I’ve been living in a world where I’ve been with some lifelong friends, we’ve been drinking beer for 14 hours a day, and having fast food delivered to the house on a regular basis. It has been a lifestyle that pretty much all seven of the deadly sins warned humanity against. We do it every year, and while I pretty much prefer to live this way all year round, it does start to take a toll on some of the amateurs. March Madness Baby!!!
SAINT PETER’S
-I’ll start with Saint Peter’s. I don’t think I’ve ever been as surprised by a sporting event in my life as I was when they beat Kentucky. That is saying a lot, because I have been utterly dumbfounded. UMBC over Virginia comes to mind. Hell, UMBC beating Vermont to even get to the NCAA Tournament was a surprise that year, and then to not just beat Virginia but blow them off the court was stupefying. Well, if Saint Peter’s didn’t surpass that, it was certainly on that level. They did finish second in the Metro Atlantic, but they had six conference losses, and while they went into the conference tournament on a bit of a hot streak winning five out of six, four of those five teams had losing records. There was ZERO indication that they had what it took to beat Kentucky. Anyone who says they saw this coming honestly probably needs to reexamine how they go about evaluating teams, because it was so out of left field that anything that accurately predicted it is probably very inaccurate in predicting and assessing other games most of the time. Saint Peter’s never once made the Under the Radar Top Ten. Saint Peter’s had multiple losses at home to teams way outside the top 200 of virtually all the metrics. And on the other side, Kentucky appeared to be an absolute machine!! They were certainly my pick to win it all, and while it wouldn’t have shocked me had they not done that, I am shocked that they lost to Saint Peter’s.
But, HUGE congrats to the Peacocks and their program!! They followed it up with another win against a very good Murray State team. That’s not nearly as shocking as the win over Kentucky, but Saint Peter’s controlled the game from pretty much tip to buzzer. It has been unbelievable how well they’ve played in this tournament.
OTHER TIDBITS
-Michigan, who many didn’t want in the tournament, has played their way into the Sweet Sixteen after taking down a Colorado State team who looked good in the Mountain West, and a Tennessee team that everyone felt should be in the Final Four. I think selecting Michigan was the right thing, but I never look to see what a team does in the tournament to verify a selection. I would have felt that way even had they lost to Colorado State.
-Providence blasted their way through the first two rounds, and beat two pretty good teams in South Dakota State who many were picking as a first round upset (including myself), and a Richmond team that is difficult to match-up against because of how well they screen and cut. It was two teams that aren’t overstocked with talent, but can still be very tough to play against and beat because of how they play.
-North Carolina blew a 25pt lead against Baylor in the Round of 32, and as the game went into overtime I don’t think too many people thought they’d win after having that much momentum taken away from them, but they got it done. North Carolina did very little to impress me this year, and until they won at Duke I really hadn’t thought of them as doing anything, but they’re clearly playing well at the right time and it wouldn’t shock me if they won their next game.
-The Loyola Chicago vs Ohio State First Round game may have been one of the worst played NCAA Tournament games of all time. Not to worry, because the Arkansas vs New Mexico State game just a day later may have been even worse!! It was exciting, but it was also very poorly played. But, that doesn’t matter. Arkansas held on and will go to the Sweet Sixteen. It was nice to see New Mexico State get to the Round of 32. I oftentimes feel that they are a very strong program that is under-appreciated and under-rewarded because of tough early tournament exits. They finally got back to the Round of 32 this year.
-Once again a First Four team is in the Round of 32. Notre Dame knocked off Alabama rather handily 78-64. So, the streak is alive!
TODAY’S GAMES
-Houston v Illinois is interesting. I keep waiting for Houston’s injuries to catch up to them, but they looked outstanding in their Round of 64 win against UAB.
-Ohio State did not look outstanding at all in their win over Loyola Chicago, and will need to play much better today if they want to stay on the court with Villanova.
-Duke and Michigan State are playing in the NCAA Tournament!! The networks will always find a way to make that happen!!
-Iowa State has had a good year, but I think Wisconsin will be too much for them today.
-Same with Notre Dame and Texas Tech. ND’s offense has been great in their first two games, but they will face a smothering Texas Tech team today.
-I’ve liked this Miami FL team all year long, and as good as Auburn has been, I think the Canes have a chance.
-Texas and Purdue seems to be pretty much dead even.
-Arizona will probably be too much for TCU.