-So, virtually every game of the Tournament has been amazing so far! It’s an unusual day with it being a Monday and us having games during the work day, but I guess everyone’s work will just have to suffer.
-Loyola Chicago basically led Illinois tip to buzzer and knocked them off for one of the more surprising results of the NCAA Tournament 71-58. A lot of people (like myself) were very impressed with how good the Illini looked and thought they’d basically walk into the Final Four. Now, a lot of people are suddenly up in arms about how Loyola Chicago was only seeded #8th. While I don’t entirely disagree, I also can’t help but notice that on Selection Sunday you saw no such outcries. And, the committee can only evaluate what is there. Had Loyola Chicago played a full OOC schedule and had it been a normal year they would have perhaps shown that they were better than an 8 seed caliber team. As would have UC Santa Barbara. As would have some other teams.
-I have to steal a line from Chad Sherwood. I will NEVER doubt Syracuse as an #11 seed again!! They knocked off West Virginia after managing to stay in front of them for the entire game and move on to the Sweet Sixteen. As an #11 seed. Again.
-Rutgers played a fantastic game against Houston for about 38 minutes and appeared to be putting the icing on the cake in order to move on to the Sweet Sixteen, but they fell apart in the last two minutes and appeared to try to play the clock too much and the game too little. A lot of credit to Houston for how they stormed back and got the win. This is a program that has really built itself up under Kelvin Sampson. They are now back in the Sweet Sixteen and actually have a very manageable path to go all the way to the Final Four.
-Oral Roberts is not the first #15 seed to make the Sweet Sixteen, but they are just the second team to do it, and I’m pretty sure they are the first fourth place finisher out of a one bid league to do it. Going back to the semifinals of the Summit League Tournament, Oral Roberts’ wins have been by 2pts, 3pts, 3pts in OT, and 3pts. They have also been the lower seeded team in each of those games. That is one hell of a ride!!
-When I said I thought North Texas would beat Villanova, I was wrong. Very very wrong. Nova blasted them out of the building 84-61.
-When we laughed at Rocco Miller the time he said he liked Oregon State almost a month ago, we were wrong. Very very wrong. Oregon State is on a rampage. They’ve now won four in a row against ranked teams, and a game against UCLA before that four game stretch began.
As for today’s action…
-Texas Tech and Arkansas looked like it was going to be a classic, and it was. The momentum shifted back and forth throughout the game and it came down to the last possession with Texas Tech coming up short. Arkansas is back in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1996, which is kind of hard to believe.
-Oregon and Iowa features two teams that seem to have improved down the stretch. Iowa can still struggle defensively, but they have gotten noticeably better and it wouldn’t shock me to see them move on today. Oregon was playing really well in a Pac 12 Conference that we’ve seen perform well in this tournament. This is just a really fun Round of 32 match-up between two solid top 25 caliber teams.
-Oklahoma struggled down the stretch, but managed to win their first round game. They’ll take on Gonzaga, who seemingly hasn’t struggled in about a year and a half.
-Abilene Christian makes the Round of 32 after winning an exciting (but some what sloppy) game against Texas! They face a UCLA team that appeared to be falling apart at the end of the season, but has won their First Four game and their Round of 64 game, and is now poised to go to the Sweet Sixteen! This round has always been a hurdle for head coach Mick Cronin. Out of all the good teams he had at Cincinnati, they oftentimes struggled to get past the first weekend. Perhaps this year he got his struggling out of the way in the latter part of the regular season??
-Ohio has been a damn good team when they’ve been at full strength, and we saw that the other day when they picked up a hard fought win against Michigan. Today they face a Creighton team that barely got by a very good UC Santa Barbara team. This will not be an easy match-up for the Blue Jays.
-LSU had played well in the latter part of the season and looked good in their first round game. They’ve got a very tall order against a very good Michigan team today.
-Colorado and Florida State is a fun match-up between two teams that you feel could beat pretty much anyone on a given night if they were to play at the top of their game, so this one should be fun.
-Maryland has been hot lately, but Alabama has been read hot. They Tide did get a bit of a scare from Iona in their first game, but I wouldn’t read too much in to that. They’re set up to go deep into this tournament.
-USC and Kansas is another good game between two solid top 25 caliber teams. Kansas has had some hurdles down the stretch and had a bit of a scare from Eastern Washington in their first game, but got through it and face a really tough USC team tonight.