-I’ll start with this!! Room service at the NCAA Tournament is TERRIBLE!!!! I kept calling and calling and asking for food and bourbon to be brought to my room, and they SIMPLY REFUSED TO DO IT!!! Apparently it’s only for people who are actually staying at the hotel, or something like that! WHAT A CROCK!!!
-Both Florida State and Kansas had to sweat a little bit in their First Round games. FSU was never really behind, but they weren’t able to put away UNC Greensboro until the final minutes. Nevertheless, they held on and advanced. Eastern Washington was led by a Tanner Groves who scored 35pts as they kept it close (and actually led in the second half). It wasn’t until the final minute or so that Kansas was finally able to breathe. Eastern Washington is one of those teams that returns a lot and could make noise not just on a UTR level, but on a national level, next year.
-Iona also made it exciting as they kept it close and actually built a small second half lead against Alabama, but the Tide were able to get control down the stretch and get the win.
-UC Santa Barbara and Creighton was a game that saw several momentum shifts. Each time it looked like one of them was building a lead and about to run away, the other would fight back. It came down to the last possession of the game where UCSB missed a short jumper that would have given them the lead with less than 2 secs to play, and Creighton ended up holding on. This was a really good UCSB team. March can be cruel at times. They probably deserved more national recognition for how good they were, and they would have gotten it had they been able to win a game in the NCAA Tournament, but they came up just 1pt short.
-Ohio U’s run is still alive as they held off Virginia 62-58 in a game that was very tough for them to win. The Bobcats played great defense, rebounded well, and scored when they had to in order to pull off the upset.
-Oklahoma held off Missouri in another exciting game. It was an old Big 8 rivalry between a current Big 12 and SEC team!!
-BYU had looked good pretty much all year long, but not yesterday. They struggled shooting the ball, and UCLA (who had struggled down the stretch of the regular season) did not struggle at all yesterday. It was a great defensive effort by the Bruins, and they’re moving on to face….ABILENE CHRISTIAN!!
-Texas played a brutal schedule and while there were times they did struggle, it was typically in close games against highly ranked teams. They had just won the Big 12 Tournament less than a week ago. But…they did not beat Abilene Christian today. In what was a mistake filled, but also very exciting game, Abilene Christian pulled off the huge upset and will move on to the Round of 32. This is a program that recently transitioned up from D2, so this was easily their biggest win in school history.
-Last, and definitely least, the VCU vs Oregon game was not played due to COVID protocol within the VCU program. I feel very sorry for VCU. If there are issues I hope everyone recovers fully and quickly. And, I hate it for them that this happened despite all of the rigid protocol in place. They deserved to play in the game. I think the decision to not play it was the right one, but it still feels grossly unfair.
TODAY’S GAMES!!
-The thing about the Round of 32 is everyone feels good coming in because they just won a big game to get here!
-Loyola Chicago has what seems to be an impossible task this afternoon as they take on top seeded (and all around awesome) Illinois. This would be a monster upset if the Ramblers can pull it off. But, we’ve seen a few of those already.
-Wisconsin didn’t have that great of a season, but they had an amazing Round of 64. If they can play like that again today they may be able to stick with Baylor, who many think can just walk into the Final Four.
-Syracuse will face West Virginia in an old Big East battle between a current ACC and Big 12 team. Expect this to be a defensive battle. WVU clearly looked better throughout the year, but Syracuse seems to have a history of playing well in the NCAA Tournament after barely getting in.
-Texas Tech and Arkansas should be a fun contrast of styles. It’s also an old SWC rivalry. I don’t think that means much to any of the current players or coaches, but it still has a fun flavor to it!
-Rutgers is coming off their first NCAA Tournament win in forever and will look to keep the party going against a Houston team that won a lot of games, but didn’t always bury what appeared to be inferior teams.
-Oral Roberts almost certainly has their heads in the clouds after beating Ohio State, and rightfully so. The question is can they get their feet back on the ground for their game against Florida today.
-North Texas is a damn good team who knocked off Purdue in the Round of 64 and faces a Villanova team that struggled down the stretch, but who also managed to beat a really good Winthrop team in their first game. This one looks to be evenly matched despite the big gap in seeding and should be fun to watch.
-Oregon State has been on a dream run through the Pac 12 Tournament, and now through the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. They face a really good Oklahoma State team today who is probably tougher than anyone they’ve run in to during that stretch, but this Beavers team is on fire right now!!