FIRST FOUR RECAP:
-I attended the First Four the first year of its existence, and I came away from it very disappointed. It didn’t feel like the NCAA Tournament. The atmosphere was sub-par, but more than that it just didn’t FEEL like it. As for now, while the First Four may not feel like it does in the later rounds, it definitely qualifies as a full blown NCAA Tournament experience. This year both sessions were sold out and all four games were great.
Texas Southern outlasted a TAMUCC program that has completely turned itself around and appears to be on the rise. They’ll go on to face Kansas. today.
Indiana and Wyoming was a battle with Indiana holding on to win and moving on to face a very strong Saint Mary’s team.
Wright State picked up their first ever NCAA Tournament win as they outlasted Bryant. They’ll face Arizona on Friday.
Notre Dame and Rutgers played a back and forth seesaw battle that went into double overtime before Notre Dame finally held on to win. This was the kind of game that you wished could have gone on forever. Notre Dame will face Alabama on Friday
THURSDAY’S FIRST ROUND GAMES
-#11 MICHIGAN VS #6 COLORADO STATE. Michigan got the big wins that they needed down the stretch to sneak into the field, and they face a Colorado State team that some may feel is a little oversewed, but that is also really good.
-#13 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE VS #4 PROVIDENCE. Providence better be on upset alert. They had a fantastic year where they were the first place team in the Big East, and won a lot of close and exciting games to get there. South Dakota State, the #13 seed, is one of those teams that I think would be just about everyone on the 9, 10, 11, and 12 lines, but that just didn’t have the resume (largely due to their conference) to get them a better seed.
-#9 MEMPHIS VS #8 BOISE STATE. I thought Boise State should have been seeded a little higher. They were the first place team in a very good Mountain West Conference this year, and had some really nice win. They face a Memphis team that is super talented, but who struggled for part of the season before really pulling it together down the stretch.
#16 NORFOLK STATE VS #1 BAYLOR. We’ve learned that Baylor will be without one of their key players, but they still shouldn’t have too much trouble with a Norfolk State team that’s had a nice run through the MEAC, but is overmatched today.
#14 LONGWOOD VS #3 TENNESSEE. Longwood is one of the better stories in college basketball this year. They’ve had a lot of years of finishing at or near the bottom of the Big South, so it was exciting to see them have such a good season, finish first, win the conference tournament, and make the NCAA’s. They face a red-hot Tennessee team that just won the SEC, and who some are picking to go to the Final Four.
-#12 RICHMOND VS #5 IOWA. Iowa seemed kind of so-so for a lot of the season, but they had a fantastic showing in the Big Ten Tournament and were really starting to play well before that. Richmond is a team we were big on coming into the season, but who we thought was kind of a disappointment for a lot of the year. They pulled it together to win the Atlantic Ten and ultimately make it into The Dance, though.
-#16 GEORGIA STATE VS #1 GONZAGA. Gonzaga might win it all. They were the national runners up last year. Georgia State…probably not going to win it all. They got the auto-bid out of what was a very crazy Sun Belt Conference this year.
-#9 MARQUETTE VS #8 NORTH CAROLINA. Marquette was a team I was big on for most of the season, and North Carolina was a team I was highly critical. UNC did look good in the latter part of the year as they won at Duke and then had a very impressive showing in the ACC Tournament. Still, for a longer time, Marquette just looked better.
#12 NEW MEXICO STATE VS #5 UCONN. I like this New Mexico State team a lot, and I think they could really give UConn all they can handle. The thing is, UConn has looked really impressive all season long too, and where there are teams that I think New Mexico State is capable of upsetting, UConn doesn’t strike me as one of them.
-#15 SAINT PETER’S VS #2 KENTUCKY. Saint Peter’s ended up winning the MAAC after it looked like Iona was going to run away with it. Kentucky is good enough to win this whole tournament. They did lose to Tennessee their last time out, but they shot the ball poorly, had a bad game, were playing a really good team, and were still in the game for most of the game. Imagine what they can do when they play a good game.
-#12 INDIANA VS #5 SAINT MARY’S. Indiana already has a Tournament win under their belt as they knocked off Wyoming in the First Four. Saint Mary’s started the season off looking pretty good, and ended the season looking even better. It wouldn’t shock me to see them go a couple of rounds into this tournament.
#9 CREIGHTON VS #8 SAN DIEGO STATE. I like both these teams, and actually feel like Creighton was a little under-respected with their seed. They had some really big wins and looked solid in the Big East Tournament. San Diego State had some really nice wins down the stretch as well. For a 8vs9 game, this kind of feels like it should be a 6vs6 game, or something like that.
-#13 VERMONT VS #4 ARKANSAS. Vermont blew through the America East. Totally dominated it. The issue is that they haven’t played a high caliber team in a really long time, and haven’t had to play at a high caliber to beat a lot of those teams. Arkansas is certainly a high caliber team. They better not overlook Vermont. An upset is not an impossibility.
-#10 SAN FRANCISCO VS #7 MURRAY STATE. Both teams had great years. It feels like every time San Francisco played a Tournament caliber team they struggled, but they did take care of business in all of the rest of their games. Murray State totally blew through the Ohio Valley, but was also undermatched in a lot of those games and will have to play at a higher caliber today. Having said that, they are certainly good enough to do that.
-#13 AKRON VS #4 UCLA. I really like this Akron team and was impressed with what they did in the MAC Tournament. Having said that, I think they’re overmatched by UCLA today. It wouldn’t shock me at all if they made the Bruins sweat, though.
-#16 TEXAS SOUTHERN VS #1 KANSAS. Texas Southern won their First Four game. They are playing this one in Fort Worth. I hope they enjoy the experience. They are a good team, but they are way overmatched against a Final Four caliber Kansas team.