team sports, on Friday, Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill passed this week in the Legislature that would partially repeal New Jersey's prohibition on sports wagering, reported ESPN.com.

Supporters of the legislation hail it as a potential remedy for the state's struggling racetrack and casino industries, but the effort faces significant opposition from professional sports leagues and the NCAA.

Monmouth Park Racetrack said it plans to begin on Oct. 26. and has already built a sports-wagering facility at the track. Racetrack adviser Dennis Drazin said it has set up an independent entity to regulate the wagering and it will be managed by the British bookmaking company William Hill.

Spokesmen for Major League Baseball and the NBA, NFL and NHL declined to comment. 

The state attorney general withdrew its request for a U.S. District Court judge to clarify an injunction preventing sports betting after Christie signed the measure. Christie said he believes the bill adheres to federal law and responds to the issues raised in federal courts.

"As I've said all along, I am a strong proponent of legalized sports wagering in New Jersey," Christie said in a statement. "But given earlier decisions by federal courts, it was critical that we follow a correct and appropriate path to curtail new court challenges and expensive litigation. I believe we have found that path in this bipartisan legislative effort."

While the Christie administration supports sports betting at racetracks and casinos, no casino in the state has announced plans to offer sports betting.

Most casino operators are publicly traded companies with operations in multiple states and countries, and most are concerned that operating in potential defiance of a federal law could cost the company licenses in other jurisdictions.

Fans might get a chance to name the old Big East no-name league

The Big East football league— which will be losing its conference name to the Catholic 7 basketball schools — needs a new name by July 1 and is considering opening up to social media for possible suggestions, according to a league source.

The new league would likely do this via Twitter.

ESPN reported that the name "America 12" was picked for the new football conference after their lawyers bought the domain name of the same, but the report was denied by the league.

“We have not chosen a new conference name at this time and there are no favorites," Big East commissioner Aresco said in a statement released Friday. "We are going through a thoughtful evaluation of potential names for our conference, and will select a name in a timely manner through a comprehensive and deliberate process that involves our presidents and athletic directors as well as constituents from inside and outside the conference. We are excited about the prospect of re-branding and look forward to working with our institutions and our fans as we engage in this process.” 

For the record, the Big East finalized their football/basketball divorce Friday and the Catholic 7 took the Big East name with them.

The new 10-team league will need a name to brand itself and rebuild on but, gauging from fans' response, the bland America 12 moniker was kind of meh and didn't exactly float everyone's boat.

The new league will have only 10 teams the next two seasons and will be stretched from Connecticut to Texas.  Next year's football lineup is Connecticut, South Florida, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Memphis, SMU, Houston, Temple, Rutgers and Louisville until Navy and possibly Tulsa join in 2015.

So put on your thinking cap or start a drinking game but find a way to throw a few words like big, little, USA, metro, 10, 12, 14, athletic, great, valley, sun, league, America, trans, non-Catholic and Beef 'O' Brady into a hat and see what you come up with.

Imagine being able to tell your friends you were the genius behind the Great East South-West Interstate Ten Conference.

Maryland and Rutgers may join Big Ten conference says report

Pick a conference, any conference.  That seems to be the all too common practice in NCAA sports these days and it looks like another shakeup could move two more teams to the Big Ten — Maryland and Rutgers.

According to an ESPN report, Maryland is in "serious negotiations" to join the Big Ten conference.  If it does, then Rutgers would follow suit, says the report.

The announcement could come as soon as Monday.

The only hurdle would be is Maryland's $50 million exit fee from the ACC.  The exit price for Rutgers would be only $10 million to leave the Big East and a 27 month waiting period.  However, that waiting period has been waived for West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Syracuse after they paid higher fees.

The source told ESPN:

The Big Ten has been itchy about further expansion since Notre Dame made its official move to the ACC two months ago in all sports other than football.  The source said the Big Ten can justify Maryland and then possibly Rutgers since they are all contiguous states to the Big Ten footprint.

Rutgers — a charter member of the Big East — would be the sixth school to leave the conference in the past year.

New Jersey ready to issue sports betting licenses in 2013

The state of New Jersey says it will start issuing licenses for sports betting on Jan. 9, 2013.

It all depends on if a federal lawsuit filed by the NCAA and the four major professional sports leagues can be overcome, according to The Associated Press.

The state Division of Gaming Enforcement published regulations for sports betting on Monday in the New Jersey Register.  The state enacted a sports betting law in January, limiting bets to the Atlantic City casinos and the state's four horse racing tracks.

In May, Gov. Chris Christie said New Jersey would proceed with its sports betting law — despite a federal ban on legalized sports gambling in all but four states. Christie thinks it's hypocritical that New Jersey can't join Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana as the only states with legalized sports betting.

"I don't believe that the federal government has the right to decide that only certain states can have sports gambling," said Christie. "And it does not acknowledge that there is illegal sports gambling going on in every state in America as we speak."

Proponents of sports betting believe it will stimulate a declining Atlantic City economy and pump some much needed revenue into the state's budget.

Casinos, racetracks or joint ventures of both can apply for the $50,000 "sports poll licenses."