What a weekend!
The first weekend is over, and it was bloodier than a video game. Ain't it great?
First off, mega props to Mr. Anonymous from Waukesha, WI for having the guts to come right out and challenge me on my UW-Milwaukee pick. You get the first ever Official Sports Sauna Towel Award for Achievement in a Tiny Blog. Actually, I'm trying to bribe my way to a ticket to UW-Milwaukee game. Last season I went to a couple U of Buffalo games, so I know how fun it is to cheer for a good mid-major team. Was Waukesha rocking when Oklahoma tumbled or was it too busy enjoying Carroll College's first ever trip to the NCAA Division III tournament?
My brackets are in pretty bad shape, as usual. I would say the biggest surprise was the UNC loss. Clearly, Roy Williams, like Jim Boeheim, is a great coach who occasionally fails to have his team mentally prepared for the NCAAs. Oddly enough, however, they do this in completely opposite fashions. Jim Boeheim is incredibly laissez-faire, business as usual about the tournament. The man knows more about the college basketball scene than any other coach, so you can be sure he has the team prepared strategically. But emotionally, its up to the leaders on the team and perhaps the assistant coaches to provide the motivation. This strategy was DIRECTLY responsible for SU's victory over Roy Williams's Jayhawks in 2003. My friends who went down to the game saw the Orange running amuck on Bourbon Street the night before. Then they came into the first half completely loose and built up a lead that would prove to be insurmountable.
Meanwhile, Roy had his Jayhawks wound up so tight they couldn't even hit free throws. I know that before he lost his title, Roy would talk all season about how much he wanted to win a title. Much more than other coaches. But Kansas just kept getting upset. Well, Roy pulled it off last year, despite my skepticism. But now he loses again to a team he shouldn't lose to, with a team that has a lot of talent. I dunno what to think. His best coaching job ever, but it ends with another choke.
Speaking of best coaching jobs ever, Thad Matta and the Buckeyes went down as well. But don't give me that "the Big Ten was overrated" crap. You can't judge a conference by the NCAAs. Last year, two Big Ten sent two teams to the final four, after a sub-par regular season and everyone said they were underrated. I think you judge a conference by its overall head-to-head record with other conferences. A lazy way to do that is to just look at conference RPI, which is a measurement based on who you play and how you do. So I think the Big East and the Big Ten were the best two conferences this year. Individually, all of the Big Ten teams and many of the Big East teams did pretty lousy in the tournament this year. I guess the only lesson is not to pick your brackets by conference.
I'm down to 5 teams left from my original pool of 8 that I thought the eventual champion would come from. Duke, Memphis, Gonzaga, UConn, Villanova. I still believe it. I can't believe Texas will hold on much longer. I'm excited about the Gonzaga-UCLA matchup...if any team snuck up on me this year its the Bruins, but I'm still not convinced they're championship-caliber. And I think Villanova and Uconn are on a collision course.
So let's make some more picks, shall we? Call it a 2nd chance bracket offering. Here's your Elite Eight results:
Atlanta
Duke over West Virginia
Oakland
Memphis over UCLA
Washington DC
UConn over Wichita St.
Minneapolis
Villanova over Georgetown
And the Championship game
Villanova over Duke
That's right. I just like the feeling I'm getting from Nova these days. I think the Ray Allan eye thing really brought a close team even closer. They have the heart to beat UConn and the talent to beat Duke. Plus, I can root for them because they're not the Hoyas or the Huskies. And Nova student Jamey was always my favorite of my little brother's friends.
First off, mega props to Mr. Anonymous from Waukesha, WI for having the guts to come right out and challenge me on my UW-Milwaukee pick. You get the first ever Official Sports Sauna Towel Award for Achievement in a Tiny Blog. Actually, I'm trying to bribe my way to a ticket to UW-Milwaukee game. Last season I went to a couple U of Buffalo games, so I know how fun it is to cheer for a good mid-major team. Was Waukesha rocking when Oklahoma tumbled or was it too busy enjoying Carroll College's first ever trip to the NCAA Division III tournament?
My brackets are in pretty bad shape, as usual. I would say the biggest surprise was the UNC loss. Clearly, Roy Williams, like Jim Boeheim, is a great coach who occasionally fails to have his team mentally prepared for the NCAAs. Oddly enough, however, they do this in completely opposite fashions. Jim Boeheim is incredibly laissez-faire, business as usual about the tournament. The man knows more about the college basketball scene than any other coach, so you can be sure he has the team prepared strategically. But emotionally, its up to the leaders on the team and perhaps the assistant coaches to provide the motivation. This strategy was DIRECTLY responsible for SU's victory over Roy Williams's Jayhawks in 2003. My friends who went down to the game saw the Orange running amuck on Bourbon Street the night before. Then they came into the first half completely loose and built up a lead that would prove to be insurmountable.
Meanwhile, Roy had his Jayhawks wound up so tight they couldn't even hit free throws. I know that before he lost his title, Roy would talk all season about how much he wanted to win a title. Much more than other coaches. But Kansas just kept getting upset. Well, Roy pulled it off last year, despite my skepticism. But now he loses again to a team he shouldn't lose to, with a team that has a lot of talent. I dunno what to think. His best coaching job ever, but it ends with another choke.
Speaking of best coaching jobs ever, Thad Matta and the Buckeyes went down as well. But don't give me that "the Big Ten was overrated" crap. You can't judge a conference by the NCAAs. Last year, two Big Ten sent two teams to the final four, after a sub-par regular season and everyone said they were underrated. I think you judge a conference by its overall head-to-head record with other conferences. A lazy way to do that is to just look at conference RPI, which is a measurement based on who you play and how you do. So I think the Big East and the Big Ten were the best two conferences this year. Individually, all of the Big Ten teams and many of the Big East teams did pretty lousy in the tournament this year. I guess the only lesson is not to pick your brackets by conference.
I'm down to 5 teams left from my original pool of 8 that I thought the eventual champion would come from. Duke, Memphis, Gonzaga, UConn, Villanova. I still believe it. I can't believe Texas will hold on much longer. I'm excited about the Gonzaga-UCLA matchup...if any team snuck up on me this year its the Bruins, but I'm still not convinced they're championship-caliber. And I think Villanova and Uconn are on a collision course.
So let's make some more picks, shall we? Call it a 2nd chance bracket offering. Here's your Elite Eight results:
Atlanta
Duke over West Virginia
Oakland
Memphis over UCLA
Washington DC
UConn over Wichita St.
Minneapolis
Villanova over Georgetown
And the Championship game
Villanova over Duke
That's right. I just like the feeling I'm getting from Nova these days. I think the Ray Allan eye thing really brought a close team even closer. They have the heart to beat UConn and the talent to beat Duke. Plus, I can root for them because they're not the Hoyas or the Huskies. And Nova student Jamey was always my favorite of my little brother's friends.
posted by Prof. A at 11:27 PM
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