Folks, it is the end of an era. Other than this guy, you didn’t really respond to the predictions as in years past. So unless I change my mind, which is likely never happens, this is it. Enjoy.

I’ve got a summer’s worth of par fives to figure out what we’ll do on Game Day, 2010-2011. Feel free to toss some suggestions, seriously, because the whole point is to actually deliver content you want. (This is only relevant if UNCW doesn’t hire me as its head coach.)

Side note: I think we’re going to be very close with our CAA Tournament coverage. I’m excited about what’s on tap, and we’ll lay all that out next week. That’s no joke.

***

Nor’easter at Mason: Noon on ESPN2. WWLIS producers are forced to scramble for 90 minutes of programming after Mason is awarded a forfeit.

The always-cerebral Bill Coen chooses instead to bypass DeeCee and continue straight to Richmond to get some extra court time and practice at the Coliseum. Coen is distraught to learn that the Ringling Brothers Circus is in town, and he is forced to practice at Richmond’s Robins Center.

Meanwhile, Jim Larranaga, happy with the victory, offers up the tape of his sons playing basketball with President Obama as filler. Again. ESPN runs the tape for six minutes before an angry Rush Limbaugh has ESPN de-commissioned.

Things become worse for Coen when Baptiste Bataille, a Cirque du Soleil performer as a child, runs off to join the troupe in a few performances. Bataille manages to avoid injury, but he is met at SunTrust cashing his paycheck by NCAA investigators, who rule him ineligible for receiving improper benefits. The NCAA rules that since JMUs Denzel Bowles can’t fit into the cannon, much less be shot from it, Bataille received a benefit not available to everyone.

***

Delaware at Towson: Frustrated by injuries and bad luck, Pat Kennedy and Monte Ross decide to switch teams during the national anthem. A confused Jawan Carter opens the game by shooting a three in the wrong basket, giving Towson a quick lead they never relinquish.

Pandemonium nearly erupts at the halftime buzzer when Kennedy waves his Delaware team towards the home locker room, meeting several DePaul, Montana, and Florida State recruits on the way.

For his part, Ross, feeling uneasy with his new team, has a red, side-parted toupee brought to him so that the Towson players feel more comfortable.

It’s a beautiful basketball game, and in the end both school’s ADs are seen huddling, and the coaching switch is made permanent, solving a whole lot of issues in one fell swoop.

***

VCU at Old Dominion: Comcastic 4:00er. There is an eerie feeling in the Ted Constant Center as the game is played in front of 500 VCU fans, 32 ushers, and Tim Pearell.

It seems when the game was declared a “white out,” nobody chose to clarify for ODU fans that meant they all wear white t-shirts. Based on this entire winter, the Monarchs faithful instead bum rush Costco and stock up for the newest blizzard.

When they realize something is amiss, they converge on The Ted by halftime, and the second half and both overtimes are played in the typical lunatic enviornment you see at this game.

Gerald Lee hits a late 15-footer to pull it out for the half-home team, and even though Lee says he doesn’t read the papers he locks eyes with me as they run off the court and he holds one index finger pointed right at me.

***

Georgia State at Hofstra: Tom Pecora, rushing to ensure his fan base that he indeed knows what he’s doing, is late to the game because there was a long line at Staples and he had to show up with a clipboard.

Instead of diagramming plays, Pecora uses the clipboard for evil purposes. The coach gets a good laugh when even though Joe Dukes hits a three to give Ga State a six point lead, he scribbles on his clipboard for all to see: Rod Barnes is an anagram for “Bad Snorer” and “A Bro Nerd.”

Later, Pecora realizes how smart he looks with a clipboard in his hand, and being a coach tries to take it to the next level and orders SID Jeremy Kniffen to find him a laptop.

With that in hand, Pecora is able to find some funny Airplane! clips on You Tube, fires them up, and sits back and watches Charles Jenkins take over the game.

***

Drexel at James Madison: There isn’t a dry eye in the house when Pierre Curtis is announced on senior day as playing in his 2,346th game for JMU. Curtis is pushed onto the floor by his teammates, where he gives a wave and is then compelled by Ben Louis to run a victory lap around the Convo.

Sadly Curtis sprains an ankle when he trips over a JMU trombone player trying to negotiate that really thin part of the walkway behind the basket and misses the game.

Matt Brady laughs, wishing either Pat Kennedy or Monte Ross were there. Meanwhile, Denzel Bowles chooses to spend the time during the seniors ceremony in the school cafeteria grabbing a snack. With Bowles not back by tipoff, Brady has no choice but to play Dazz Thornton, previously ineligible.

When asked about NCAA ramifications, Brady smirks: “we’re 4-13 in the Colonial. What are they going to do?” Thornton cannot stop the F-Bombs coming from the Drexel side of the floor.

The postgame press conference runs unusually long for a game like this, after a reporter asks Bruiser Flint if Harrisonburg is “his kind of town” and Flint laughs uncontrollably for 23 straight minutes, believed to be a record.

***

William & Mary at UNCW: 8:00 on MASN. The CAA regular season comes to an end at a fitting locale. The Pugs have been a wonderful story, and the Hawks not so much–including a midseason firing of its coach.

With all the snow this winter, the beach is where everyone wants to be. Jumping on this thought and remembering his great meal the night before, Tom Yeager immediately contacts every athletics director and coach and asks if they minded if the CAA tournament, scheduled to begin in six days, could be moved to Trask.

Yeager gets 11 yes votes, one short of the unanimous decision to have the tournament moved. Only Bill Coen, who is unreachable because cell service is spotty in the Robins Center, holds out.