Even though The Tournament has already started, you can still join the BEAT THE PUPPET CHALLENGE by CLICKING HERE. Don’t waste your time, though!! You won’t beat me!!!
So we had two great games last night!! One saw Alabama State pull off what may turn out to be one of the most exciting plays of the NCAA Tournament where they threw it the length of the court, came up with a loose ball, and laid it in in the final seconds to knock off Saint Francis 70-68. The other was a triple overtime thriller in the NIT where Chattanooga held on to win at Middle Tennessee.
San Diego State was blown into the sun by North Carolina 95-68 and the game wasn’t even that close.
Tonight we have Mount Saint Mary’s facing off against American. Unlike the teams in the First Four game from last night, American was a conference frontrunner for most of the year. Mount Saint Mary’s really wasn’t, but they were 11-4 in post-January basketball so they were at least one of the better teams in the MAAC throughout the second half of play.
In the other game we see another team that many feel did not belong in the field in Texas. They face a Xavier team that did not get it going until post-January, but has looked like an NCAA Tournament caliber team for the last month or so. If Xavier can play like they have been, they may be able to go beyond the Round of 64. Or, the Texas team that many feel shouldn’t even be there could end up winning in another blowout.
As far as the crowd that is now saying “SEE! IT LOOKS LIKE NORTH CAROLINA BELONGED IN AFTER ALL!!” Ummm….no they didn’t. That is stupid logic, and here is why…
Teams need to win during the regular season to make the NCAA Tournament!! It isn’t about what they can do or what they might do! It’s about what they DID! North Carolina didn’t do enough! Even if they were good enough, which it looks like they were, they still shouldn’t have been there in the first place. And…let’s test the premise of that! A team like Kentucky was clearly good enough to make the Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight a year ago. But, they lost in the Round of 64. Should they have been allowed to play in the Round of 32 anyway?? Yeah, they didn’t win the game they were supposed to win to get there, but they were still good enough ton win in the Round of 32!! So, why not let them re-enter the tournament?? That would be ridiculous!! So is saying a team that shouldn’t be in The Tournament, but ends up winning a game or two, is proof they should have been there!
Some other exciting action tonight is…
-North Alabama going to Bradley. North Alabama is a recent transitional team who had a fantastic year in the ASun and nearly made the NCAA Tournament themselves. Bradley, of course, was hovering around the bubble for much of the season along with Drake.
-Furman at North Texas is an incredible game. Neither team made the field, but these are two teams that we thought would be in position to pull an upset in the Round of 64 if they had gotten there.
-Northern Iowa was red hot in the latter part of the season, and SMU was solid as well and on a lot of people’s boards for a long time. That should be a good game.
-Utah Valley blew through the WAC regular season but wasn’t quite as talented as Grand Canyon when push came to shove. They face a San Francisco team that is also incredibly talented and who looked like an NCAA Tournament caliber team during several stretches.
