Friday, April 11, 2003
Issue # 19.6.2 "That's a Wrap"
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CERRITOS, CA (smt) -- Jim Boeheim waited 27 years but a third time's a charm, winning his first ever NCAA title. The third-seeded Syracuse Orangemen had to beat #1E-Oklahoma, #1-S-Texas, and #2W-Kansas, who some thought deserved a #1 seed. The tourney featured just 1 of the top 4 teams of the South and two double-digit seeds from the East making the Sweet 16. Three #1 seeds fell in the Elite 8 and no #1 seed made it to the Final. The tournament saw 18 of 30 conference tournament winners not finish first in the regular season (and none of the 31 automatic qualifiers made the Final Four), 8 of the top 11 (and 13 of the top 18) teams in the last AP poll prior to the conference tournaments lose their last game of the regular season, and seven teams making their first NCAA tournament appearance.

So, after much delay, my thoughts on the tournament:

SQUEAKING BY: For the finalists, Kansas barely held off #15W-Utah St. in the first round and Syracuse nearly blew a 17-pt 2nd half lead to #10E-Auburn.

TRYING TO GIVE IT AWAY: Syracuse, in the championship game, missed getting seven free points (missed 5 of last 6 free throws, including two misses on the front end of a 1-on-1) in the last few minutes in their squeaker win over Kansas.

GAVE IT AWAY: Kansas, in the championship game, missed 13 of 17 free throws in the second half in losing by just three points to Syracuse.

GREATEST ENDING I SAW: Drew Nicolas' (Maryland) no-time remaining running 3-pt shot to beat UNC-Wilmington in the first round.

GREATEST GAME I NEVER SAW: Arizona-Gonzaga, 2nd Round. Double-overtime. Numerous chances to win for both teams at the end of each half/overtime period. Does anyone have a tape?

BIGGEST CHOKE: Tulsa blowing a 13-pt lead to Wisconsin with 3:45 left in the 2nd Round.

BONUS POD SYSTEM: In addition to making the top seeds play close to home in the first and second rounds, #1S-Texas and #3E-Syracuse enjoyed 3rd/4th round home court advantage as well in going to the Final Four with #3MW-Marquette playing closer to home in their matchup with #1MW-Kentucky to also advance to the Final Four.

COOLEST NAME: IUPUI (I've heard called "ew-ee-poo-ee").   Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Jaguars.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Creighton, "the best mid-major team in the tournament". Lost in first round. #2 seeds Wake Forest and Florida losing in the 2nd Round.

BEST HAIR?: Not enough game watching to award this one.

And my final thoughts on the pool:

CONGRATS: Darryn ($280), John S. ($150), Quang ($100), Bing ($60), and Scott ($40).

AMAZING PICKS: Fernando (GALAXY) and Dan (BY SEEDLINGS) both had Syracuse in the Final Four (with Fern having them win it all) but unfortunately, neither had Kansas and/or Texas in the Final Four, leaving them with nothing. Two each picked #7S-Michigan St. and #3MW-Marquette to reach the Elite 8.

BIZARRE AND SURPRISING PICKS: Despite the love for fan-favorite Gonzaga, just one picked them to beat Arizona in the 2nd Round. Which I can understand but one did pick Kentucky (someone had Oregon into the Final Four (SUSIE Q)) to not make the Sweet 16. BLUEBERRY had #4S-Stanford and #7MW-Indiana in her Final Four (along with #4S-Stanford and #5E-Mississippi St), which for a nanosecond thought would happen after she went a perfect 16-0 on Day 1.

WHAT HAPPENED?: With just one #1 seed making the Final Four (and the unlikeliest in Texas), a record 26 people had none of their Final Four teams correct. It has only happened 26 times in the previous 8 years!