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The Super 16 for?The Basketball Tournament, a $2 million winner-take-all nationwide competition, will be Thursday and Friday at Philadelphia University, with four quarterfinal matchups on Saturday.There are eight teams composed of college basketball alumni remaining and three teams that were in last years semifinals, including defending champions Overseas Elite.The semifinals will be played at Fordham University, and the championship game, with $2 million on the line, will be Aug. 2 at 9 p.m. Both the semifinals and final will be on ESPN.Heres a look at each Super 16 matchups.NortheastNo. 1 City of Gods vs. No. 5 Team FOE, Thursday (4 p.m. on ESPN3)City of Gods features more former NBA players on the roster than just about anyone else in the event, with DerMarr Johnson and Michael Sweetney joining James White and Pops Mensah-Bonsu. They made it to the semifinals a year ago and added the high-flying White. Theres also former Drexel point guard Phil Goss, ex-Georgetown guard Chris Wright and former Maryland big man James Gist. Johnson, the sixth overall pick in the 2000 draft, has averaged 28 points and eight boards in their two wins.Theres a heavy Kansas connection with FOE, beginning at the top with booster?Thomas Robinson, general manager Markieff Morris and coach Marcus Morris. Theres also a pair of former Jayhawks in the backcourt?with Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson. Ex-Villanova guard Maalik Wayns has been stellar thus far, as has former St. Johns power forward Sean Evans.No. 2 Boeheims Army vs. No. 3 The Untouchables, Thursday (7 p.m. on ESPN2)Boeheims Army is littered with former Syracuse players from the past 15 years, starting with Hakim Warrick, Darryl Watkins and Terrence Roberts. It continues with Eric Devendorf and Rick Jackson and culminates with guys like Brandon Triche, C.J. Fair and Baye Moussa Keita.It will be like an old Big East battle with the Syracuse-laden group going up against The Untouchables, a team filled with former Pittsburgh Panthers. Theres Gilbert Brown, Gary McGhee, Levance Fields, Brad Wanamaker and Antonio Graves along with former UMass guard Ricky Harris and ex-Oklahoma wing Cameron Clark. Thus far, Wanamaker has been the teams top scorer at 20 points per game.MidwestNo. 5 Pedros Posse vs. No. 9 Always a Brave, Friday (9 p.m. on ESPN2)Mike Bibby and Jason Williams have led the way for Pedros Posse for the first two victories. Bibby -- who won a national title with Arizona, was the second overall pick in 1998 and spent more than a decade in the NBA -- almost had a triple-double in the opener while Williams, who is 40 years old, had 17 points and 10 assists in the win. Bibby and Williams have a supporting cast that includes former Florida State guards Deividas Dulkys and Luke Loucks and ex-Chattanooga guard Bryan Richardson, who is 11-of-17 from beyond the arc in the two wins.Always a Brave is full of former Bradley players on the 2006 team that knocked off Kansas and Pittsburgh to reach the Sweet 16. Big man Patrick OBryant was selected ninth overall in the 2006 draft, but its been Marcellus Sommerville who has led the way thus far, averaging 22.5 points and seven boards in the two wins. Other 2006 Braves on the squad include Will Franklin, Daniel Ruffin, Tony Bennett and Jeremy Crouch. Theres also Sam Maniscalco, Matt Salley and Phillip Gilbert.No. 6 Golden Eagles Alumni vs. No. 7 Armored Athlete, Friday (7 p.m. on ESPN2)The Golden Eagles Alumni team has Marquette written all over it, from the booster (Steve Novak) to the coaches (Wesley Matthews and Travis Diener) to the general manager (Dan Fitzgerald) and the players: Darius Johnson-Odom, Dwight Buycks, Jerel McNeal, Joe Chapman, Mo Acker, Dwight Burke, Jamil Wilson, Derrick Wilson and Marcus Jackson make up the roster. Buycks had 27 points in each of the teams two wins while Chapman averaged 18. Jamil Wilson finished with 22 points in a blowout over a Michigan State-filled Spartans Heroes squad.Armored Athlete is best known for its trio of former Indiana Hoosiers: Christian Watford, Jordan Hulls and Will Sheehey. However, its been a pair of ex-Holy Cross standouts, David Dudzinski and Malcolm Miller, who have been just as valuable to their early success. Former Florida State scoring guard Isaiah Swann had 22 points in the last game. This team also features former Butler star Roosevelt Jones.SouthNo. 2 Overseas Elite vs. No. 3 Ram Nation, Thursday (9 p.m. on ESPN3)The core of the defending champion and $1 million winners Overseas Elite is back, a group that includes C.J. McCollums brother, Errick, a pair of ex-St. Johns players in D.J. Kennedy and Paris Horne, former Arizona guard Kyle Fogg as well as Johndre Jefferson and Todd OBrien up front. The big change thus far has been that DeAndre Kane, who played at Marshall and Iowa State, has moved into the spot that was held by Myck Kabongo a year ago. Fogg averaged 22.5 points with Kennedy adding 18.5 in the two victories thus far.Five players on VCUs team that shocked the country and went from the First Four to the Final Four back in 2011 are on this Ram Nation squad. Theres Bradford Burgess, who has averaged 19.5 points in the two wins; point guard Joey Rodriguez; forward Jamie Skeen, who had 26 in the Elite Eight win over Kansas back in 2011; Darius Theus and Brandon Rozzell. Former first-round pick Larry Sanders is on the roster, but his status is uncertain because of an injury.No. 5 TMD vs. No. 8 Trained to Go, Thursday (2 p.m. on ESPN2) Former Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson is the star attraction of TMD because of his personality, but this team has been led by a pair of other guards, Christopher Warren and B.J. Young. Warren also played at Ole Miss while Young starred at Arkansas. The frontcourt also features a couple of guys who played at prominent programs: Mike Bruesewitz (Wisconsin) and Calvin Godfrey (Memphis).Trained to Go pulled off the upset over the regions No. 1 seed, Bluff City Blues, a team that was loaded with Memphis alumni. Former Clayton State guard Brandon Robinson led the way with 21 points in the win and another less-heralded player, Brent Jennings, scored 32 points in the first-round win over the Primetime Players. The most recognizable name on the team is former Georgia guard Damien Wilkins, the nephew of former NBA star Dominique Wilkins.WestNo. 1 Team 23 vs. No. 5 Team Colorado, Friday (2 p.m. on ESPN3)Team 23 lost in the title game a year ago, and it brings back the core of that team, led by guard Davin White. It was former IPFW guard Frank Gaines, a new addition this year, who erupted for 30 points in the victory to reach the Super 16, while former UConn big man Gavin Edwards had a double-double with 17 points and 12 boards.Team Colorado is full of ex-Colorado Buffaloes, most of whom have spent their professional career overseas. The teams star thus far has been guard Marcus Hall, who averaged 29 points in the two wins. Richard Roby, who played in Boulder from 2004 to 2008, is one of the teams top players. The group also features Marcus Relphorde, Dominique Coleman and Levi Knutson.No. 3 Few Good Men vs. No. 7 Team Utah, Friday (4 p.m. on ESPN3)With Zags coach Mark Few as the booster, Few Good Men is a well-known group full of former Bulldogs. Micah Downs averaged 18.5 points in the two victories, but the former Zags have done it with depth and balance. Jeremy Pargo, Austin Daye, Dan Dickau, Mike Hart, Casey Cavalry and Drew Barham are on the roster. A couple of key pick-ups are former St. Johns big man Justin Burrell and ex-Missouri big man Leo Lyons. Dickau and Blake Stepp have handled the coaching duties thus far, but theres a chance former Bulldog John Stockton might take the reigns at some point.Team Utah is a Utes alumni team led by Tim Drisdom, Shaun Green, Lawrence Borha, Bryant Markson and Dakarai Tucker. There are also a couple of players in Justin Hawkins and Richard Chaney who began their careers in Salt Lake City before finishing elsewhere. Sam Mills Jersey . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. Ken Stabler Jersey . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. http://www.customsaintsjersey.com/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Chuck Muncie Jersey . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. Taysom Hill Jersey . The 28-year-old from Calgary matched his career best after missing just one shot in his two rounds of shooting in the mens 10-kilometre sprint competition. Smith finished in 23 minutes 15. The rookie running back is a unique commodity in both real and fantasy football. If the sport of football is considered a young mans game, the tailback position is undoubtedly a key inspiration for this idiom.Few positions in sport, if any, incur such consistent and constant physical erosion as the NFL running back. The job description is to run through and past large groups of astonishingly strong and athletic men. This means the league, and thus fantasy investors, often look to the next wave of talent at the position for replenishment of workload and production. With an eventual eye on the 2016 class at the position, lets take a look at the past decade of rookie running backs in the context of fantasy football production.A brief history of top-flight rookie RBsThe premise that the league has continually devalued the running back position in the draft and in free agency over the past several seasons might ring true with regards to draft capital and bonus cash in free agency, yet this study revealed the fact that weve seen 19 rookie running backs tally at least 100 rushing attempts over the past two seasons combined. The past two seasons mark the biggest two-year stretch of 100-carry rookie backs over the past decade. Last years mark of 10 such performances was a 10-year high.From 2006 to 2013, we saw an average of 5.8 rookie backs accrue at least 100 carries. So while the sample isnt so sizable, its interesting to consider that while the league isnt allocating draft and cash assets to the position as it once did, on-field opportunity has actually increased over recent seasons.As a fun exercise, we compiled the top 30 fantasy seasons (ordered by standard fantasy points) since 2001. Even though Clinton Portis rookie opus in Denver in 2002 is the high-water mark for rookies since 2001, he finished fourth at the position that season in fantasy production, while Doug Martins 2012 netted him the highest finish (third) at the position for a rookie over the past 15 seasons.For some context for rookie backs in the past decade, consider that 40 rookie backs since 2006 have amassed as many as 150 rushing attempts in their debut season. During the past decade, 29 professional freshmen at the position have been targeted at least 40 times in the passing phase. Just how have rookie backs translated to fantasy production?Taking an overhead look at the league during the past decade, weve produced the production thresholds required for RB1, RB2 and RB3 seasons over the past 10 seasons. In the table below, youll find what each tier of production in both standard and PPR leagues demands for NFL running backs (not isolated solely to rookies). It has required at least 125 standard fantasy points, for example, to finish 24th or better among running backs on average over the past 10 NFL seasons.Lets apply these numbers to rookies at the position since the 2006 campaign.Rare RB1 rookie seasonsUsing 170 fantasy points as the threshold for producing a top-12 fantasy season using ESPN standard scoring, we find 13 rookie tailbacks since 2006 to have met this mark (rounding up Marshawn Lynchs 169 fantasy points in 2007). Using per-game production -- limiting the sample to having played at least eight games during their rookie campaign -- we find 12 backs qualify for the top-12 per-game threshold of 11.6 fantasy points per game.In a PPR (point per reception) format, just 12 rookie backs since 2006 have produced at least 206 fantasy points (the milestone for a PPR RB1 season over the past decade), again proving generous with the inclusion of both LeVeon Bells and Giovani Bernards 2013 efforts that resulted in 205 PPR points for each. Using per-game production, 13 backs since 2006 have met the requirement (14.3 FP/G) for a top-12 PPR finish.Rookie RB2 campaignsFor the top-24 tier, we find 12 tailbacks since 2006 have scored between 125 and 170 fantasy points -- the realistic range for an RB2 finish -- over the past decade (13 met the per-game mark of 9.1 to 11.6 points per game). Adding these tiers together, we find 25 backs have produced a top-24 fantasy season at the position in standard leagues over the past decade.In PPR formats, 10 backs over the past 10 seasons have produced RB2 results -- between 157 and 205 fantasy points -- and nine have met the per-game requirements for RB2 consideration, averaging at least 11 PPR points. This means 22 rookie backs have totaled top-24 efforts in PPR formats over the past decade, expanding to 24 using the per-game confines of the study.SSince 2006, 255 rookie running backs have appeared in at least four games during their inaugural pro season, thus we find just less than 1 percent of such rookies have produced RB2-worthy efforts over this sample.dddddddddddd.Rookie RB3 effortsThe group understandably expands as we lower the bar for fantasy production, as 20 rookie backs have totaled between 92 and 125 standard fantasy points since 2006, the range for RB3 production. The sample grows to 24 backs when looking at point totals in PPR formats over the past decade. When it comes to per-game production, 19 rookie backs have averaged RB3 production in standard scoring formats since 2006, which expands to 20 backs using a PPR key.Looking ahead to 2016Last season saw the Cardinals David Johnson and the Rams Todd Gurley lead fantasy teams to glory, while respectable stretches from the likes of Jeremy Langford, Matt Jones, T.J. Yeldon, Buck Allen, Duke Johnson and Thomas Rawls didnt go unnoticed. With a new crop to study, identifying the top talents in this 2016 class could prove profitable come December.Referencing the table above, weve compiled this years rookie class with ESPNs current fantasy football projections for 2016. Based on the research above, we have Ezekiel Elliott projected for a surefire RB1 campaign in both standard and PPR formats (more on him below).The Titans Derrick Henry is projected within 10 percent of the RB2 tier using standard scoring, while Jordan Howard, C.J. Prosise, Kenyan Drake, Kenneth Dixon and Tyler Ervin are set to achieve or come close to RB3-worthy production this season; all of them are within 22 percent of the RB3 scoring threshold.My personal favorites of this rookie possible RB3 tier would be Dixon and Howard, as I find the depth charts in both Baltimore and Chicago realistically scalable. Dixon has some LeSean McCoy to his game in both negative and positive regards; in that he can get stuffed at the line with some regularity, but then again, he also flashes Shadys rare ability to induce missed tackles from opponents. Of the Ravens trio of backs in Marc Trestmans space-friendly system, Ill take shares of Dixon. As for Howard, hes a between-the-tackles force compared to Langfords more reception-friendly skill set, so meaningful early-down work could come sooner than later for the bruising Hoosier.The key 2016 rookie asset to evaluate is surely Zeke, as the Cowboys top pick is currently going fifth on average at the position and in firmly the first round overall in ESPN drafts so far this summer. Our projection for Elliott this season, powered by the ever-accurate Mike Clay, has him set for the fourth-most carries in the league, with roughly 280. Fittingly, Brett Jepsen of the teams website has Elliott projected for 280-300 carries this season.Elliott is also projected for the 11th-most catches at the position, with 51, netting him the fourth-most projected yards from scrimmage (1,673) among all players at the position. Converting this gaudy expected workload into fantasy numbers, were projecting Elliott for the fourth-most fantasy points at the position in both standard and PPR formats.From Week 6 on last season, when he began to receive feature work, the Cowboys Darren McFadden averaged 107.8 yards per game, the most in the league over the final 12 weeks of the season. The Rams remarkable rookie, Gurley, rushed for just 17 more yards than McFadden on 10 fewer attempts last season. Which is to say, Dallas vaunted run-blocking line helped McFadden, in his eighth season, keep pace with the leagues elite talents at the position.Nine rookie running backs have been afforded at least 250 rushing attempts since 2006, with eight of these efforts resulting in RB1 production (at least 170 standard fantasy points). Of those nine rookie workhorse campaigns, six earned at least 40 targets and 260 receiving yards. This select six averaged 210 standard and 259 PPR points -- good for RB1 production in each of the past 10 seasons -- thanks to such voluminous workloads.Opportunity is a monumental influence for fantasy success with rookie running backs. We are banking on Elliott to join Doug Martin and Matt Forte in fantasy lore with a top-five finish at the position as a freshman thanks to such a hefty workload. Meanwhile, savvy shares of his draft peers also could pay off given the trends weve witnessed at the position over the past decade. ' ' '