Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Florida State Golden Girl Emily McManus

Posted on March 22, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Last Saturday Florida State beat UNC-Greensboro by 10 PTS in the 1st round of the NCAA tourney and will face Colorado in the 2nd round tonight. The Seminoles lost the ACC title game by 5 PTS to Georgia Tech but are 1 game away from making their 3rd straight Sweet 16. In addition to shining a light on the players who got the job done on the court, it is also important to recognize the spirited students who have worked just as hard on the sidelines, such as band members/cheerleaders/dancers. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Emily McManus about being a captain and not being able to join the basketball team in Indianapolis tonight.

You were born/raised in Florida: what made you choose Florida State? I toured all of the major universities in the state but FSU was the best. I saw the potential in the program and we are nationally-ranked so I wanted to come here for both school and dance.

You have been dancing since age 3 and this is your 4th year on the team: what is your favorite part about being a “Golden Girl”? We do a lot of different things but basketball season is my favorite part.

You are also a captain: what is the key to being a good leader? You have to put the team before yourself and do what is best for all 25 girls. You need to make them feel comfortable and push them to be the best: I try to keep them motivated throughout the year.

What does your team do at basketball games during a normal year? Normally we get to be in the corner near the basket and it is super-exciting. We do different routines during timeouts/halftime to show the crowd what we have been working on. We do war chants and t-shirt giveaways to get the crowd going and keep the atmosphere high. We also get to travel for the ACC/NCAA tourneys and support our team.

What do you think the role of a college dance team is today, and how has it changed over time? Some people have viewed dance teams as just the pretty faces on the sideline but we have evolved to become an important part of athletics and the university. We are always there to support as many teams as we can.

You are majoring in Criminology, minoring in Psychology, and are an investigative intern at the local Public Defender’s office: what made you choose those subjects, and how do you like the internship? My mother works in the legal field so I have always had an interest in doing that and have always enjoyed my classes. I got the internship last summer but it was postponed twice due to COVID. I am getting a lot of hands-on experience and am expanding my horizons beyond dance.

Your post-graduation plan is to study for the LSAT while hopefully becoming an NFL cheerleader: where do you want to go to law school, and which team do you want to cheer for? My dad’s side of the family is huge Dallas Cowboys fans but I am also a Miami Dolphins fan. I will most likely stay in Florida for law school so my top choices are to stay here at Florida State or perhaps Florida International.

How do you like basketball, and is that your favorite sport? I love basketball and it is my favorite. I did not know much about it when entering college but it has been exciting to see the team progress every year: it is such a fast-paced sport.

Due to COVID your team has been unable to participate this season and you did not get to travel with the team to Indianapolis last weekend: how frustrating is it to be a dancer for a great basketball team during a pandemic? Frustrating would be an understatement! We really want to be there for the team every step of the way but it is out of our hands. We cannot cheer/practice/travel the same way but the team still has our support. I would like everything to be back to normal but there are bigger issues than us getting the chance to go see them play.

You are playing Colorado tonight: any predictions? We are winning and moving on! I have a lot of faith in our team: we are a bunch of fighters and I am ready to watch us win again tonight.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Florida State Golden Girl Emily McManus

Puppet Ramblings: Round of 32, Day 2

Posted on March 22, 2021 by David Griggs

-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.

Posted in News and Notes | Comments Off on Puppet Ramblings: Round of 32, Day 2

Puppet Ramblings: Round of 32, Day 1

Posted on March 21, 2021 by David Griggs

-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!!

Posted in News and Notes | Comments Off on Puppet Ramblings: Round of 32, Day 1

Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews UC Davis women’s coach Jennifer Gross

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Last weekend the UC Davis women’s team had a 19-PT win over UC Irvine in the Big West tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Aggies had to take 2 months off early in the season but won 8 of their past 9 games to get into the NCAA tourney for the 3rd time in program history. Earlier this week HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Coach Jennifer Gross about not playing for 2 months and making the NCAA tourney.

As a player at UC Davis you set school records with 448 career AST/300 career STL/163 3PM: what is the key to being a great PG? You need to have great relationships with everyone on the team. The PG is the leader on the floor and has to be a tremendous communicator. You need to take the time to get to know everybody and realize their strengths. It is your job to make everyone around you play better and be better. Sometimes this is done via urgent conversations in the middle of a possession and you need buy-in from everyone on the team to make sure they are all on the same page. It was important to me that my teammates trusted me to do everything in my power to help us be successful.

After graduation you played pro basketball overseas: what is the biggest difference between basketball in the US vs. basketball overseas? The game itself is different. I came from a program where we had “system basketball”, but when I went overseas it was a lot more position-less. As an American in Europe you are expected to do it all. The positives were living in a different country and experiencing a new culture. When I played in Denmark I made really good friends with people who still come to visit me in the US with their families. At UC Davis there was so much pride: I got so tingly when putting on my uniform because it meant so much to me, but in pro basketball players can bounce around from 1 team to the next. We work hard to build a really strong culture here but it was a little different overseas. It was a different role for me but I am really glad that I had the experience. It was life-changing to live in another country and meet new people so I am glad I did it.

In 2010 you married Joe Teramoto when you were both assistants on Coach Sandy Simpson’s staff: what is the best part of having your husband work for you as an associate head coach, and what is the not-so-best part? There are lots of great parts. Being a collegiate coach is not just a job but rather a life. It is a great life and we get to do it together. We try to build a family atmosphere and have been friends with the rest of our coaching staff for more than 2 decades. If I go on the road recruiting for 2 days and then come back and have to stay up late to watch film he will say, “Great: let’s do it together.” We have a really great balance between the job and our family so that both things get the attention they need. The only drawback is that it is hard to turn it off because we are constantly thinking about the team. That is where our kids come in: if we are watching too much film then our kids will come turn our computers off!

You implemented a Princeton-style offense that has allowed you to lead the league in FG% and 3P% during most of the past 7 seasons: how complicated is it, and what makes it so effective? When we 1st implemented the offense we were running a pure Princeton system and it was very complicated: everyone had to know how to do every skill and be great at playing every position on the court. Sometimes it could take half of the season just to figure out where to go. It is really effective because it is just action-to-action-to-action. You can pick off easy buckets on backdoor plays: it is like the dunk in men’s basketball. When we would make a backdoor play it would get our team hyped/fired up. We have tweaked the offense over the past 10 years. At 1st we felt that we needed it to create shots for our team, but over the years we have taken what we really like about the offense and just used certain actions. It lets freshmen come in and have an impact right away because they can just play basketball. We have a lot of freedom so if we do not get anything in transition we can get into a great half-court offense. It has been fun to tweak it every year: it has been an evolution.

You are the 1st coach in Big West history to win 4 straight COY awards and were a finalist for WBCA national COY in 2018: how have you been able to remain so successful over such a long period of time? A huge part of it is having a staff that has been together for so long. We have the longest-tenured staff in D-1 women’s basketball and are a family: we all have ties and really just enjoy being around each other. We have been coaching long enough that everything kind of flows: we do not need to have hour-long meetings about how to get things done and there is so much collaboration. Anytime you see a program with prolonged success it goes back to culture. Great players graduate and you have to be able to get through that with the next group. We have a culture of togetherness/selflessness that is built on great relationships that are built by all the coaches. The older players constantly talk to the younger players after hearing it from the players who came before them. There is not a lot of questioning about why we are doing something because of the trust/buy-in. We are hoping to play our best basketball in March due to the buy-in from the players to come in and improve. It is more organic now: Cierra Hall has become the master in the middle of the zone and distributing the ball.  She will put her arm around a young player, explain what is supposed to happen, and help them get better. Sometimes a player might not see a lot of playing time and upperclassmen will just tell them to stay the course because they have been there before. We stay drama-free because we have great people who really care about each other.

You won your season opener back on November 25th and then had 2 months off due to COVID before returning to the court on January 22nd: how disruptive was it, and what on earth did you do for 2 months?! It was challenging to play 1 game after training/practicing and being so excited to compete…and then getting shut down by the county. If we did not have the group of veterans that we have I do not know if we could have done it, but those kids got the team together and were all on the same page. To their credit they showed up every day with a smile on their face and were ready to get better. We improved each week and it was exciting. We have great leadership on our team and our staff constantly checked in on the players both physically/emotionally. The 1st month we were doing strength/conditioning because we were completely shut out of our gym. We could not do a lot and the players decided to focus on their academics/fitness. Once we got back in the gym through daily antigen testing it was exciting so we just tried to keep it in perspective and do whatever we were allowed to do that day.

Last weekend you had a 19-PT win over UC Irvine in the Big West tourney title game: what did it mean to you to win a title, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? Just pride and joy. We know that everyone has gone through so much this year and faced adversity in their own way. All we know is what we had to overcome. We tell our players to just focus on the details and how to build habits the right way and the process of what it will take to win. They really bought into that but came ready to improve every day and we said that good things will happen. To see them cutting down the nets made me so happy for the team.

SR F Cierra Hall was named tourney MVP: what makes her such a good player, and how was she able to play her best when it mattered the most? The layoff made us a little hungrier after being so tired of playing against ourselves and that feeling did not wear off. We were excited at getting the opportunity to play. Cierra is special because she does everything on the court: it has really been fun to be part of her growth. As a sophomore she faced people sagging off her and she got tired of that: now she is leading the league in 3P%! What a versatile player she is: she was a post player in high school and now she can play the PG or stretch-4 and guard the other’s team’s fastest player. She is a 2-way player and 1 of the smartest players that I have ever coached: we can have conversations during the game about switching up a coverage because we trust her completely.

You have only played 15 games this season: do you feel that your team is fresh or untested or something in between? I think that we have been tested. We had Stanford/Oregon State on the schedule that would have been great opportunities for us, but we were able to schedule Oregon and were tested a lot within our conference. Every team presents a different style of play. It was good for us to learn how to play back-to-back games, which is completely different than what we are used to. We have gained a lot of confidence through all of those tests. We have really tried to listen to our players about what they need. Sometimes it is a mental break and sometimes it is just, “How is your body?” We just played 5 games in 9 days but mentally I think that we are still excited/ready to keep the season going. The travel took a toll…but we were not thinking about that when we were cutting down the nets!

How do you feel about being a #12-seed, and what do you know about Missouri State? This is the 1st and probably only year where they will just seed everybody 1-64 without scheduling regionally. We are used to playing Pac-12 teams like Stanford so it is exciting to play someone completely different who does not know us very well. They are a very strong team and have a post-oriented system. They are really good on the offensive glass, which will be a huge key for us. We are hoping that we present some challenges for them as well. At this point we are grateful for the chance to play: there is a lot going on in the world and basketball is a way for our players to get an escape and be with their teammates/sisters. We look at this game as another opportunity to do what we love and will just have as much fun as we can and have the best experience. We will focus on playing hard and having fun.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews UC Davis women’s coach Jennifer Gross

Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Illinois cheerleader Becca Squier

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Yesterday Illinois beat Drexel by 29 PTS in the 1st round of the NCAA tourney and will face Loyola-Chicago in the 2nd round tomorrow. The Illini started 9-5 this season but won 15 of 16 since then as they try to reach the Sweet 16 the 1st time since 2005. In addition to shining a light on the players who got the job done on the court, it is also important to recognize the spirited students who have worked just as hard on the sidelines, such as band members/cheerleaders/dancers. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Becca Squier about being a captain and not being able to join the basketball team in Indianapolis this weekend.

You grew up in Elmhurst, IL: what made you choose Illinois for college? Both of my parents went to U of I so I grew up coming to basketball/football games. I have always loved the Illini but the deciding factor was making the cheer team. I was deciding between Illinois and Michigan State so once I made the team I decided to come here and am happy that I did.

You used to be a competitive gymnast and have been cheering for almost a decade: what is your favorite part of being a cheerleader? In college we get great opportunities: it is so fun to travel with the basketball/football teams. As a sophomore we cheered at Madison Square Garden for a basketball game vs. Maryland: we stayed in the heart of New York City for 5 days and it was awesome.

You have been a captain for the past 2 years: what is the key to being a good leader? Mostly it is about leading by example: being on time, working hard in practice, keeping everyone focused, etc. You have to be approachable so that your teammates know they can talk to you about anything.

What does the cheer team do at basketball games during a normal year? We sit under the basket and then go out during every media timeout for stunts/tumbling. We cheer at men’s and women’s games so we split up into 2 teams: the juniors/seniors usually cheer at the big men’s games but there is some inter-mixing. We cheer at every home game and only travel for Big 10/NCAA tourney games. We also do a halftime routine once/year to showcase all of our skills.

What do you think the role of a college cheer team is today, and how has it changed over time? I definitely think that cheerleading has evolved over time. The job is to still cheer on the team but it is more skill-based now than in the past. The tryouts get harder every years as boys/girls come in with more skills: you need to be very athletic.

You are majoring in Econometrics & Quantitative Economics: why did you pick those subjects, and what is the post-graduation plan? I like economics and want to work in IT on the business side. Econometrics gives me the best of both worlds with statistics/economics. I like math/numbers: it is a new major so it is cool to be part of the 1st class to graduate with that major. After graduation I will be working as an IT project manager with Zebra Technologies.

How do you like basketball, and is that your favorite sport? I love basketball! It is my favorite season and I grew up watching the Bulls/college basketball with my dad. March Madness is a big thing and is on TV all day.

Last Sunday the Illini had a 3-PT OT win over Ohio State in the Big 10 tourney title game: how excited was the student body after the win gave the team its 1st NCAA tourney appearance since 2013? It was crazy. I was actually at the Big 10 tourney…but not as a performer: the athletic department got tickets for all of the senior cheerleaders to attend, which was super-fun. There were so many Illini fans at the game: the crowd seemed to be all-orange. Everyone went crazy on campus: they stormed our quad and there were people everywhere in the streets.

Due to COVID your team has been unable to participate this season and you will not be traveling with the team to Indianapolis this weekend: how frustrating is it to be a cheerleader for a great basketball team during a pandemic? It definitely stings! It is awesome to see the team play so well so I try to see the bright side of it. Everyone at school is super-excited. It has been different but I still try to have fun with it while cheering them on from home.

You are playing Loyola-Chicago tomorrow: any predictions? I remember a few years ago when Loyola made the Final 4 but I am going for the Illini. There is always some controversy about who is Chicago’s team and I have some friends at Loyola so it a fun rivalry.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Illinois cheerleader Becca Squier

Puppet Ramblings: Round of 64, Day 2

Posted on March 20, 2021 by David Griggs

-Oral Roberts beat Ohio State in overtime.  Oral Roberts was the 4th place team in the Summit League, and I don’t think anyone on Earth (other than maybe Rocco Miller) gave them much of a chance of winning their conference tournament, much less advancing to the Round of 32.  They are a really good outside shooting team and we saw that yesterday in one of the more surprising upsets (at least to me) in Tournament history.

-North Texas was on fire at the end of the year, but so was Purdue.  I said that I thought North Texas had a chance to get through to the next round if they got the right opponent, but didn’t feel Purdue was the right opponent.  I was wrong again!  The game was close the entire way, but North Texas held the lead and then held on to win in overtime after Purdue tied the game and appeared to have the momentum with them.

-Florida held off Virginia Tech in another overtime game 75-70.  This was the first game of the day to tip, and it kind of set the tone for the rest of the day!

-Oregon State sprinted ahead of Tennessee and then stayed ahead of them the rest of the way.  These two teams were going in very different directions.  Oregon State had gotten off to a sluggish start to the season and finished strong whereas Tennessee seemed to be limping down the stretch.

-Loyola Chicago is back in the Round of 32 after knocking off Georgia Tech.

-Rutgers made the most of their first NCAA Tournament game in over 30 years by knocking off Clemson.  They are moving on for the first time in…well…I don’t know how many years.  I am happy for their program, BUT NOT HAPPY FOR CHAD!!!

-Many, including myself, were predicting Winthrop to “upset” Villanova, but it didn’t happen.  Nova held a lead for most of the game and basically controlled the latter part of the second half.

The chalk held in all the other games.  As for today’s action…

-The last time Colorado played a team that’s currently on the #12 line, it did not go well.  Oregon State blew them out in the Pac 12 Championship game.  Georgetown had a rather unimpressive year, but they finished the season strong and went on a rampage in the Big East Tournament to earn the automatic bid.  I’m curious to see if they can keep that momentum going.

-We expected a lot out of UNC Greensboro before the start of the year, and while they weren’t quite as dominant as we thought they’d be, they did win the SoCon.  Florida State is really good, though, and while I’m not going to say they don’t have a chance, it will certainly not be easy.

-Saint Bonaventure was a hard team to evaluate due to so few OOC games, but they definitely looked like the best team in the A10.  LSU had a good run through the SEC Tournament, though, so both teams are coming into this with a lot of momentum.

-UC Santa Barbara is a very dangerous team, and Creighton is a team that has a history of struggling in the NCAA Tournament.  I could see UCSB pulling the upset, and actually getting past the first weekend.

-Maryland and UConn are both teams that have shown they could win big games.  UConn hasn’t always been at full strength, but when they have they’ve been a completely different and far more dangerous team.

-Ohio U is a team that had some setbacks throughout the year, but when they were at their best they looked very dangerous.  They were very impressive in the MAC Tournament and had some moments of greatness early in the season as well.  The question is how will they play against Virginia’s pack-line defense.

-Drake had a big win in the opening round against Wichita State, but they’ll really have their hands full today against a USC team that once again looks like they are capable of winning games in this tournament.

-Missouri vs Oklahoma is a bit of a toss up.  Both had some monster wins this season, but both also had some setbacks and Oklahoma kind of slowed down at the end of the year.

-UCLA kind of fell apart at the end of the year, but they had an exciting overtime win against Michigan State in the First Four.  I think this BYU team is really good, though.  They were particularly impressive in their last game against Gonzaga, where they really competed with them for most of the game.

-Michigan vs Texas Southern, Eastern Washington vs Kansas, Iona vs Alabama, Grand Canyon vs Iowa, and Norfolk State vs Gonzaga all tip off today

Posted in News and Notes | Comments Off on Puppet Ramblings: Round of 64, Day 2