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An insane first weekend lives up to the fairy tale hype
It has to be March.
It has to be March when teams like Bucknell , UW Milwaukee, and Vermont suddenly have relevance in the college basketball universe. Is there a better time of the year in sports than this? Not a chance. This year’s bracket should have come complete with a complementary defibrillator and a free three day stay at your local hospital. The fact that of over 1.5 million brackets filled out on ESPN.com, not one had all the Sweet 16 teams correct should tell you something. Filling out brackets is tougher than figuring out when Laguna Beach starts back on MTV. Seriously, does anyone know? Any information would be great….
The Games, The Drama
Watching West Virginia’s Mike Gansey put on an unbelievably gutsy performance with his 29 point effort, including 19 points in the two overtime periods in the Moutaineers double OT victory over heavily favored Wake Forest was simply magical. Every time Wake would roar back into the game and the momentum began to shift ever so slightly there was Gansey, calm and composed, seemingly oblivious to the magnitude of the situation every time he ripped the chords. It reached the point that every time Wake had the ball they had to score or Mike Gansey was going to make them pay, and when Wake came up short like a gambler whose luck had run dry, West Virginia put the hammer down. A 111-105 win in double OT has put the Mountaineers into the Sweet 16.
Who would have thought of all the Big East teams in the tourney (UConn, Boston College, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh) that West Virginia and Villanova would be the last two representatives standing?
Did I mention it’s March?
The Vermont - Syracuse game was truly something to behold. To see Taylor Coppenrath and the rest of the Catamount squad battle perennial powerhouse Syracuse, this game proved that in the NCAA tournament, tomorrow is never promised. If you lose the moment and start looking towards your next potential match up, more than likely you’ll be on a bus for eight hours wondering why your team won’t be part of that next round game.
It happens that quick, lower seeded teams only need to race out of the gates to feel like they belong and that they actually have a chance to knock off a juggernaut like a Syracuse or a Kansas or defending national champion, UConn. Teams like Bucknell are no longer intimidated by the team names on the front of a jersey and certainly not by the name on the back of it. Here, it’s put up or shut up. Bring your A game or go home. Vermont wasn’t ready to leave, hell they just arrived at the dance and hadn’t had a chance to get down to the electric slide yet, so they bounced Syracuse and sipped the punch just a bit longer. They allowed for a sweet swan song for there lovable coach Tom Brennan, who had previously announced this would be his final year coaching the Catamounts.
In related news, Christmas is now celebrated in March.
Sweet 16 Predictions…
After the first round of games I trashed my bracket along with my copy of the raunchy, "One Night In Paris", yea, that's it I trashed it. My bracket spontaneously broke out into flames and the tournament was merely a few hours old. This was going to be messy.
Anyhow, I've decided to give myself a second shot, wipe the slate clean and start again. Sadly, this "reset" button does not exist in the real world, where I could really use the help.
Thursday’s games in the Albuquerque and Chicago regionals should provide for some late game heroics as Illinois battles Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Oklahoma State takes on Arizona. I see Illinois ending UW-Milwaukee’s dream season and Oklahoma State squeaking by Arizona in a hotly contested game that may be decided by who has the ball last. Also on Thursday, Washington takes on Louisville and West Virginia is set to do battle with Bob Knight’s Red Raiders. I’ll take Louisville in the “upset” although I was one of the many who nearly lost it when Washington was awarded a number one seed. I also see Texas Tech making the right adjustments in the locker room and able to advance in a tough, hard fought game against the Mountaineers.
In Friday’s action we have some great match ups, Duke vs. Michigan St. and Utah vs. Kentucky. I am going to with Coach K and the Blue Devils to eliminate Michigan St. and Kentucky to finally end Utah and Andrew Bogut’s great run. In the Syracuse regional the road to the Elite 8 has appeared to get slightly easier for North Carolina. Curtis Sumpter, Villanova’s leader in both points and rebounds will be out with a knee injury. I had UNC advancing in this game regardless but this certainly tightens the noose around Villanova’s season. Wisconsin going up against NC State is going to be a great game. In the end I think Julius Hodge is the x-factor in this grind it out game. He has the ability to take over the game at any time (just ask UConn) and catapult the Wolfpack straight into the Elite Eight. He is also capable of pulling a vanishing act in the biggest game of his illustrious career. Either way this game will ulimately be decided by the shooting hand of Julius Hodge.
Seeing that I was unable to safely navigate my way through the stormy waters that were the first round of the tournament makes me weary that my vessel of a bracket was sea worthy in the first place. That being said, I will simply offer you my prediction as to who will be the team to cut down the nets in St. Louis. My National Champion pick has remained the same, North Carolina will deliver Roy Williams his first national title and all will be well in Chapel Hill.
Enjoy the rest of the madness, certainly the upsets aren’t as likely at this stage of the game, and that makes them that much sweeter.
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