coolhandgopher
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* The first thing I have to say is how utterly thrilled I am with cbs sportsline, to the point that I'm thinking about naming my first-born after the website. For a college hoops junkie who was left poring over stats and you tube highlights for the most part this season, the ability to tune into each and every NCAA game with the ability to switch back and forth between games at will. . .well, it was akin to going from Mormon country to Oktoberfest in Germany.
Be productive Monday through Wednesday-We've had our share of exciting games during March Madness, but when you look at the seedings, only two underdogs (#5 Purdue in the West and #12 Arizona in the Midwest) have made it to the Sweet Sixteen. Going back to 1985, the first year that the field expanded to 64 teams, never has there been as few underdogs making it into the Sweet Sixteen as this year (in 1989 and 1991 there were three underdogs each tournament).
What does this mean? It means that the upcoming weekend should be an outstanding opportunity for college basketball games at a very high level. I love the first weekend of the tournament and I love seeing underdogs knock off the favorites, but the ugly secret of (most) Cinderellas advancing is this-once past the first weekend, the glass slipper, the coach, all of it turns to one ugly mess. This upcoming weekend is actually my favorite part of March Madness-the last 16 teams in the nation fighting it out to get down to 4 teams. And this year, it should be a dogfight to the Final 4.
Who's representing?-That would be the elite of college basketball. The top five teams from the Big East (Louisville, Pitt, UConn, Villanova, and Syracuse), the top three teams from the Big 12 (Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri), the top two teams from the Big 10 (Michigan State and Purdue), the two top teams from the ACC (UNC and Duke), and the perennial top three teams from the non-power conferences (Memphis, Gonzaga, and Xavier). And although Arizona was a middling team in the Pac 10 this year, I would bet that they are the first 12 seed that has advanced with two potential lottery picks in their lineup.
Top conference honors go to. . .The Big East is obviously flexing their muscles, with a 10-1 record and five teams in the Sweet 16; the Big 12 also represented very well, sending their top three teams into the Sweet 16 and their other three teams falling to #1 or 2 seeded teams; I think the Big 10 acquitted themselves well with two teams advancing to the Sweet 16 and posting three wins from lower seeded teams and only two higher seeded teams (#5 Illinois and #8 Ohio State) losing.
As for worst conference honors? Well, I'd love to say the ACC, but they still have UNC and Duke alive and either of those teams could make a run to the national title. That being said, the rest of the conference stunk it up pretty good, particularly Wake Forest (more on them later), but also Clemson, B.C., and Florida State. The SEC followed up their putrid regular season with a 1-3 mark in the tourney, but to be fair, only LSU as a #8 seed was favored and they gave UNC a run in the second round. My vote at this point would go to the Pac 10. Their overall record is a respectable 6-5, but they have just one of their six teams advancing to the Sweet 16, and there's a strong argument that Arizona had the easiest path of the 16 teams still alive. Two of their teams had higher seeds and lost (#4 Washington and #7 Cal), and UCLA got drubbed by Villanova. USC and Arizona State had respectable, hard fought losses on Sunday, but a loss is a loss. There's hope for the Pac 10 yet to avoid this ignomious honor, depending what happens with UNC and Duke from here on out.
Most impressive team thus far-It has to be UConn. While every other team alive has had their tense moments stretch into the second half of games, UConn has salted away the opposition (Chattanooga and Texas A&M) early, winning their first two games by an average of 41 points. For Big 10 pride, let's hope Purdue steps up and gives them a game.
Least impressive team thus far-Wake Forest in a landslide. Wake is among the most talented teams in the nation with three sure fire #1 picks in their starting lineup and a frontline that rotates 6'9", 6'9", 6'11", 6'11", and 7'0". Cleveland State couldn't come close to that kind of height and Wake couldn't come close to making this a ball game. For a team that has wins against UNC and Duke on its resume, this was a pathetic egg they laid on Friday night.
Best time of the weekend-Late on Friday night, I was torn away from watching Cleveland State stomp the life out of Wake Forest by two overtime games that featured Big 10 teams-Wisconsin v. Florida State and Ohio State v. Siena. I don't have to tell you the outcomes, but it was great fun flipping betweent these games and the Ohio State/Siena game was a particular classic (at least down the stretch). There's nothing in sports like these occasions when you have barn burners going on across the NCAA tournament and you can't decide where your attention is best served.
Worst time of the weekend-Boiled down to about two minutes, if that. Do I need to explain? I'll just say A.J. and you can take it from there.
Looking forward-As stated earlier, there are some tasty matchups on the menu in the round of 16 with these two standing out to me: Thursday night, Duke vs. Villanova. It pits one of my most despised programs (Dukies) against one of my favorites (Nova). Make my bracket ring true, Wildcats! Also on Thursday night, Memphis and Missouri take on one another and this promises to be a track meet, I don't know if it'll be a triple digit thriller or a turnover soaked glorified playground game, but it'll be interesting to see what evolves. I'm also curious if the Boilermakers can slow down the UConn Express-a regular season that fell below expectations for Purdue could be totally forgotten with a win here. Finally, Pitt (my favorite program outside of the Gophers) will match up against Xavier in another tough challenge as the Panthers try to advance beyond the Sweet 16.
The most interesting game on Friday appears to be Syracuse vs. Oklahoma with two All-Americans facing off in Blake Griffin and Jonny Flynn. Can Kansas redeem themselves against Michigan State this night? Can the Russ Pennell push for the head coach job at Arizona take a big leap forward with an upset over Louisville? And can the Zags keep their momentum rolling against the Tar Heels? Stay tuned on CBS where Harper's Island is coming soon!
Best line of the weekend-There's one voice I associate with March Madness more than any other-not Billy Packer, nor Dick Vitale. Sorry Jim Nantz and Gus Johnson, I love you, but you have a few more years to put in. My guy is Bill Raftery, who rang in the NCAA tournament with the exclamation "double onions!" when Ronald Moore from Siena hit the three pointer in the second overtime that eventually won the game for them.
But that wasn't my favorite line from Raftery this weekend. On Sunday's matchup between Pitt and Okie State, the first half was a high scoring affair where neither team could seem to miss from the field and they headed to half tied at 49. With a few minutes left in the first half and a flurry of baskets being exchanged by the two teams, Raftery told us that he thought the two head coaches got together and signed a non-aggression pact in regards to playing defense. Perhaps it isn't as funny written down, but at the time and with Raftery's delivery, it was hilarious.
And with that, get your sleep before Thursday, it promises to be a wild weekend.
Be productive Monday through Wednesday-We've had our share of exciting games during March Madness, but when you look at the seedings, only two underdogs (#5 Purdue in the West and #12 Arizona in the Midwest) have made it to the Sweet Sixteen. Going back to 1985, the first year that the field expanded to 64 teams, never has there been as few underdogs making it into the Sweet Sixteen as this year (in 1989 and 1991 there were three underdogs each tournament).
What does this mean? It means that the upcoming weekend should be an outstanding opportunity for college basketball games at a very high level. I love the first weekend of the tournament and I love seeing underdogs knock off the favorites, but the ugly secret of (most) Cinderellas advancing is this-once past the first weekend, the glass slipper, the coach, all of it turns to one ugly mess. This upcoming weekend is actually my favorite part of March Madness-the last 16 teams in the nation fighting it out to get down to 4 teams. And this year, it should be a dogfight to the Final 4.
Who's representing?-That would be the elite of college basketball. The top five teams from the Big East (Louisville, Pitt, UConn, Villanova, and Syracuse), the top three teams from the Big 12 (Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri), the top two teams from the Big 10 (Michigan State and Purdue), the two top teams from the ACC (UNC and Duke), and the perennial top three teams from the non-power conferences (Memphis, Gonzaga, and Xavier). And although Arizona was a middling team in the Pac 10 this year, I would bet that they are the first 12 seed that has advanced with two potential lottery picks in their lineup.
Top conference honors go to. . .The Big East is obviously flexing their muscles, with a 10-1 record and five teams in the Sweet 16; the Big 12 also represented very well, sending their top three teams into the Sweet 16 and their other three teams falling to #1 or 2 seeded teams; I think the Big 10 acquitted themselves well with two teams advancing to the Sweet 16 and posting three wins from lower seeded teams and only two higher seeded teams (#5 Illinois and #8 Ohio State) losing.
As for worst conference honors? Well, I'd love to say the ACC, but they still have UNC and Duke alive and either of those teams could make a run to the national title. That being said, the rest of the conference stunk it up pretty good, particularly Wake Forest (more on them later), but also Clemson, B.C., and Florida State. The SEC followed up their putrid regular season with a 1-3 mark in the tourney, but to be fair, only LSU as a #8 seed was favored and they gave UNC a run in the second round. My vote at this point would go to the Pac 10. Their overall record is a respectable 6-5, but they have just one of their six teams advancing to the Sweet 16, and there's a strong argument that Arizona had the easiest path of the 16 teams still alive. Two of their teams had higher seeds and lost (#4 Washington and #7 Cal), and UCLA got drubbed by Villanova. USC and Arizona State had respectable, hard fought losses on Sunday, but a loss is a loss. There's hope for the Pac 10 yet to avoid this ignomious honor, depending what happens with UNC and Duke from here on out.
Most impressive team thus far-It has to be UConn. While every other team alive has had their tense moments stretch into the second half of games, UConn has salted away the opposition (Chattanooga and Texas A&M) early, winning their first two games by an average of 41 points. For Big 10 pride, let's hope Purdue steps up and gives them a game.
Least impressive team thus far-Wake Forest in a landslide. Wake is among the most talented teams in the nation with three sure fire #1 picks in their starting lineup and a frontline that rotates 6'9", 6'9", 6'11", 6'11", and 7'0". Cleveland State couldn't come close to that kind of height and Wake couldn't come close to making this a ball game. For a team that has wins against UNC and Duke on its resume, this was a pathetic egg they laid on Friday night.
Best time of the weekend-Late on Friday night, I was torn away from watching Cleveland State stomp the life out of Wake Forest by two overtime games that featured Big 10 teams-Wisconsin v. Florida State and Ohio State v. Siena. I don't have to tell you the outcomes, but it was great fun flipping betweent these games and the Ohio State/Siena game was a particular classic (at least down the stretch). There's nothing in sports like these occasions when you have barn burners going on across the NCAA tournament and you can't decide where your attention is best served.
Worst time of the weekend-Boiled down to about two minutes, if that. Do I need to explain? I'll just say A.J. and you can take it from there.
Looking forward-As stated earlier, there are some tasty matchups on the menu in the round of 16 with these two standing out to me: Thursday night, Duke vs. Villanova. It pits one of my most despised programs (Dukies) against one of my favorites (Nova). Make my bracket ring true, Wildcats! Also on Thursday night, Memphis and Missouri take on one another and this promises to be a track meet, I don't know if it'll be a triple digit thriller or a turnover soaked glorified playground game, but it'll be interesting to see what evolves. I'm also curious if the Boilermakers can slow down the UConn Express-a regular season that fell below expectations for Purdue could be totally forgotten with a win here. Finally, Pitt (my favorite program outside of the Gophers) will match up against Xavier in another tough challenge as the Panthers try to advance beyond the Sweet 16.
The most interesting game on Friday appears to be Syracuse vs. Oklahoma with two All-Americans facing off in Blake Griffin and Jonny Flynn. Can Kansas redeem themselves against Michigan State this night? Can the Russ Pennell push for the head coach job at Arizona take a big leap forward with an upset over Louisville? And can the Zags keep their momentum rolling against the Tar Heels? Stay tuned on CBS where Harper's Island is coming soon!
Best line of the weekend-There's one voice I associate with March Madness more than any other-not Billy Packer, nor Dick Vitale. Sorry Jim Nantz and Gus Johnson, I love you, but you have a few more years to put in. My guy is Bill Raftery, who rang in the NCAA tournament with the exclamation "double onions!" when Ronald Moore from Siena hit the three pointer in the second overtime that eventually won the game for them.
But that wasn't my favorite line from Raftery this weekend. On Sunday's matchup between Pitt and Okie State, the first half was a high scoring affair where neither team could seem to miss from the field and they headed to half tied at 49. With a few minutes left in the first half and a flurry of baskets being exchanged by the two teams, Raftery told us that he thought the two head coaches got together and signed a non-aggression pact in regards to playing defense. Perhaps it isn't as funny written down, but at the time and with Raftery's delivery, it was hilarious.
And with that, get your sleep before Thursday, it promises to be a wild weekend.
