Attempting to run this pool in a timely fashion has gotten tougher and tougher each year. And the worst part is that I keep coming up with ideas that I believe will make this pool even better. Will this blog help me run this pool more efficiently, especially when I'm in Vegas next week? Absolutely. Have I gotten the hang of going from picks entered online to picks entered in my spreadsheet? No. That part still takes a ton of time. And with a busy Friday and a travel day yesterday, it took until today to complete the bracket transfers.
The good news? It's finally done! So I will soon be providing you with a link where you can track the up-to-date standings in the two pools. But first I need to catch up on all the action that has taken place so far. When I last left off, we were through the afternoon games on Day 1. The first afternoon was filled with upsets and close finishes. The first evening would not disappoint either. Each of the two sessions would feature two nail biters.
The early evening session would start off with the first appearance of a #1 seed in the tournament. The Villanova Wildcats were given the #2 overall seed and would be opening up against Lafayette. This would not be one of the nail biters. Nova came out and put up 49 points in the first half while opening up a 23-point lead. They nearly matched that production in the second half, as Lafayette could not contain the Wildcats offense at all. Villanova picked up their 33rd win of the year in a 41-point blowout. The next two games would finish regulation simultaneously, which was a shame because it would have been nice to see both live. In the game that looked like it would finish first, Cincinnati and Purdue were playing for the right to get stomped on by Kentucky in the next round. This was a wild game where both teams were sprinting up and down the court and firing up all sorts of crazy shots. The result was a tight game for most of the second half. The Boilermakers looked like they had solved the Bearcats as time wound down, grabbing a 7-point lead with 48 seconds left. But if there is one certainty in March Madness, it is that no single-digit lead is ever safe. Cincinnati hit a quick three, got a steal, made a layup, and it was back to a 2-point lead in the blink of an eye. The margin was still two when the Bearcats tried to prolong their season:
http://www.sportsgrid.com/ncaa-basketball/well-this-is-one-most-dramatic-buzzer-beating-lay-ups-youll-ever-see/
The friendly roll would give us our second OT game of the tournament. The two teams traded baskets early in the extra session, but then everyone went cold. Cincinnati led by 3 until the Boilermakers closed the gap to 1 with 9 seconds left. The Bearcats would miss the front end of a 1-and-1 giving Purdue a chance for the win, but the Boilermakers could not convert. Cincinnati advanced with a 66-65 victory.
While Cincinnati was racing down the court to send their game into overtime, Harvard was trying to pull off a major upset for the second straight year. It didn't look very good for the Crimson early on, as North Carolina opened up a 14 point lead in the first half. That lead was still 11 at the intermission, but the second half would be a whole new story. After the Tar Heels extended their lead to 16, Harvard clamped down on the defensive end, holding North Carolina to 8 points over the next 12 minutes. That brought the lead down to 1. After a Tar Heels three-pointer seemed to set things right for North Carolina, the Crimson surge continued, as a 4-point play gave Harvard a two-point lead with 1:17 left. North Carolina stuck with their game plan and took back the lead with 23 seconds left. Harvard fell in love with the three-pointer late, and after getting one last chance when the Tar Heels missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 11 seconds left, the Crimson could not hit a game-winning three at the buzzer. North Carolina survived with a 67-65 victory.
In the last game of the early session, popular upset pick Stephen F. Austin had a dismal first half against Utah. One of the top 10 scoring teams in the nation, the Lumberjacks could only muster 19 points in the first half. Utah held them at bay for most of the second half. The Lumberjacks did close to within 2 late, but the Utes knocked down their free throws, ending any chance for the upset. Utah moved on with a 57-50 victory.
In the final set of games, Kentucky continued their dominance, moving to 35-0, overwhelming Hampton by 23 points. Georgetown pulled away from Eastern Washington early in the second half and won by 10 in a game that wasn't really as close as the score would indicate. Arkansas was facing Wofford in a #5 vs #12 matchup that has become the go-to source for upsets when people fill out their brackets. These teams were very evenly matched, as neither team could pull away from the other with the lead changing back and forth frequently. The game was tied with two minutes to go, but like Harvard, Wofford fell in love with the three-pointer late. Arkansas was up three in the final seconds, but the Terriers got two very clean looks at a tying basket. Neither would fall though, and the Razorbacks moved on for a date with North Carolina on Saturday.
That left one game and that game involved the Pack. I admittedly hadn't watched LSU play this year, but all the pundits said they were a bad matchup for the Pack, so I was not thrilled to watch the parade of dunks that were thrown down during a first half in which NC State seemed to have no energy at all. The halftime deficit was 14 and things did not look good. A first round exit seemed in order once again. What I did not know about LSU, though, was that they were essentially the SEC version of the Pack, blowing all sorts of leads during the year. With 9 minutes left, the margin was still 14. That's when the Pack started showing signs of life. Or more accurately, that's when the Tigers showed signs of choking. There were turnovers. And forced shots. And missed free throws. It was all reminiscent of...how NC State lost their first round game last year. As a fan who almost never feels optimistic about my team's chances, the sense of deja vu surrounding this collapse made me sit a little taller in my seat. We could win this game. LSU kept going to the line and missing. NC State had 4 or 5 chances to tie the game, but couldn't convert. Come on!! This was ours to win all of a sudden. A Beejay Anya tip in trimmed the lead to one with 44 seconds left. After getting a stop at the other end, the Pack had a chance to win. With 13 seconds to go, NC State ran...what the heck is this play?? After bumping into one another, the ball ended up in Anya's hands again. The big man didn't hesitate and this happened:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25115043/watch-beejay-anyas-game-winner-after-lsu-goes-cold-when-it-counts
After years and years of watching heartbreaking choke jobs by the Pack, they were finally on the right side of things. Anya's winning shot with 0.1 seconds remaining meant I had at least two more days to root for the Pack this season.
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