March Madness 2022 - Roller Coaster, No Love

Sometimes the championship game ends up being a dud.  That was the case last year when Gonzaga emptied the tank to survive their semifinal matchup with UCLA and had nothing left for the Baylor Bears.  Then there have been the iconic games that came down to a winning shot in the waning seconds, like Michael Jordan's jumper to lead North Carolina over Georgetown or Keith Smart's almost identical shot to lead Indiana over Syracuse.  We've had championships decided by near buzzer-beaters (Gordon Hayward's half-court heave that nearly knocked off Duke) and actual buzzer-beaters (Kris Jenkins nailing a three to elevate Villanova over North Carolina).  But in all of the national championship games I've ever watched, I'm not sure one has ever had as many wild swings as the one that was played on Monday night.  And despite each team trading haymakers for 40 minutes, it still came down to one final shot.

The beginning of this one had a familiar look.  When St. Peter's had run out of gas, they fell behind 9-0 quickly to North Carolina.  Villanova came into the Final Four without one of their key players and found themselves in a 10-0 hole to Kansas before they knew what hit them.  And after an emotional game where they beat their arch rivals and ended the storied career of Coach K, it appeared that North Carolina may have sleepwalked on to the court in this tilt vs. Kansas.  The Jayhawks were full of energy from the opening tip, rushing out to a 7-0 lead as the Tar Heels tried to get their bearings.  Part of the early adversity was physical for North Carolina.  The best player in this year's tournament, double-double machine Armando Bacot, had injured his ankle late in the victory over Duke and he looked to be moving a little gingerly during the first few possessions.  Brady Manek, the only player whose age was also his jersey number, got hit in the head multiple times early in the first half, needing to be checked out for a concussion at one point.  The physical maladies would be a hard luck theme for North Carolina throughout this game.

Despite getting beaten up and starting slow, the Tar Heels were not about to give in.  They scored 12 of the next 16 to grab their first lead.  Over the next few minutes, we would have one of the few periods of level action between the teams as they traded buckets, leading to a deadlocked score of 22 all.  But then came the best in-game sideline interview of all time.  Tracy Wolfson pulled Hubert Davis away from his team for a few moments during a timeout and we got to experience some television magic.  Wolfson barely got her question out before Davis blurted out "IT'S LIVE ACTION!"  And if you think I'm exaggerating by going all caps on that one, you must go find this interview online somewhere.  Davis had gone full Ric Flair and Wolfson just gave up on asking questions and let the Tar Heels coach have his moment.  He must have brought that intensity over to the team for the remainder of the timeout, because they came out playing with that same fervor.  North Carolina would score the next 16 points of the game and suddenly we had gone from "Kansas might run away with this" early on to "Kansas might be done" before we had reached halftime.  The Jayhawks looked completely confused on the offensive end, while North Carolina was getting whatever they wanted when they had the ball.  Even when the Tar Heels missed, it seemed like Bacot was there to get the offensive rebound to keep the possession alive.  Bacot would set a tournament record with his 6th double-double, an accomplishment he would nail down before the half.  When the buzzer sounded to end the first 20 minutes, the score was 40-25 in favor of the Tar Heels.  It would take a historic comeback if Kansas was going to cut down the nets at the end of the night.

Quick tangent: my love for March Madness may have grown over the years because the NBA has become so unwatchable (personal opinion).  Every now and then I'll turn on an NBA game, but it usually isn't very long before I become bored and switch to something else.  There is still one thing I really do enjoy about the NBA though and that is the halftime and post-game show with Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.  And since TNT and TBS are part of the family of networks that cover March Madness, those two were on the desk for the Final Four.  If you watched the Final Four on Saturday night, you may have heard Chuck guaranteeing a Kansas title before the North Carolina-Duke game even tipped off.  You also might have sensed the dread on Chuck's face as Kenny's alma mater won the second semifinal, meaning he was one game away from having to hear the Jet brag about his team for the next 12 months.  And with Kansas down 15 at the break, Chuck was not shy about critiquing Coach Self's game plan.  "What the hell are they doing?", Chuck asked repeatedly, calling the game plan "dumb".  Kansas needed to pick up the pace and stop running a slow half-court offense through their big man as they had done in their victory against Villanova.  North Carolina didn't have a bunch of little guys like Villanova, so that strategy wasn't gonna work.  Chuck pleaded for the Jayhawks to come out in the second half with the intention to run and gun.  I know that the Tar Heels didn't hear Coach Davis's sideline interview, but it seemed like it had an effect on them.  By the same token, I know the Jayhawks didn't hear Chuck's halftime advice, but you would have thought he gave that speech in their locker room when you saw how the second half started.

The tempo of Kansas's offense went way up after intermission.  They were driving to the hoop with a purpose.  They were boxing out on the defensive end, limiting Bacot's offensive rebounds, and setting up their transition offense.  North Carolina was flat coming out of the locker room.  The Jayhawks kept chipping away at the lead.  Then it was tied.  Then they had the lead.  Soon after Kansas went on top, they stole the ball and got an easy three-point play to extend their advantage to 6.  The Tar Heels were getting a standing 8 count and showing little indication that they could keep going in this fight.  It was a 31-10 run to open the half and Kansas led 56-50.

After a timeout, North Carolina returned to the court bloodied but not beaten, although there was more physical adversity on the way for them.  Their top shooter, Caleb Love, would twist his ankle while cutting to the hoop and looked unable to run at full speed, but Kansas would not be able to take advantage.  Instead, the Tar Heels looked to other options for scoring.  First, it was RJ Davis.  Then it was the Puff Johnson show.  The Carolina reserve who hadn't logged a lot of minutes played like a man possessed.  And then all of a sudden he looked like he had the fitness of that 7'3" dude from Purdue.  After a frantic sequence where both teams sprinted up and down the court trading baskets, Kansas's Ochai Agbaji pointed towards a stricken Puff Johnson and the refs stopped the game.  Johnson was on his knees vomiting on the court.  He reached at his chest a couple of times, which raised alarm bells that something more serious might be happening, but it turned out that the pace of play combined with a shot to the stomach led to Johnson's One Nauseous Moment.  Once again, the Tar Heels would have to change course in order to keep their national championship hopes alive.

With the game tied at 65 and about three minutes to go, the teams kept trading blows.  A Remy Martin three put Kansas up 68-65, but North Carolina responded with a layup and a tip-in on an offensive rebound to lead by 1.  The Jayhawks would miss on the other end, but convert on an offensive rebound of their own to move back in front.  And then came the final, most cruel injury to the Tar Heels.  Down 1, they trusted their fate in Armando Bacot.  He made a move to the hoop, but collapsed to the floor as his ankle, which had held up for 39 minutes of game time, finally gave out.  Kansas snapped up the loose ball and could have taken advantage of a 5-on-4 situation, but they were more interested in running clock than taking a 3 point lead.  As a result, Bacot had time to hop down the floor on one leg, where officials were finally able to call a timeout to address his injury.  With Bacot out of the game, Kansas smartly dumped the ball back inside as the Bacot-less Tar Heels had become Villanova-esque.  Jayhawk big man David McCormack rose up and hit a short jumper with 22 seconds left to put Kansas up 3.

North Carolina came down the court with every intent to tie the game with a 3 and you knew who would be shooting it.  Caleb Love got the ball and launched from beyond the arc, but he couldn't convert this time.  Another offensive rebound for the Tar Heels led to a Puff Johnson attempt from downtown, but his shot missed and the ball went out of bounds to Kansas with less than 5 seconds to play.  That seemed like the clincher.  The Jayhawks just needed to get the ball inbounds, have North Carolina foul them, and make their free throws.  Even if they missed the 1-and-1, the Tar Heels would be hard pressed to tie the game in less than 4 seconds.  Kansas would likely foul them before they could attempt a game-tying three.

But in a game full of wild swings, there were more unexpected plays to be had, even in those last 5 seconds.  Kansas was able to inbound the ball, but DaJuan Harris Jr. inexplicably ran out of bounds as soon as he caught it, not only turning the ball over with almost no time coming off the clock, but giving the Tar Heels the ball down at their offensive end of the court.  It was "Chris Webber calling a timeout he didn't have"-level dumb.  That being said, the Tar Heels were still up against it.  There was simply no way that Kansas was going to let them get off a tying three.  Even with a foul, North Carolina would have to make the first free throw, intentionally miss the second, get an offensive rebound without the guy who snagged all of their rebounds for them, and then score within 4 seconds.  And Kansas wasn't going to make two boneheaded plays in a row with the title on the line.  Right?  RIGHT?!?!

Somehow they did.  Not only did the Jayhawks not foul, they let the Tar Heels inbound the ball to their best shooter, Caleb Love, who would get an opportunity at one more magical shot for his tournament highlight reel, this one to send the national championship to overtime.  He didn't get the cleanest look and his final prayer would find nothing but air.  Kansas did everything they could to blow this one late, but the Jayhawks are your new national champions, outlasting a gritty North Carolina squad by a score of 72-69.

And with that result, I am happy to announce the winners of this year's pools.  Only one bracket had the Jayhawks winning it all, and with that result, Yarmela is the champion of the 2022 Main Pool.  Vince takes the runner-up spot, while Chubbs takes 3rd.  There were no brackets with Kansas on top in the Gamblers Pool, so Vince grabs top honors there.  The only thing to decide was who would be second: Tiny or Dwight?  Tiny went with a total final score of 140 in the championship game.  Dwight went slightly higher with a guess of 142.  And because the Madness never disappoints, we had a total score of 141, resulting in our first ever tie.  All results from this year's pool can be found here.

That's it for this year's March Madness.  I hope you stuck around for One Shining Moment, which was awesome as always.  The Indiana cheerleader, the crying Tennessee player, and the St. Peter's Peacocks were prominently featured.  Because of all the Coach K stuff on Saturday night, I forgot to predict that there would be a lot of him in the montage, but there deservedly was.  The only miss was the shirtless Kelvin Sampson celebration.  For some reason, other tamer locker room celebrations were shown.  Boooo!

Thanks to everyone for playing!  Wishing you and your families a happy and healthy 2022!

March Madness 2022 - Ca-ro-li-na, Ca-ro-li-na, Coach K-hey, good-bye

It is pretty rare that we get to the Championship game and still have things to decide in both pools, but that will be the case this year.  In the Main Pool, Yarmela will be rooting for Kansas to cut down the nets and elevate her to the top spot, but if they lose, Vince will win both pools.  That is because Vince is the newest champ of the Gamblers Pool.  A tiebreaker will be needed to decide second and third place.  If the total score is less than 141, Tiny is the runner up.  A total score over 141 points gives Dwight the silver medal.  The standings can be found here.

In our first national semifinal, we had an undersized team from the Northeast wearing dark blue uniforms that fell way behind quickly.  Did the St. Peter's Peacocks crash the Final Four?  Nope, it was actually the Villanova Wildcats who found themselves down 10-0 in the first two and a half minutes of the game.  It would actually get worse from there as Kansas took a 38-19 lead with five minutes to go in the first half.  Was there a Jayhawk with a huge number of rebounds that I could follow in the second half?  This eerily felt like North Carolina - St. Peter's part two, except Villanova wasn't a 15 seed.

The Wildcats championship fight was on display from that moment forward though.  Villanova would score the next 10 points to trim the lead to single digits.  The deficit would be 11 at the break, but at least the Wildcats had planted a seed of doubt in the heads of the Kansas players that this thing wasn't over.  Even when the Jayhawks extended the lead to 16 early in the second half, Jay Wright's players let it be known that they would not be sent packing quietly.  They kept scrapping and chipping away, getting within 6 with more than six minutes left to play.  But that would end up being as close as they would get.  The dagger would come with 4 minutes to go.  Kansas was up 9 and the shot clock was about to hit zero when Christian Braun nailed a three to effectively clinch the Jayhawks spot in Monday's title game.  Kansas was probably the least heralded of the #1 seeds coming into the tournament, but they'll be the ones playing for it all.  The Jayhawks defeat a resilient Villanova squad by a score of 81-65.

National semifinal #2 was the marquee matchup because it featured the sport's biggest rivalry on a stage they had never played on before.  Duke and North Carolina is typically must see TV, but they had never met in the NCAA tournament, much less the Final Four.  And with this being Coach K's final season, there was somehow one more layer of intrigue added to this game.  Duke was seeking revenge as the Tar Heels had ruined Coach K's last home game by blowing them out in Durham a few weeks ago.  Duke had been the most clutch team in the tournament so far, while an argument could be made that North Carolina had been the most impressive through 4 rounds.  Something would have to give and this game would not disappoint in terms of drama.

It was back and forth from the opening tip, but North Carolina looked like they might have an early advantage when the ref's whistle kept going against Duke in the beginning of the game.  The Blue Devils would be called for the first 6 fouls in this one, including 2 against their best big man, Mark Williams.  That would land him on the bench for the rest of the half.  His replacement, Theo John, would remarkably pick up 4 fouls before intermission, something you almost never see in college basketball.  Despite encountering some incredibly rare foul trouble, Duke managed to lead after 20 minutes by a score of 37-34.

The second half would be even more frantic.  As was the case with Duke's game with Texas Tech, the Blue Devils emerged from the locker room displaying much more aggression than they had in the opening half, extending their lead to 7.  But North Carolina would respond with the biggest run of the night.  The Tar Heels scored the next 13 points to leap ahead by 6.  There wouldn't be much separation the rest of the way.  During the last 7 minutes of this contest, there would be 10 lead changes.  Both squads seemed determined not to let their season end at the hands of their hated rival.  A three on one end would be answered by a trey from the other team.  It became a matter of who would blink first.  And the blink wouldn't happen on a missed three or a blocked layup.  It would actually happen at the foul line.

With Duke up 1 and just over a minute to go, Carolina's RJ Davis drove to the hoop and was fouled.  He stepped to the line and calmly sank two free throws.  In this seemingly never ending game of tit-for-tat, it only made sense that Duke would get fouled on a drive to the hoop.  The Blue Devils had a chance to take the lead, and perhaps most importantly, it had eliminated one of North Carolina's key players from the game.  Armando Bacot had more than 20 rebounds for the second consecutive game, even shrugging off a rolled ankle that had occurred with about 5 minutes to go.  But the rules say you can't shrug off your 5th personal foul, so Bacot had to take a seat.  If this game went to overtime, the Tar Heels were going to have their hands full defending Duke's big men and getting rebounds without Bacot.  To the free throw stepped Mark Williams, and he would be the one who blinked.  The first free throw was long, the second free throw short.  North Carolina had possession of the ball, a 1 point lead, and only 47 seconds remained.

Many teams would run down as much of the 30 second shot clock as they could in this situation, eventually leaving themselves with a horrible forced shot, but the Tar Heels played it smart.  They certainly didn't rush into their offense, but when their best shooter, Caleb Love, found some space at the top of the key, he didn't hesitate to hoist up a three.  And it was pure.  Carolina was up 4 with less than 28 seconds to go and Duke had no timeouts.  Suddenly, you could sense that Duke was in huge trouble.  To their credit, they rushed down the court and got an easy drive to the hoop to bring the deficit back down to 2, but they would be forced to put Love on the line.  Love made the first, but he missed the second, suddenly giving Duke life again.  As the Blue Devils ran their offense to set up a game tying three, North Carolina accidentally fouled them.  How do I know it was an accident?  Because it almost resulted in a three-point play that could have tied the game.  Trevor Keels went to the line and sank the first, missed the second.  Was the miss intentional?  Nope.  How do I know?  Because there was no one in the neighborhood of the rebound.  Each team had made the first free throw, missed the second, and tit-for-tat had officially been restored with the two missed free throws by Williams being the only blip along the way.  That was one extremely costly blip though.  Love would get sent to the line again and he wouldn't miss this time, putting North Carolina up 4 with only 8 seconds left.  Duke would miss one final three pointer and that was it.  I've never known college basketball without Coach K, but one of the greatest coaching eras in sports has now come to a close.  North Carolina moves on to play Kansas for the title after ousting the team they (and many others) hate the most.  The Tar Heels defeat Duke by a score of 81-77.

One game left and the focus will shift from Coach K to Roy Williams, who isn't coaching either of the teams in the title game, but he had long stints with each of them (15 years with Kansas, 18 years with North Carolina).  Prepare for lots of shots of him in the stands where he will most definitely be clad in Carolina powder blue (where he won three titles).  It should be an excellent national championship game followed by a wonderful One Shining Moment featuring a shirtless Kelvin Sampson celebrating, the crying Tennessee player being comforted by Juwan Howard, lots of St. Peter's highlights, and the cheerleaders who were able to get the basketballs stuck above the backboards.  Be sure to tune in Monday night!

March Madness 2022 - Double Digit Seeds, Double Digit Blowouts

Standings can be found here.  Scenarios for each pool will be found at the end of this one.  Don't worry, it's not a long read.

The allure of March Madness is that anything is possible.  It's not a 7 game series played between teams.  One game.  Typically on a neutral court.  Loser goes home.  And that setup works perfectly for the little guy.  Is St. Peter's beating Kentucky 4 out of 7 times?  Not a chance.  Would Kentucky ever visit St. Peter's for a game at Run Baby Run Arena?  Nope.  The big schools almost always hold sway in making the smaller schools come play in their packed house.  And who feels more pressure in a situation where the losing team is done for the year?  The team with all the expectations.  Add it all up and you have the perfect recipe for upsets.

These Cinderella stories are the best part of this event and sometimes, when we're lucky, it will last beyond one round.  Seeing a double-digit seed get to the Sweet 16 is always an awesome story.  But after going home for a few days and soaking up their newfound fame, it's tough for a team to show up at a new location the following weekend and win yet again.  St. Peter's was the magical story of a team that simply refused to lose.  And both they and Miami (who won their Sweet 16 Cinderella battle vs Iowa State) were now one step away from the biggest stage of all: the Final Four.

Miami would get their shot first, taking on #1 seed Kansas in the Midwest Regional Final.  The Hurricanes were only a 5 point underdog in this one despite being the #10 seed in the region.  They had played so well in the first three rounds that people were giving them a legit shot to take down the final #1 seed remaining.  Miami, like Houston, had spent very little time playing from behind in this tournament, so they would face the same acid test that the Cougars did.  Would they pass?  Not exactly.

Luckily for the Hurricanes, they did not fall behind right out of the gate like Houston did.  Miami played toe-to-toe with the top seed for most of the half before going on a late 9-2 run to establish a 6 point halftime edge.  That was the good news.  The bad news is that we were headed for the most lopsided 20 minutes of basketball in the tournament when the teams returned to the court.  The Jayhawks ended the talk of an upset quickly.  Within 4 minutes, the game was tied at 40.  And then over the last 16 minutes, Kansas would outscore the #10 seed by an outrageous 36-10 margin.  If the Jayhawk team we saw in the second half of this game shows up in New Orleans, everyone else is in big trouble.  Kansas ends Miami's Final Four hopes with a 76-50 thrashing, taking home the title of Midwest Region champs.

The last spot in New Orleans came down to your typical #8 vs #15 matchup.  The St. Peter's Peacocks had been the story of this tournament, making history with their win over Purdue on Friday night, becoming the first #15 seed to get to the Elite Eight.  There was a sense that this miraculous run had to end at some point, but if you looked at who they beat to get here, it was hard to imagine that they would be intimidated by anyone left in the field.  They took out Kentucky, one of the favorites to win this year's championship.  They took down Murray State, the team with the longest winning streak in the country.  And they took down Purdue, who spent nearly the entire year ranked in the top 10.  North Carolina was actually the lowest seeded team that they were facing in this incredible run.  Could pesky defense and clutch shooting get them a date with Duke in New Orleans?

No.  Just no.  The crowd was rocking as everyone was pumped to see St. Peter's make history again, but within 4 minutes, it felt like we were at a funeral.  Everything went wrong for the Peacocks early.  Soon it was 9-0 and coach Shaheen Holloway was forced to call a timeout.  It didn't get much better from there.  St. Peter's was able to drive to the hoop, but it seemed like they could never finish.  Meanwhile, the Tar Heels were playing fast and loose with their big lead.  At no point could the Peacocks truly put pressure on them in the way they had with their first three opponents.  The lead was 19 for North Carolina at the break and the most interesting part of the game was wondering how many rebounds Tar Heels big man Armando Bacot would end up with, as he had a ridiculous 15 at intermission (Answer: 22).

The second half was played mostly in silence, with the occasional dumb "Tar...Heels!" chant breaking out after a North Carolina dunk or made three.  No one expected a comeback.  We were all just watching the minutes tick down so that we could give a standing ovation when the players who made this magical run happen were pulled from the game.  That moment came with 1:21 left.  Both teams emptied their benches and the fanbases saluted their players.  But the extended loud ovation was for the Peacocks.  It will take a #15 seed getting to the Final Four to top the amazing story of St. Peter's in the 2022 tournament.  The Peacocks head back to Jersey City, while the Tar Heels make plans for New Orleans to take on their nemesis Duke in one of the national semifinals.  North Carolina is your East Region champ, taking out the Peacocks by a score of 69-49.

Scenario time!  I'll list out the 8 remaining championship game scenarios and who will finish in the top 3 for each pool given those outcomes.  Drum roll please!

Main Pool:

• Duke def. Kansas: 1st - Andrew, 2nd - Yarmela, 3rd - Belden
• Duke def. Villanova: 1st - Vince, 2nd - Chubbs, 3rd - Scott P
• North Carolina def. Kansas: 1st - Vince, 2nd - Yarmela, 3rd - Chubbs
• North Carolina def. Villanova: 1st - Vince, 2nd - Chubbs, 3rd - Scott P
• Kansas def. Duke: 1st - Yarmela, 2nd - Scott P, 3rd - Vince
• Kansas def. North Carolina: 1st - Yarmela, 2nd - Vince, 3rd - Chubbs
• Villanova def. Duke: 1st - Vince, 2nd - John B, 3rd - Chubbs
• Villanova def. North Carolina: 1st - Vince, 2nd - Chubbs, 3rd - John B

Gambler Pool:

• Duke def. Kansas: 1st - Tiny, 2nd/3rd - Vince/John F (tiebreaker)
• Duke def. Villanova: 1st - Vince, 2nd - Tiny, 3rd - Nicola
• North Carolina def. Kansas: 1st - Vince, 2nd/3rd - Tiny/Dwight (tiebreaker)
• North Carolina def. Villanova: 1st - Vince, 2nd - Nicola, 3rd - Chubbs
• Kansas def. Duke: 1st - Tiny, 2nd - Vince, 3rd - Dwight
• Kansas def. North Carolina: 1st - Vince, 2nd/3rd - Tiny/Dwight (tiebreaker)
• Villanova def. Duke: 1st - Vince, 2nd - Nicola, 3rd - Tiny
• Villanova def. North Carolina: 1st - Vince, 2nd - Nicola, 3rd - Chubbs

That's all until Saturday!

March Madness 2022 - Deuces

Just five games left in this year's Madness after Saturday's action.  Less games means less possibilities and less possibilities means more clarity on who can win this year's pools.  You can find the current standings here.  Main Pool is down to five possible champs: Chubbs, Scott, Vince, Yarmela, or Andrew.  Gamblers Pool is down to two: either Vince or Tiny will take that crown.

Time to book some trips to New Orleans!  The South Regional was up first.  Villanova had gotten the bad end of the deal when it came to where they were playing their regional final.  It made sense for them to be in the East Region, but with the regional semifinals and finals slated for Philly, it would have been unfair to give the #2 seed home court advantage in a potential matchup against the #1 seed with a spot in the Final Four on the line.  (No, I'm not bitter that my beloved NC State women's basketball team lost a road game in double OT to UConn.  Why do you ask?).  Unfortunately for the Wildcats, every contingency doesn't get taken into account by the selection committee.  As the #2 seed, it was expected that Villanova would play in the South Regional Final, but the appearance of #5 Houston was a small surprise, given they would have to knock out higher seeds Illinois (#4) and Arizona (#1) along the way.  But the reward for taking down those opponents was that the Cougars would effectively get a home game in San Antonio in an attempt to advance to the Final Four for the second year in a row.  Sorry Villanova!

I mentioned in my recap of the Sweet 16 that Houston had spent almost no time playing from behind in this tournament and that it would be interesting to see how they would adapt should that scenario unfold.  We got to see that play out right from the opening tip in this game.  Villanova scored the first 5 points and it didn't take long for the lead to grow to 11.  Uncharted territory for the Cougars!  And if there was one team in this tournament that you didn't want to fall behind to, it's Villanova, as they are about to set an NCAA record for made free throw percentage in a season.  Houston would need to make up this deficit before they hit the final few minutes of the game to have any chance and they did a decent job of it.  They were only down 7 at the half.  They had drawn within 2 with just over 5 minutes left.  But the downfall for the Cougars in this game would be their inability to hit from deep.  They wound up a woeful 1 for 20 from three point land.  And this battle tested Villanova squad kept Houston from scoring inside late.  Unfortunately for Villanova, it wasn't all good news as the final seconds ticked off the clock.  The Wildcats were trying to run the clock down in the final minute when an incident happened that might affect their title chances.  Justin Moore, one of six players who routinely sees time on the court for Villanova, tore his achilles with 35 seconds to go.  He's done for the season, but his teammates are not.  #2 seed Villanova is the champion of the South Region, taking down Houston by a score of 50-44.

Even though I bet on horses regularly, I don't bet on sports very much.  I'm sure I could delude myself into believing that I had an edge, but my results in this pool over the years have kinda set me straight on how sharp (dull?) of a sports bettor I might be.  That being said, if there was one game I would have bet a lot of money on in this tournament, it was the West Regional Final between Duke and Arkansas.  And I would have let it ride on the Blue Devils.  Why?  Not because I believe there is some giant conspiracy to get Coach K a title in his final season.  There were two other reasons why I would have bet on Duke:

1. Arkansas just had this amazing high from taking out the #1 overall seed in the previous round.  Teams like that tend to have a bit of a letdown in their next game (Scott Brown will not let me call this a bounce).  Occasionally, a team like Arkansas will bump into another team coming in off of a similar situation and be able to find continued success.  But that wasn't the case with Duke.  Yes, they were happy that they survived their battle with Texas Tech, but they expected to win that game.
2. Arkansas was successful this season because of one specific strength that they had: free throw shooting.  Not just the ability to make free throws, but also the ability to get to the free throw line often.  No team shot more free throws than the Razorbacks this season.  In a game where a trip to the Final Four was on the line, what were the odds that Arkansas would get to the line more than Duke?  Zero.  Point.  Zero.

That's not to say that the refs swayed things in favor of Duke in this one.  I highly doubt you will ever see a game like North Carolina-Baylor where the refs didn't hide the fact at all that they were favoring the Bears.  Even Arkansas-Gonzaga had quite a few controversial whistles that impacted the game.  There was no controversy to be found in this one.  I'm just saying that if they played this game 100 times, Arkansas would shoot less free throws than Duke all 100 times.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The truth of the matter is that the Blue Devils were simply the better team in this matchup.  Duke held a small lead for most of the first half before scoring the last 8 points to take a 12 point margin into intermission.  In the second half, there was only one moment where Arkansas seemed to have a glimmer of hope.  They made a run to draw within 5, leading Coach K to call a timeout.  And say what you want about him (oh, I say plenty), but Coach K has been exceptional at drawing up plays for his teams out of the timeout.  Duke immediately scored, sparking a 19-6 run that put this game away.  The Razorbacks fall one step short of the Final Four for a second consecutive season as Duke heads to New Orleans.  The #2 seeded Blue Devils win the West Region with a 78-69 victory over Arkansas.

Two more spots available in New Orleans and I'll be back in Philly to see who comes out of the East.  Can a double-digit seed keep their Cinderella story going?  (Please let it be the Peacocks!). One more recap before the Final Four coming up.

March Madness 2022 - Pandemic Pandemonium

Bracket chaos was a given.  But pool chaos?  Before the Sweet 16, it wasn't looking particularly likely.  Now it's anyone's guess who will win either pool.  To see the current standings, click here.  There was one result on Friday night (come on, you know which one) that took Vince's big advantage in potential points away and brought everyone back into the fray.  Chubbs still leads the Main Pool by 1 with Vince and Scott right behind him, but it's time to start looking at some names further down the list who might swoop in and steal the crown.  Among them are several members of Scott's family.  Yarmela is hoping for Kansas to beat Duke in the title game, while Andrew likes Duke to beat Kansas.  And longtime participant John Baxindine has Villanova beating Duke for the championship.  Any of those outcomes would jump their respective brackets towards the top of the standings.  Vince remains on top of the Gamblers Pool, but the biggest threats are coming from Nate Heffner and Tiny Bellmore, who will both be Kansas fans for the next few games.

I went to the East Regional last night in Philly and before I recap the action there, along with what we saw from the Midwest Regional on the Jumbotron, I have to explain why I was even there.  Back in early 2020, my friend Lu was talking with me about going to the March Madness games being held in Albany, which is more or less my hometown (explaining where Rensselaer is never resonates with people).  He bought tickets and then, ya know, the pandemic.  No March Madness in 2020.  No March Madness with fans in 2021.  So the opportunity for replacement tickets wasn't available until this year.  The good news for Lu (being a Philly native) was that one of the regionals was taking place in Philly.  New tickets were procured, Lu invited me along, and that's how I ended up in section 207 of the Wells Fargo Center last night.  Instead of seeing 4 first round games in 2020, I had a seat to see St. Peter's try to rewrite history as the first 15 seed to get to the Elite Eight.

The Peacocks were playing in the first game of the night and the arena was buzzing.  If you haven't been to an NCAA regional before, you should know that each school gets a section of tickets.  In the far right corner from where our seats were, you could find the St. Peter's contingent.  To our near left was the Purdue rooting section.  There was also a conspicuously empty section to our near right that we assumed was for fashionably late UCLA fans (nope, that turned out to be the UNC section).  Aside from that section to the near left that was filled with black and gold clad Midwesterners, everyone else in the arena was rooting for the Peacocks, whether they had any affiliation to the school or not.  St. Peter's probably never imagined they'd have a home game in the Sweet 16, but that was basically how it turned out.

To me, it felt like there were two types of tension in the arena.  The first type was the "oh man, I really hope we get to see history" tension.  The second was the "oh man, I hope St. Peter's doesn't remember they're a 15 seed and lose this game by 30".  Early on, that second type of tension dominated.  Not because Purdue was blowing out the Peacocks.  It was more because the size differential between the two teams was so apparent.  When a 7'4" dude is on the floor, he makes the other teams' forwards look tiny.  And Purdue had a 7'4" dude.  The scariest part about the skyscraper named Zach Edey is that he is only 19 years old, so in theory, he might have some room to grow.  The Boilermakers made it clear that the early game plan was to dump it in to Edey and let St. Peter's try and figure out a way to stop this giant.  The Peacocks didn't have much success on that front.  The good news for St. Peter's was that Edey is apparently a no for cardio.  He came out at the first 4 minute break, made another appearance between the 2nd and 3rd TV timeouts and that was all we saw of him in the first half.  His replacement, Trevion Williams, was finding much less success in the post.  And St. Peter's very active guards were frustrating Purdue's best player, Jaden Ivey, out on the perimeter.  The first 20 minutes weren't all that pretty, but St. Peter's had dissipated the "lose by 30" tension from the arena.  They only trailed by 4 at the half.

It's hard not to notice the effect that St. Peter's aggressive defense has on their opponents.  They don't necessarily play a press against teams as they inbound the ball, but they play defense the entire length of the court.  That means an extra 4-5 seconds of pestering before the ball even crosses half court.  It frustrated Kentucky.  It frustrated Murray State.  And it clearly frustrated Purdue in the opening minutes of the second half.  The Boilermakers began to force passes and force shots.  It all resulted in empty trips.  Purdue didn't score for the first 6 minutes of half number two.  St. Peter's wasn't lighting up the scoreboard, but a 4 point deficit became a 4 point lead.  And the energy in the arena began to build.

With Edey a non-factor during his limited minutes early in the second half, Purdue turned back to Trevion Williams.  Williams clearly made some adjustments at halftime, because he became the Boilermakers' dominant player in the second half.  Shortly after Purdue's dry spell ended, Williams scored 8 in a row.  Boilermakers up 4 once again.  But the clock always favors the underdog because the longer they hang around, the more the pressure builds on the favorite.  After St. Peter's made a few threes, they regained the lead.  Purdue went back to Williams, who continued to have his way down low.  Purdue back in front, four minutes to go.  

By this point, the entire crowd was chanting "DEFENSE" on every Purdue possession.  We were trying to stay in our seats, but the "holy shit, this is really happening" vibe made everyone keep standing up during those last four minutes.  St. Peter's Daryl Banks III hit a jumper to tie it.  Then he hit another one to put the 15 seed back in front.  A foul by Williams after trying to rebound a layup he had missed gave the Peacocks two free throws, which they knocked down.  1:43 to go and it was a two possession game in favor of the underdogs.  The two teams traded free throws and a minute came off the clock.  20,000 fans screaming "DEFENSE" in unison.  Purdue missed a three, but got the putback.  Then they looked like they had St. Peter's trapped twice, but the Peacocks escaped both times, forcing a foul.  Could they keep making all of their free throws?  Banks made two more to keep the lead at 4 with only 14 seconds left.  This was really happening!

Purdue scrambled down the floor in desperation mode.  Ivey, their star player who had struggled all game, rushed down and pulled up for a three.  And of course he made it.  Lead down to 1.  Oh crap.  Don't mess this up Peacocks!  They got the ball in again and escaped the first attempt at a foul.  For a brief moment, it looked like they might run out the clock.  But the Boilermakers fouled new Buffalo Wild Wings pitch man, Doug Edert, with 4.1 to go.  He drained the first.  He drained the second.  Three point lead!  Purdue had no timeouts, so they couldn't call a play.  I figured that the Peacocks would employ their typical pressure on the ball and foul once the dribbler got near half court to prevent Purdue from taking a shot to tie it.  But for some reason, St. Peter's didn't even pressure the ball.  Ivey took the inbounds pass, dribbled straight up the middle of the court and launched it from the logo.  NOOOOO!  We were sitting behind the basket he was shooting at and the shot was definitely on line.  It hit the front of the rim, bounced up, and then it was hard to tell if it went in.  But when the crowd lost their minds a fraction of a second later, we knew that it didn't go in.  We had witnessed the unimaginable.  St. Peter's was the first 15 seed playing for a shot at the Final Four, having beaten Purdue by a score of 67-64.

It was party time in Philly!  We went to the bar closest to our seats to grab beers.  Honestly, the second game didn't even really matter at that point.  There was nothing that could happen that would be nearly as captivating as what we just saw.  But while we were enjoying our beers, we got to watch the end of the Kansas-Providence game.  During timeouts, they would show some of that game on the Jumbotron and what we saw of the first half was that the Friars couldn't score.  They only had 10 points with just over 4 minutes to go in the half and Kansas seemed to be cruising.  They were able to raise their total to 17 by intermission, but they still trailed by 9.  When the next update that we saw showed the Jayhawks up by 13, we all figured that Providence was done.  But during one of the last timeouts in the Purdue-St. Peter's game, Lu tapped me on the shoulder and said "Providence is only down 1".  The scoreboard in the arena showed them down by 7, but when I looked at my phone, they were really only down 1.  And in the next snippet on the Jumbotron, they were up 1.  Yes, more chaos!  6 minutes to go and the final #1 seed was trailing.  

Unfortunately, we all couldn't chant "DEFENSE" and have Providence hear us.  After what we had just witnessed, I was convinced that would have helped them.  Instead, Kansas went on a 10-2 run to put the game out of reach in the late stages.  One #1 seed is still hanging on.  The Jayhawks move on to the Midwest Regional Final with a 66-61 gut check victory over Providence.

Reluctantly, we headed back to our seats for the announcement of the lineups in game #2.  Normally a game between two of college basketball's powerhouse programs would generate a lot of excitement.  But the crowd was relatively dead for this one.  UCLA's fans never made much noise at all.  North Carolina's section was more vocal, but all they tend to do is repeat the world's worst chant over and over again.  Some folks yell "TAR", and then other folks yell "HEELS".  It's like a game of Marco Polo where you hope everyone drowns.

This game started off with much better action than we had seen with the Peacocks and the Boilermakers.  There was crisp offense and these teams were showcasing better athletes.  It was 10-8 in favor of the Tar Heels less than 4 minutes into the game.  This was gonna be a high scoring affair!  Or not.  It's funny how the people sitting near us were saying how superior this game was to the opener when both teams were scoring, but when both teams started missing a bunch of shots, there was silence.  For all of the offensive fireworks that were supposedly coming, the first half of this one ended with UCLA up 31-28 (game one was 33-29 at the half).

UCLA was pretty balanced offensively in the first half, but UNC got most of their points from ejected-in-round-two Brady Manek.  He would go cold in the second half, but the Tar Heels wouldn't need him to shoulder the offensive load.  That's because Caleb Love was about to go off.  Love had opened the scoring in the game with a 3, but that was all of his output in the first 20 minutes.  He made the first bucket for UNC in the second half and just kept on shooting.  In one stretch, he scored 12 straight for the Tar Heels.  That doesn't mean he wasn't missing.  He just seemed to be the only one shooting for North Carolina.  There were definitely a couple of wild heat check threes that were off the mark.  But without him, the Tar Heels would have been in deep trouble.  The Bruins were hanging around, continuing to get small contributions from everyone on the floor.  And when Love missed a couple, they found a way to go up by 4 again.  After two free throws by a Tar Heel not named Love, UNC got a stop and went back to an open Manek, held scoreless to this point in the 2nd half.  He nailed a three and momentum (and the lead) was back with North Carolina.  They led by a point with 4 minutes to go.

UCLA scored after the timeout and after three misses by the Tar Heels, the Bruins made another shot to go up three.  Then came the key possession of the game.  Desperate for scoring, UNC went back to Love and let him shoot a three.  The shot missed and the ball was headed out of bounds.  Armando Bacot of North Carolina dove out of bounds to save the ball and hurled it towards half court.  The ball landed in Love's hands and he didn't hesitate to fire again.  The second attempt was pure and the game was tied at 64.  UCLA came down and tried to respond with a three of their own, but it was off.  Back down the court came the Heels and you knew what to expect.  Love put up another trey and once again was rewarded.  It was still a one possession game, but that shot felt like the dagger.  The Bruins were denied one more time at the other end, North Carolina tipped in a missed shot to extend the lead to 5 and it was CU UCLA.  Love had gone from 3 points at the half to 30 for the game.  The buzzer sounded and North Carolina advan...wait!  The refs were desperate to leave their stamp on this game.  Both teams had shook hands and hugged it out, but the refs decided that a foul occurred with 0.4 seconds left and made both teams come down to the other end of the floor for meaningless free throws.  UNC made them both and UCLA began to walk off again.  The refs told them they had to inbound the ball and run the 0.4 seconds off the clock.  The Bruins complied with this dickishness, but they weren't happy about it.  Let's hope the refs aren't this awful the entire tournament.  North Carolina continues their march towards a Final Four duel with Duke after eliminating UCLA, 73-66.

Last game of the night was supposed to be the mandatory "sending a double-digit seed to the Elite Eight" game, but St. Peter's had already checked off that box.  Nevertheless, it was still cool to see two schools, both of whom weren't given much of a chance to go far when the tournament started, playing for a spot in a Regional Final.  Miami scored the first 7 of the game, Iowa State responded with the next 8, then Miami went on a 9-2 run.  Iowa State had the lead ever so briefly, but they would not see it again the rest of the game.  The Hurricanes only led by 3 at the half, but in the early minutes of the second half, it would grow to 8.  And then eventually it increased to 14.  That would turn out to be the final margin as Miami ends the Cyclones' feel-good story of going from 2 wins to the Sweet 16.  The ACC stays hot as they send three teams to the Elite Eight.  Miami will face Kansas in the Midwest Regional Final after taking down Iowa State by a score of 70-56.

We're down to the Elite Eight.  Can Coach K go all the way?  Will we get Duke-UNC in the Final Four?  Can the ultimate Cinderella make it all the way to the Final Four?  Two tickets will get punched on Saturday and two more on Sunday.  Enjoy the games!

March Madness 2022 - Buona Notae, Gonzaga

As you either watched last night (er, now two nights ago) or you are about to read here, we have officially reached maximum bracket chaos after last night's results.  If your bracket is still alive, it's on life support at best.  The standings after the first night of the Sweet 16 can be found here.  Chubbs still has a solid lead in the Main Pool, but Vince isn't far off the pace and has a boatload of potential points remaining.  Same could be said for Scott/Charlie Peerenboom, who sits in 4th.  In the Gamblers Pool, the standings are very bunched, but once again, Vince has a substantial lead on the rest of the field in terms of "bracket upside potential".

The first game of the night featured the #1 overall seed, Gonzaga.  Despite being fairly underwhelming in the opening two rounds, the Zags remained the Vegas favorite to cut down the nets.  The #1 team in the land wasn't getting a lot from their guards, forcing them to rely heavily on their talented big men, especially late in games.  If they could get more production out of their backcourt, they were going to be a tough out in this tournament.  Julian Strawther was the Zag guard struggling the most, as he had missed every three-pointer he had taken on the opening weekend.  About 5 minutes into the game against Arkansas, he made his first three-pointer of the tournament.  Would that get him going?  Not so much.  He wouldn't hit another one the rest of the way.  The Zag backcourt got a bunch of good looks throughout the first half against the Razorbacks, but they were ice cold from the field.  The story didn't change much in the second half, but the reason for the Zags futility was completely different.  During the first 20 minutes, the Zags played at the fast pace that they love and had wide open looks.  In the second half, their guards were hesitant to take open mid-range jumpers.  Meanwhile, Arkansas had done an excellent job slowing this game down.  And even though Gonzaga's big men would get going during the second half, the best player in this game was Arkansas's JD Notae.  He was a pest on the defensive end, while also orchestrating the Hogs offense.  He was throwing sharp passes that led to buckets.  He was stepping back and hitting jumpers.  And he was getting by defenders and attacking the hoop.  The most important instance of that happened with three and a half minutes to go.  Notae collided with Chet Holmgren as he attempted to score and the Zags heralded freshman was called for his 5th and final foul.  Arkansas had knocked out one of Gonzaga's legs and the #1 seed looked very wobbly with just Drew Timme to rely on.  The Razorbacks knew where the ball was going the rest of the way and refused to let Timme beat them.  For the second straight year, the Zags championship dreams fall short.  Arkansas pulls off the big upset, advancing to the West Regional Final by a score of 74-68.

The Zags-Razorbacks game started earlier than the Michigan-Villanova contest, but that first game was played at a slower pace, which meant that these two games would have some considerable overlap during their respective final minutes.  In fact, it looked like this game might end first as we hit the final minute.  The overlap made it difficult to capture everything going on in this game, but I did see a decent amount of it.  Nova looked like the stronger team in the first half, building a 7 point edge, but the Wolverines were out to show they weren't a one weekend fluke.  An 11-2 run gave them the lead back.  That would be the last real spurt from Michigan though as the Wildcats would take a 3 point lead into intermission and then held a 6-8 point lead for almost the entirety of the second half.  Jay Wright is leading his team on another deep run as Villanova makes the Elite Eight, courtesy of a 63-55 win over Michigan.

Without a doubt, the main storyline in this year's tournament is Coach K and his impending retirement.  Any game could be his last.  Michigan State had plans of putting him in more AT&T commercials, but the Blue Devils made sure that Coach K would at least make it to the second weekend.  Now it was the Red Raiders of Texas Tech who had designs of being the answer to the trivia question "who beat Coach K in his final game?"  And they came out red hot in this one.  In the blink of an eye, Texas Tech was up 10-2, the Blue Devils needed a timeout, and Coach K was in full scowl mode.  Out of the timeout, Duke quickly tied the game and we were off and running in one of the best played games of this year's tournament.  Both teams traded punches throughout the remainder of the first half.  Texas Tech was building a decent lead (7 points) as the first 20 minutes came to a close, but they gave up an easy three-point play in the waning seconds that seemed to give Duke some life as they headed to the locker room.  As the second half began, CBS reported that Coach K wanted his team to be much more aggressive in the final 20 minutes.  And aggressive they were.  The only problem for Duke was that the Red Raiders amped up their aggression as well.  Both teams were scoring at a much higher clip than they had been in the first half, but Texas Tech was still holding on to the slim lead they had at the break.  And then it happened.  

"BAH GAWD!  BAH GAWD!  THAT'S JIM BOEHEIM'S MUSIC!"

No, the Syracuse Orange were not in this year's tournament, but Boeheim has had oodles of success bringing mediocre teams into the Big Dance and then unleashing his 2-3 zone on opponents who weren't familiar with it, causing all sorts of problems.  Coach K decided that he would need to steal a trick from his rival's playbook to get his team a victory.  Almost immediately, Duke was able to cause turnovers and get back into the lead again.  The Red Raiders were quick learners though.  After a TV timeout, they came out and broke down the zone on several straight possessions.  And then after another timeout, they went one better.  Texas Tech has played excellent man-to-man defense all year, but they decided to surprise Duke with a zone of their own.  They got a turnover and scored.  Oh how the turn tables, Coach K!  Despite that strategic success, they went right back to man-to-man.  Maybe they accidentally played zone for a possession?  It was a strange sequence given how well the surprise had worked out for them.

Duke survived against Michigan State by making all of the big plays late, and as much as I hate them, they proved their mettle once again in this one.  Specifically, Jeremy Roach took control of the game and decided that he could not be stopped.  He drained clutch jumpers on consecutive possessions late as the Red Raiders failed to keep pace on their end.  By the time Texas Tech started scoring again, they were forced to foul and Duke made their free throws.  Coach K's got alligator blood, can't get rid of him.  He'll lead his team into battle with Arkansas for a spot in the Final Four after ousting a very tough Texas Tech squad by a score of 78-73.

Thankfully there was some separation between the two late games.  Coach K's possible finale was must-watch TV, but I did not want to miss Houston vs. Arizona, which promised to be a much closer matchup than the seeds might have suggested.  Arizona had barely escaped TCU in round two, while Houston barely broke a sweat during the first weekend.  The Cougars never trailed against UAB.  As the underdog against Illinois, they trailed for a mere 1 minute and 8 seconds.  It's possible that Houston could struggle if they ever fall behind for a considerable amount of time.  Luckily for them, that was a problem they would not have to address against the #2 overall team in the tournament.  Just as Gonzaga never seemed to figure out how to get out of their funk, Arizona looked like they hadn't recovered from being dazed by TCU.  Of course, having to face one of the nation's best defenses didn't help their cause.  Houston jumped out to a 14-4 lead and never looked back.  Arizona pulled within a bucket a few times in the second half, but the Cougars would never let the Wildcats poke their nose in front.  The #1 and #2 overall seeds bow out on the same evening as Houston heads to the South Regional Final with their 3rd consecutive double-digit win, besting Arizona by a score of 72-60.

So with only 12 teams remaining, the brackets look exactly as everyone expected:

Done dancing: Gonzaga, Arizona, Baylor, Kentucky, and Auburn

Still strutting: Miami, Iowa State, and St. Peter's

You have to love March!

March Madness 2022 - Tiny 10

Fully up to date standings!  Not much change in the Main Pool as Chubbs continues to try and string out the field.  He leads by 3 over Debra Peerenboom, who is 4 points ahead of third place.  In the Gamblers Pool, a couple of new faces are tied at the top.  Zags Super Fan Matt Brayko is tied with the only person I know with a Providence/Miami connection, Vince Berarducci.  Chubbs is just one point behind them.  Full standings can be found here.

With Day 2 providing little in the way of upsets, it was hard to find a Cinderella to root for when Friday's winning teams squared off in round two on Sunday.  Everyone playing was from a major conference.  But there was one amazing story among that group that wasn't receiving a lot of attention.  That story and that team will be highlighted in the late Sunday action.

The Saturday and Sunday schedules are always a little weird because they start off with single games and then build into a multi-game crescendo late at night.  I'm pretty sure this is so CBS can show some games and then keep their prime time schedule intact.  Whatever the reason may be, things can get boring if the early games don't deliver any drama.  Spoiler: these early games did not.  The first game on the schedule looked to be an evenly matched affair between 4-seed Illinois and 5-seed Houston, but the Cougars controlled this game from start to finish.  There were a couple of times when the Illini managed to draw even with Houston, but each time they did, the Cougars swatted them away as if they were an annoying mosquito at a picnic.  The last tie was at 40 points apiece, but Houston would pull away with a 28-13 run to end the game.  Not a good start to the day for the Big 10 and things were only going to get worse.  Houston moves on to play Kansas in the Sweet 16 with a 68-53 victory.

Ohio State would be the next Big 10 team to take the floor, but they fared worse than the Illini.  The Buckeyes were facing Big East tournament champ Villanova, a team that has become a force during March Madness after going through a long stretch where they couldn't make it out of the first weekend.  Now they seem to be perennial title contenders.  Nova hit a three, Ohio State hit a three, and that 3-3 deadlock would be the last time these teams would be tied.  Like Houston, Villanova would not fall behind the rest of the day.  The Buckeyes were able to get within 2 at one stage of the second half, but the Wildcats would score 11 of the last 14 in this game.  The Big 10 falls to 0-2 on Sunday as Villanova advances to play Michigan after a 71-61 win.

The highlight of the Sunday schedule was Duke vs. Michigan State.  Coach K was trying to keep his coaching career from careening into a cataclysmic catastrophe (sorry, once the alliteration gets rolling, it's hard to stop), while the Spartans were trying to show that the Big 10 doesn't suck.  There was a lot of hype going into this matchup and the game did not disappoint.  More than any other game so far this tournament, this contest seemed to have a genuine balance of strong offense and solid defense.  There wasn't a lot that came easy for either team, but when one squad began to fall behind, they seemed to buckle down, make a tough basket, and then come up with a stop on the defensive end.  More often than not, it was Sparty that was playing catch up, but a late 13-2 run put them in the lead by 5.  CBS's camera began frantically shifting over to Coach K and then his wife in the stands.  Would this be the end of an era?  Not yet.  The Blue Devils were the ones hitting contested shots and playing terrific defense in the last 5 minutes, rattling off a 20-6 run to close out the game.  Coach K has at least 40 more minutes of scowling left in him.  The Big 10 still sucks.  Duke wins by a score of 85-76.

Who was this mysterious Cinderella from a major conference that no one was talking about?  That would be the Iowa State Cyclones.  The 11 seed in the Midwest got into the tournament with a 20-12 record.  They finished 7th in the Big 12.  They lost by 31 to Texas Tech in their opening game of the Big 12 conference tournament.  What the heck was so special about them?  Well the Cyclones had made the Big Dance after being one of the absolute worst teams in all of college basketball last year.  Like even worse than NC State was this year.  Yeah, that bad.  Iowa State finished their 2021 season with a record of 2-21, putting up a goose egg in conference play, where they went 0-18.  Before this season, they were unanimously picked to finish last in the Big 12, which is just mean.  I get it if everyone thinks one team stands above the rest and they get unanimously picked to win a conference.  But for everyone to agree that your team is far and away the worst?  That's cold.  Suffice to say, that poll provided some fuel to this year's Iowa State team.  They were still under .500 in the league at 7-11, but going 13-1 outside of the conference schedule was enough to get them an at-large bid.  They also got a favorable draw when they faced an LSU team going through turmoil in round one.  The task would get much more difficult in round two as they were meeting up with 3-seed Wisconsin and a loud home crowd that willed them past upset-minded Colgate on Friday night.  What did the Cyclones have in their favor?  Two things.  First, Wisconsin was from the Big 10.  Second, the Badgers offense was, as Anna Delvey might say, "pua".

After a tight first half where Iowa State led by 1 at the break, the Cyclones put the pedal to the metal early in the second half, going on an 11-2 run to create some breathing room.  Wisconsin would not make it a one possession game the rest of the way.  Illinois, Ohio State, Michigan State, and now Wisconsin.  The Big 10 suckfest rolled on as they were a very 2021 Iowa State-like 0-4 on the day.  But the 2022 version of Iowa State men's basketball?  There's still living the dream.  From 2 wins to a berth in the Sweet 16, the Cyclones will be playing on the second weekend after a 54-49 triumph over Wisconsin.

If it was a surprise that the Big 10 was collapsing after sending 9 teams to this year's tournament, it was downright shocking that a beleaguered ACC was finding success despite only sending 5 teams, one of whom (Virginia Tech) had to steal a bid by making an unexpected run through the conference tournament.  And though Virginia Tech was sent off to never-never land in round one, the other 4 teams were all still alive.  North Carolina and Duke had punched their tickets to the Sweet 16, with Notre Dame and Miami hoping to join them.  The Irish were up first.  Still riding high from a double overtime thriller in the First Four and an upset of the Crimson Tide in round one, Notre Dame was now facing one of the best defensive teams in the country in Texas Tech.  Yes, that Texas Tech that beat Iowa State by 31 in the Big 12 conference tourney.  The Red Raiders would control the action for most of the first half in this one, but the Irish took momentum into the locker room, scoring the last 5 points of the half to only trail by 1.  It looked like things were going to play out the same way in the second half.  Texas Tech was the better team in the early minutes, establishing a 6 point lead again, but as the half wore on, Notre Dame hit their stride.  Would a First Four team make another deep run in the tournament?  It sure looked that way as Texas Tech was unable to make a basket over a 7 minute stretch, ceding the lead to the Irish.  Notre Dame led by 3 with two minutes to go.  The Red Raiders seemed out of options, so they kept pounding the ball inside and drawing fouls.  Texas Tech was ice cold with a hand in their faces, but they were pure from the free throw line.  They made 8 straight from the charity stripe, while the Irish couldn't generate any offense in their last few possessions.  It was a valiant run from Notre Dame, but it is Texas Tech that will be playing Duke next weekend in the Sweet 16.  Red Raiders win by a score of 59-53.

One ACC upset thwarted.  Could Auburn, a team that held on to the #1 ranking earlier in the season, fend off the last ACC challenge of the weekend, that of the Miami Hurricanes?  In a word: no.  Like the first two games of the day, one team grabbed the lead early and never let go of it.  The Tigers, who were on a bit of a downward trajectory coming into the tournament, were simply outplayed from start to finish.  They could not keep up with the intensity of this Miami team, who played like Baylor did in the last 10 minutes of their second half.  Except the Hurricanes played like that for 40 minutes.  Auburn was able to get within 1 at halftime, but the second half was total domination by Miami.  The Hurricanes romp by a score of 79-61, sending home the second #2 seed in this year's tournament.

Say it ain't so.  The Big 10 had a fifth team playing on Sunday?  Indeed they did.  Purdue was the conference's last hope to send a paltry two teams to the Sweet 16.  They were facing off against the Texas Longhorns.  Like Auburn, Purdue was a team who spent some time (albeit brief) as the #1 ranked squad in the land.  This Boilermaker squad had big expectations placed upon them as they were ranked #7 in the preseason.  That was actually two notches below Texas, so it was safe to say that both of these teams had underperformed this season.  The first half was all about runs.  The Longhorns opened with a 14-8 edge before Purdue scored the next 20 points in a row.  Texas countered with a 27-12 run that extended into the beginning of the second half.  Things settled down for about 10 minutes after that, but the Boilermakers had one last run in them.  A 13-4 push late in the game gave Purdue a 9 point lead that Texas was unable to overcome.  The Big 10 doesn't suck (completely)!  Purdue will try to avoid becoming St. Peter's next victim when they meet up in Philly next weekend.  Texas heads home after an 81-71 defeat.

Last game of the weekend and boy was it a doozy!  Drama, controversy, big buckets, a messed-up buzzer beater.  This game had it all.  TCU-Arizona had a little bit of a North Carolina-Baylor feel to it.  TCU, like North Carolina, was a considerable underdog, but they had played so well in their first round game that it made you think they had a better shot at the upset than you would have given them a week ago.  Arizona, unlike Baylor, was not about to be caught asleep at the wheel.  They weren't going to fall behind by 25 to anyone.  That being said, TCU was no pushover themselves.  These two teams went back-and-forth for the entire first half and about 10 minutes of the second half.  That was when the Wildcats went on a run, pushing their lead to 9.  The Horned Frogs had put up a good fight, but it felt like this talented Arizona team might be a little too much for them.  TCU hadn't scored from the field in almost 6 minutes of play.  So what did the Horned Frogs decide to do since they couldn't hit a shot?  They crashed the boards like crazy.  TCU continued to miss from the field, but they began getting 2-3 shots every possession, eventually turning offensive rebounds into points.  They were exerting their will on the #1 seed and Arizona began to look powerless in trying to stop them.  The Horned Frogs would score 12 in a row, taking a three point lead with under four minutes left.

At this point, Arizona followed the lead of Kentucky and Illinois from earlier this weekend: they desperately looked to their star player to save them.  And Bennedict Mathurin stepped up in that moment.  Still down three, he made a dunk to pull Arizona within 1 with about a minute to play.  TCU missed at the other end, but they converted yet another offensive rebound into an easy layup.  Three point lead, 35 seconds to go.  Would the weekend finish up with a monumental upset?  Not if Mathurin had any say in the matter.  TCU played really tough perimeter defense, but Mathurin found just enough space to rise up and hit a contested three to tie the game.  The Horned Frogs would get the last possession though.  Or so it seemed.  After Arizona called a timeout to set up their defense, TCU brought the ball up the court.  After crossing midcourt, the TCU player dribbled it near the sideline before two Arizona defenders converged on him.  As he tried to escape, he got perilously close to the midcourt line.  And then controversy ensued.  One of the Arizona defenders hip-checked the ball handler, sending him and the ball into the back court.  Was it a foul?  Was it a back court violation?  Somehow it was neither.  With the TCU player laying on the court and the ball bouncing towards Arizona's hoop, the Wildcats had victory in their sights.  There were no TCU players anywhere close to the Arizona's Dalen Terry, who scooped up the ball.  He had an open lane to the basket.  Just one problem.  Excited by the prospect of a game-winning dunk, Terry forgot about the clock.  As he went up to dunk the ball, the horn sounded.  Whether you thought TCU got screwed or saved, this game was headed to overtime.  (They totally got screwed.)

It was a 1 point lead for the Wildcats in the extra session when TCU's strength suddenly became a weakness.  Arizona missed a three pointer, but they were the ones who were able to snag an offensive rebound.  Then another one.  Then another one!  Eventually the ball made its way into the hands of Mathurin, who was able to finally put the ball in the hoop.  TCU tried to tie the game with a three, but they were off and with Arizona suddenly dominant on the boards, the Horned Frogs were one and done on this offensive trip.  Arizona ran clock and left it up to Mathurin to close things out with a three.  He missed, but TCU's rebounding prowess was a thing of the past.  Arizona's Christian Koloko came gliding through the lane, caught the rebound in mid-air, and thundered home a dunk to seal the victory.  For a while there, it looked very bleak for the Wildcats, but it's all about surviving and advancing.  Arizona moves on after an 85-80 victory over TCU.

That's it for opening weekend.  You'll have to find something to do until Thursday night, when the Sweet 16 begins with the West and South regions.  Until then...

March Madness 2022 - Return Of The MAAC

Day 3 standings?  You can find them here.  Mets super fan Chubbs has taken a big lead in the Main Pool after Day 3.  In the Gamblers Pool, he shares the top spot with Tommy King.  There are a host of pursuers not that far behind them though.

On to the second round action!  On Saturday afternoon, I got to experience something that I never thought would happen in my life.  As a lifelong NC State fan, I understood that there were basically two rules that I had to live by:

1. Hate Duke
2. Hate North Carolina

Everything else was pretty much optional.  But during the first game of the second round, I found myself in the completely unusual position of not only rooting for the Tar Heels, but screaming at the television in hopes that they would win.  Why?  Certainly not because of my bracket.  I picked Baylor to win the East Region and go to the Final Four.  To give this story it's proper background, we need to go back and look at the preceding two weeks...

When I thought about what I wanted to write in the opening e-mail for this year's tournament, I wanted to talk about a disturbing trend that I noticed while watching Championship Week.  And that trend involved how much the officials wanted to be part of the game, especially as it drew nearer to its conclusion.  Part of the problem is that nearly everything is up for review in the last two minutes of the game.  Should there be 3.4 seconds or 3.2 seconds left on the clock?  Let's take 10 minutes to figure it out.  Was there a hard foul?  Well gee, it must have been flagrant in some way.  Did someone swat the ball out of someone else's hands?  Let's go to super slo-mo and see if the ball grazed the fingernail of the guy who was holding the ball before it went out of bounds.  The point of these reviews is to correct obvious missed calls, but instead, refs were taking inconclusive replays and were going by what they "felt" was the right call, causing lengthy delays in the process.  There was one championship game in a league tourney where the announcer said something along the lines of "I'm not sure what they're looking at since this one is pretty obvious" and then the refs made the complete opposite call.  (The announcer was 100% correct by the way.)

That brings us to the opening game between Baylor and North Carolina.  The Tar Heels looked outstanding as they throttled Marquette in round one, but they were still fairly large underdogs to the reigning champs coming into this matchup.  Baylor would score the first 4 points, but then North Carolina took control of the game, going on a 24-6 run to open up a big lead.  The margin was 13 at the half.  When Brady Manek knocked down a three to extend the lead to 25 midway through the second half, you knew it was time to get the throne ready for a new national champ.  Then all hell broke loose.  Baylor had a player on their team named Jeremy Sochan who was basically playing the role of Dennis Rodman in this game.  As Baylor's hopes of repeating began to slip away, he began antagonizing North Carolina.  There was a moment where he got "tangled up" with a Tar Heel, then used his legs to clamp on the North Carolina player's foot while he tried to get up from the floor.  That earned him a Flagrant 1, but it certainly didn't dissuade him from keeping up these antics.  He'd be involved in three more moments like this before the game was over.

The second of these four incidents was where the game turned.  To be fair, Manek deserved what he got in this situation.  As Manek was boxing out, Sochan gave him a bit of a shove from behind.  Manek turned to see where Sochan was, then swung his elbow behind him as the ball bounced off the rim.  Manek hit Sochan in the head, Sochan went down, and the refs headed to the monitors.  Manek had 26 points in the game and North Carolina was on cruise control, but this boneheaded play was certain to change the momentum.  Manek was correctly assessed with a Flagrant 2 foul, which meant he could catch an early shower and watch the rest of the game from the locker room.  You knew this would inspire the Bears to make a run, but climbing out of a 25 point hole in 10 minutes seemed unlikely.  Baylor hit a few shots, North Carolina had a few turnovers, and the crowd started getting into it since they were playing in Texas.  All of that felt normal.  But then the refs sensed an opportunity to join in the fun and that is something that should never happen in a game, certainly not one of this magnitude.

North Carolina looked like they had never played against a press before and created a bunch of their own problems, but a press is definitely difficult to overcome when the defenders can just barrel into you over and over again without a foul being called.  Meanwhile, when the Tar Heels were on D, any hand check drew a whistle.  Baylor wasn't shooting the lights out to make this miraculous comeback happen.  It was 8-on-5.  North Carolina was having this game stolen from them and it was complete bullshit.  It was gross cheering for the Tar Heels and it still makes me a little queasy writing about it.  There was one stretch where 14 fouls were called by the refs, with 13 being on North Carolina.  On a normal day, this would have made me laugh hysterically.  But as I watched this theft unfold on Saturday, I was pissed.  And once the game headed to overtime at 80, I knew the Tar Heels were done.

Only somehow they were not.  They hit a three pointer to begin overtime and for some odd reason, Baylor pulled off the press that was essential to their miraculous comeback.  Were there still terrible calls?  Yes.  But as I mentioned before, it wasn't like Baylor was making a lot of shots.  The refs couldn't put the ball into the hoop for them.  The Bears shot 1 for 11 in the extra session.  Despite that, the refs were doing things like calling a ball out of bounds off of North Carolina when you didn't even need to see a replay to know that it hit off of each of the Baylor player's hands before going out.  Then when Baylor put up an airball with 9 seconds left and were down 5, there was another lengthy review as the refs tried to figure out any way to keep this charade going.  They had done their part, but Baylor hadn't done theirs.  Congrats to North Carolina (feeling nauseous again) on knocking out the defending champs and this embarrassment of a referee crew with a 93-86 victory in overtime.

One #1 seed was now gone.  Could we see a second one head to the exits in the next game?  At least with North Carolina, you could point to their 1st round game and come up with a reason to think that they might put up an effort worthy of taking down a #1 seed.  Creighton?  They were very lucky to survive round one.  And Kansas didn't break a sweat on Thursday.  This had all the makings of a second round rout.  But give credit to the Bluejays.  They didn't back down to the Jayhawks one bit.  At the half, they only trailed by 1.  In the second half, they responded to every Kansas run by knocking down threes.  And it wasn't like Creighton was a particularly good three-point shooting team.  They just happened to be on fire from downtown in this one.  They were still only down a point with a minute to go when they went to the well one too many times.  As they pushed the ball out beyond the arc for a three that would put them up two, a Kansas defender jumped into the passing lane, stealing the ball for a fast break that would extend the lead to 3.  Creighton would attack the basket the next time down the floor, but the Jayhawk defense made another big play, blocking the shot and ending the Bluejays' hopes.  Creighton would not score again as their season came to a close.  Kansas moves on to the Sweet 16 with a 79-72 victory.

The final #1 seed playing on Saturday wouldn't take the court until the very last game of the night, so we'd have to transition to a 3 vs 11 matchup next.  Most pundits on Selection Sunday felt that Tennessee did not get a high enough seed when they were placed on the 3 line despite winning the SEC tournament.  Based on the seedings of other teams who won that day, it was clear that the Selection Committee didn't put a lot of weight into the games that were decided on the day that the bracket was being announced.  The Vols couldn't have asked for a better draw though.  In round one, they faced Longwood, a 14 seed making their first appearance in the Madness.  In round two, they got 11th seeded Michigan, a team that was dealing with turmoil and injuries.  They had regrouped enough to overcome a 15 point deficit in round one against Colorado State, but this was definitely a step up in competition.  

Perhaps that comeback was a sign that the Wolverines were getting their mojo back though.  After all, this squad was ranked #6 in the nation in the preseason.  Michigan jumped out to a 10-2 lead and held the lead for most of the first half before the Vols showed their class by ending the first 20 minutes with a 13-2 run to go into the locker room with a 5 point edge.  Tennessee would still lead by 6 with under eight minutes to play, but the last two TV timeouts worth of game time belonged to the Wolverines.  Over the last eight minutes, they outscored the SEC champs by a 22-8 margin.  We have a double-digit seed headed to the Sweet 16!  Juwan Howard and Michigan can be found in San Antonio next weekend after a 76-68 upset.

The next two games featured 4 seeds who dominated their opponents.  The Richmond Spiders had made a gallant run through the Atlantic 10 tournament and used that momentum to upset Big 10 champ Iowa in round one.  But they ran out of steam against the regular season champs from the Big East.  Providence led by 15 at the half and the lead only got larger from there.  The Friars exterminated the Spiders by a score of 79-51 and now move on to face Kansas in the Sweet 16.  UCLA was expecting a tough West Coast battle when they took on 5th seed Saint Mary's, but the second best team from the West Coast Conference was no match for the second best team out of the Pac-12.  The Gaels did jump out to a 7 point lead early on and were able to trim a 7 point halftime deficit down to 1 a few minutes into the second half.  But the last 15 minutes of this game belonged to the Bruins.  UCLA's hopes for a national semifinal rematch with the WCC's top team remains alive after taking down Saint Mary's by a score of 72-56.

Game 6 out of 8 was a matchup of two of the smallest schools remaining.  Murray State has frequently come into the Big Dance as one of the best mid-majors in the country, looking to play the role of Cinderella.  But in this second round game, they would have to play the part of considerable favorite.  That was because the team standing at the other end of the court was 15th seeded St. Peter's, unexpected conqueror of the mighty Kentucky Wildcats.  Up until 2013, it was unheard of that a 15th seed could make it to the second weekend.  A few had sprung a 1st round upset, but being able to regroup and pull off that magic against another top team 48 hours later was a lot to ask.  That was until the Jetskis of Florida Gulf Coast broke through in 2013.  And then Oral Roberts was able to do it in 2021.  Could the Peacocks be the third 15 seed to make it to the Sweet 16?  One thing in St. Peter's favor was that the Racers went through just as tough of a game as the Peacocks had in round one.  Both teams had to leave everything on the floor for 45 minutes Thursday night.  Who would recover quicker?

Answer: the 15 seed.  Murray State had won 31 games this season, including 21 in a row coming into this game, but they would never hold the lead against St. Peter's.  The Peacocks bridged the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half with an 11-0 run that put them up by 13.  The Racers kept battling back, eventually getting within 2 with four minutes to play.  But St. Peter's scored 11 of the final 14 points.  No overtime necessary in round two.  The MAAC tournament champs are headed to Philly for the Sweet 16, ending Murray State's season with a 70-60 upset.

New Mexico State took out UConn in an ugly affair in round one.  Their second round game vs. Arkansas was not much more pleasing to watch.  The problem for the Aggies is that their superstar, Teddy Allen, wasn't able to go off for 37 points again.  He could only manage a dozen against the Razorbacks.  That dropoff in production was the death knell for New Mexico State.  Arkansas only scored 53 in round two, but it was 5 points more than the Aggies.  The SEC has their 1st Sweet 16 rep after Arkansas eeks out a 53-48 win over New Mexico State.

Last game of the night and it was back to the #1 seeds.  Gonzaga looked terrible in round one, but they survived despite a lackluster performance.  Memphis looked great for the first 20 minutes of round one, then hung on in the second half to get a date with the Bulldogs.  Both teams played first halves that were similar to what they did in round one.  Gonzaga was not sharp at all and Memphis built a big lead, heading to the break ahead by 10.  Like Michigan, the Memphis Tigers were a team that was highly ranked in the preseason (#12), but never lived up to their potential.  Were they finally living up to their potential now?  Could they join the Wolverines in the Sweet 16 by pulling off a big upset the way Michigan had earlier in the day?

Well if Gonzaga played the first half like they had in round one, there was no reason for them to deviate from that game plan in the second half, since they had gone on a huge run in that first game to pull away from Georgia State.  How did they do that?  Dump the ball inside.  And in the opening minutes of the second half, they did that.  There was just no stopping Drew Timme.  The mustachioed Bulldog with all of the old man moves went off for 14 points in the first 6+ minutes of the second half, bringing Gonzaga within 2.  Memphis began to get in foul trouble during this stretch and you could also feel that the pace of the game was being played in Gonzaga's favor.  Despite having 3 timeouts, Memphis coach Penny Hardaway decided to let his kids keep playing.  And to their credit, they hung basket for basket with the overall #1 seed for most of the second half.  But it became a free throw shooting contest late and Gonzaga made just enough to hold off a tenacious Memphis squad.  For the second game in a row, Gonzaga has looked vulnerable, but they had just enough to defeat Memphis by a score of 82-78.

One more recap to end the weekend.  Is this the last we see of Coach K?  Duke - Michigan State is the feature matchup of Day 4.

March Madness 2022 - Heeding the Warning

Pool standings up front as promised.  It's good to be the King.  More specifically, it's good to be Tommy King, as he leads the Gamblers Pool and is tied at the top of the main pool with Chubbs.  Lurking just behind them is Dwight, only one point out of the lead.  Full standings can be found here.

There are some patterns that seem to sustain over time when it comes to March Madness.  There's almost always a 12-5 upset in round one.  There's typically a team that wins a major conference tournament that falls flat as soon as they show up for the Big Dance.  And if Day 1 includes a bunch of upsets, then Day 2 restores balance in the universe.  That last phenomenon might just be a reversion to the mean.  After all, it would be true madness if upsets just continued non-stop throughout the tournament.  But I tend to think of this trend a little differently.  I believe that some of these bigger schools aren't all that concerned about their opponents until they see a St. Peter's land a right cross flush to the chin of Kentucky and watch one of college basketball's bluebloods crash down to the mat.  Even Gonzaga got a bit of a standing 8 count in round one and they're the #1 overall seed.  That must have had an effect on all of the favorites who took the floor on Friday for their games.  They knew that any team could be sent home immediately, no matter how unlikely it looked on paper.  And as a result, we had a bunch of games that were completely lacking drama.  Rather than waste your time with recaps of each of these blowouts, here's a list of favorites that triumphed by at least 15 points on Friday:

• #1 Arizona def. #16 Wright State 87-70
• #2 Villanova def. #15 Delaware 80-60
• #2 Auburn def. #15 Jacksonville State 80-61
• #2 Duke def. #15 Cal State Fullerton 78-61
• #3 Purdue def. #14 Yale 78-56
• #3 Texas Tech def. #14 Montana State 97-62
• #9 TCU def. #8 Seton Hall 69-42

(Yes, I know that last one technically doesn't count as a favorite winning, but #9 seeds have historically won more than #8 seeds in their first round matchup.  Plus I don't feel like writing about how Seton Hall watched UConn the night before and thought "hey, we can do that!")

That left nine other games on the Friday schedule.  Spoiler: just because a game didn't make the list above, doesn't mean that it was compelling television.  Case in point: the opening game of the day between Loyola-Chicago and Ohio State.  The Ramblers have become a March darling in recent years due to a Final Four run and the spunkiness of their #1 fan, 102-year-old Sister Jean.  This team wasn't expected to do as well as they had in previous seasons now that they were operating under a new coaching staff, but the Ramblers upset the Missouri Valley Conference tournament as the #4 seed and made their way into the bracket.  They seemed like a team no one would want to face and the unlucky team to draw them was Ohio State.  The draw might have been unlucky, but the Buckeyes were fortunate enough to catch Loyola-Chicago on a day when they were just plain bad.  This was not expected to be a high scoring game as both teams leaned mostly on their defense, but I've seen better shooting in CYO games.  The Ramblers missed a bunch of layups and their open threes tended to clank off the side of the rim or thud off the backboard.  On one possession, a Loyola-Chicago big man attempted a baby hook just a few feet from the basket and somehow airballed it short.  Ohio State wasn't exactly Loyola Marymount on the other end, but they were doing enough to make this feel like a blowout in the same way that New Mexico State had done to UConn the night before.  Once the Buckeyes reached 40 points, this game felt over.  Essentially it was.  The Ramblers were lucky to reach 41 before the buzzer, but that was not nearly enough to advance.  Ohio State moves on with a 54-41 victory.

Sadly, that was the closest of the four early afternoon games.  Things got a little better in the late afternoon set.  USC and Miami met in a 7-10 battle that was much more competitive than you would have thought if you followed college basketball throughout the year.  USC was a team that was ranked in the top 25 pretty much all year long, while Miami finished 4th in the ACC in a year where that conference was much weaker than it typically is.  The Hurricanes nearly lost their opening game in the ACC tournament to 13-20 Boston College, before falling in a tight game to Duke in the semifinals.  Miami certainly didn't play like they were the underdog in the first half, using a 16-2 run en route to an 11 point halftime lead.  The Trojans found their offense on the other side of the break, starting the second half with a 17-2 run to move ahead by 4.  The game would be tight from that point until the final minute, when the Hurricanes built a seemingly insurmountable 7 point lead.  But it's hard for any team to close out a game in March and USC came roaring back, tying the game with 14 seconds to play.  Miami played for the last shot, drove to the lane, and got a whistle.  USC was called for a foul with only 3 seconds to go.  The Hurricanes made both free throws, but the Trojans would have one last shot.  Needing to go the length of the court, USC managed to complete a pass to mid-court and they were able to get a fairly clean look at a long three-pointer.  There were shades of Gordon Hayward and Butler in the title game against Duke as the ball hit the backboard and then the front of the rim before refusing to go down.  Heartbreak for USC as Miami heads to round two after a 68-66 thriller.

More ACC you ask?  Even though they only got 5 teams into the tournament, 3 of them were playing at the same time.  The late afternoon window also featured Jenn's beloved Alabama Crimson Tide playing the likely inebriated Notre Dame Fighting Irish.  It was hard to imagine that the Irish wouldn't be somewhat fatigued after their late night win and then cross-country flight to San Diego on Wednesday night/Thursday morning, but they didn't look any worse for wear in this game.  Notre Dame put up 41 in the first half to lead by 5 at intermission.  Alabama would trim the margin to 2 early in the second half, but Notre Dame found another gear, putting together a 17-5 run to blow this one wide open.  The Crimson Tide showed promise early in the season with a surprising win over Gonzaga, but as the season went on, they seemed to sputter.  The gas tank officially hit E in this one, as the 11th seeded Irish easily handled Alabama by a score of 78-64.

The last of the ACC teams playing on Friday afternoon was Virginia Tech.  Like Richmond in the Atlantic 10, there was no chance of this team getting an at-large bid when they showed up for their conference tournament.  And they were one second away from being knocked out in their first game there.  But they hit a game-winning three in overtime to beat the 10 seed Clemson.  Then they took out that now-invincible Notre Dame team I just talked about above.  Didn't North Carolina win by 32 yesterday?  They sure did, but they were no match for the Hokies in the ACC semis.  And the cherry on the sundae was denying Coach K one last ACC tournament championship to punch their ticket to the Big Dance.  It was an extremely impressive run over 4 days and it made many people select them to move past Texas in round one on Friday.  The only problem with runs like the one that Virginia Tech made in the ACC tournament is that you have a few days off, the momentum goes away, and it's hard to bring things back to a 10 again.  Richmond was a bit lucky with their draw because their opponent, Iowa, had also made a run through their conference tournament, meaning the "bounce factor" (horse racing jargon) was in play for both of them.  Texas, on the other hand, had been knocked out of the Big 12 tournament in their first game, so they had a chip on their shoulder.  This game was very competitive in the first half, but the final play before the break might have shown the writing was on the wall for the Hokies.  Down by 1, Texas threw up a desperation heave from beyond half court that went on, giving the Longhorns the lead at the half.  In the second half, it was all Texas.  They would go on a 25-9 run to break it open.  The Hokies put up some garbage points late to make the score look a little nicer, but Texas was never threatened over the last 15 minutes of action.  Virginia Tech will always have the ACC tournament championship and one of the best celebrations to Enter Sandman that you will ever see, but this is where we have to bid them adieu.  The Longhorns move forward to play Purdue after an 81-73 win.

Could we finally get a big upset during the evening games?  Chattanooga seemed like a real upset possibility as they took on Big 10 regular season champion Illinois.  The Mocs were one of two very good teams to play in the Southern Conference.  The other team was Furman.  These two played in the championship game of the conference tournament and, with only one spot on the line, battled in what was the best game of Championship Week.  A winner couldn't be settled in regulation, so they put 5 more minutes on the clock.  Furman grabbed a two point lead with only 4.3 seconds to play.  Chattanooga inbounded the ball and frantically dribbled from one side of the court to the other, barely getting past the midcourt line.  A three was launched right before the buzzer and it went in.  Neither team deserved to lose, but it was the Mocs who would go dancing.  Like any good upset candidate, Chattanooga showed they weren't going to be intimidated by the favored Illini very early on in this game.  They jumped out to a 13 point lead in the first half.  That lead would eventually evaporate, but the Mocs once again put together a run to establish an 11 point edge in the second half.  Illinois, meanwhile, was having Kentucky-like problems.  They too had an All-American big man who they were relying on completely once times got tough.  And when I say Kofi Cockburn is a big man, I mean that he looks like 12-year-old Andy Reid in that old Punt, Pass, and Kick footage.  Just a man amongst boys.  He was intimidating on the defensive end.  He cleaned up on the boards.  Everything ran through him on the offensive end.  Just as Tshiebwe seemed like he was willing Kentucky to victory, Cockburn was shouldering the load for the Illini.  His jumper put them up by 1 with 46 seconds to go.  The two teams would each knock down a couple of free throws before Chattanooga had one last chance to win it.  Make that two last chances.  They missed a shot with a few seconds to play and got the offensive rebound.  But the second shot didn't fall either.  So much for big upsets on Day 2.  Illinois barely survives by a score of 54-53.

The best we were likely to do in terms of an upset was seeing an 11 seed advance.  Notre Dame had pulled off the trick earlier in the day by taking out a 6th seeded team from the SEC and Iowa State was looking to replicate that feat in their game against LSU.  LSU was playing their first game under a new head coach after their former coach, Will Wade, was fired for illegally paying recruits.  Not exactly a momentum builder going into March.  This game was a strange one in that it was close throughout, but one team basically had the lead the entire way.  LSU hit a three pointer two minutes into the game to take a 5-4 advantage and then never led again.  And it wasn't like the Cyclones dominated for the remaining 38 minutes.  Their largest lead was 11, but the Tigers would claw back to within 2 with less than a minute remaining.  Iowa State did not panic.  In fact, as they had done throughout the game, they responded with a basket to make sure LSU could not get in front.  The Cyclones knocked down a three with 20 seconds to go and that was all she wrote.  Another 6 seed from the SEC goes bye-bye in round one as Iowa State takes this matchup by a score of 59-54.

The late evening session included the aforementioned TCU blowout and a 10:45pm tip-off time for Wisconsin and Colgate.  I was secretly wishing that Wisconsin would be up by 30 at halftime so I could go to bed, but that is not how March Madness works.  Before we get to that game, let's touch on two others.  Houston didn't meet my arbitrarily picked blowout margin of 15 points, but they came as close as you could in dispatching 12 seed UAB by a score of 82-68.  That left Michigan State vs Davidson as the last pre-10:45 tip-off game of the first round.  This game was expected to be close and it did not disappoint.  Davidson was the regular season champ of the Atlantic 10 conference and they made it to the conference tournament final before falling to the white-hot Richmond Spiders.  They were also getting a bit of a home game in this matchup with the Spartans as this contest was taking place in South Carolina.  They would need all the help they could get in this very evenly-matched battle with tournament stalwart Michigan State.  The Spartans got off to a quick start, jumping out to an 8-2 advantage, but neither team would hold a lead larger than 4 for the next 30 minutes of the game.  A Wildcats 8-2 run put them up by 5 with seven minutes to go, but Michigan State would respond by scoring the next 10 points of the game.  The Spartan lead would get as large as 8 with just under a minute left, but Davidson would not go quietly.  The Wildcats would score 14 points in the final 49 seconds of the game, but they needed 15 to send it to overtime.  CBS is overjoyed to get Coach K vs Izzo in round two as Michigan State holds off a pesky Davidson squad by a score of 74-73.

Game 32 in 48 hours.  Wisconsin vs. Colgate.  The Raiders were easily the best of the 14 seeds in this tournament and Wisconsin has a history of going ice cold from the field in tournament games, so if Colgate just get hot for a few stretches, there was a real chance that we could be losing our first 3 seed of the tournament.  Unfortunately for Colgate, this game was taking place in Wisconsin, so even though they held the lead for most of the first half, the raucous crowd kept coming alive to help the Badgers get back into it.  At halftime, the game was tied at 28.  About 10 minutes into the second half, Colgate was back in front by 4.  But over the next 7 minutes, it was the Raiders who couldn't make a shot.  While they were stuck at 54 points, the Badgers turned a 4 point deficit into a 6 point advantage.  Colgate tried to catch up from there, but the dagger came on a Wisconsin three pointer that gave the Badgers a 9 point margin with less than 90 seconds to play.  11-seeds advancing was as good as it was going to get on this Friday.  Wisconsin moves on to play 11-seed Iowa State after a 67-60 first round win.

Dave complaining on behalf of North Carolina?  What is the world coming to?  It actually happens in the Day 3 recap, coming later this afternoon.