Thursday, March 28, 2024 UPSETS RULE DAY, BUT CAN’T TOUCH UCONN Emmadness jumps to 1st but 13 others have better chance to win pool
EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) – #1E-UConn continued to dominate opponents, beating its 9th straight tournament team by double-digits, this time 30 over #5E-San Diego St. The rematch of last year’s final had the same result with UConn outscoring SDSU 29-13 to end the game to win 82-52. The other three top seeds didn’t have much luck though.
#4W-Alabama tried to keep pace with #1W-UNC in the first half as the Tar Heels hit 10/16 three-pointers. The second half saw ‘Bama fight back with its defense holding UNC to just 2/16 from three in the second half. Alabama’s Grant Nelson took control in the last five minutes with 12 points, 3 blocks, and one steal in the Razorback’s 89-87 win. After intentionally (well, he should have) missing the second free throw with less than a second left, he left no doubt of a chance of a Hail Mary 3/4 court game-winner by blocking the heave, which was pretty funny.
THREE #11 SEEDS JOIN #14 OAKLAND INTO 2ND ROUND A record 195 entries from 124 people with 20 teams picked to be champion
RECOERING FROM HONOLULU (smt) – #3S-Kentucky was the best 3-point shooting team in the nation but it was#14S-Oakland with 15 threes (10 (!) from Jake Gohlke, who came off the bench) to stun the Wildcats (who were 9/28 from three) 80-76. Three 11 seeds advanced with #11E-Duquesne, #11MW-Oregon, and #11S-NC State pulling off upsets. #9W-Michigan St pulled off the small upset (there were highly favored to win) but #10W-Nevada blew a 56-39 lead (getting outscored 24-4 the rest of the way) to #7W-Dayton and #10E-Drake blew a late 8-point lead to #7E-Washington St or it could’ve been worse.
A lot worse, as #4MW-Kansas nearly blew all of a 20-point second half lead (#13MW-Samford came with one with 5 minutes left) and needed a bad call to put away Samford. While the Kansas player fell on a dunk attempt, replays showed a clean block but a foul was called. That changed momentum and Kansas survived 93-89. #3MW-Creighton, #2W-Arizona, #1W-UNC, #3E-Illinois, #7MW-Texas (holding #10MW-Colorado St to just 11 points in the 1st half), #5MW-Gonzaga, #2E-Iowa St, and #2MW-Tennessee picked up double-digit victories.
SUNNY CHERRY BLOSSOM SEATTLE, WA (smt) – After the top 12 seeds failed to make the Final Four for the first time, let’s hope the seeding this year matters. Defending champ #1E-UConn was the #1 overall seed with #1W-UNC returning to glory as the last #1 seed. #1S-Houston and #1MW-Purdue returned as #1 seeds with Purdue getting a chance to wash away last year’s loss to #16 FDU. When #10aMW-Virginia lost to #16 UMBC in 2018, the next year they got a #1 seed again and won the title (2019). UConn is the only #1 seed to actually win their conference tournament (Big East).
There is no UCLA or USC but the Pac 12 did manage to get 4 teams in with #10bS-Colorado getting a First Four berth. Of course, the Pac 12 will just Oregon St and Washington St next year as 10 teams bolted to 3 different major conferences. All 3 got at least 5 teams in with the Big 12 getting 8, the Big Ten 6, and the ACC 5. The SEC also got 8 teams with the Mountain West getting a whopping 6.
Archive UCLA ROUTS (IN OVERTIME), USC BEATS OREGON License to ILL holds on to 3-pt lead while only 12 can win pool
RELAXING AT HOME, CA (smt) – The Pac 12 continues to roll on as #11E-UCLA, without its leading scorer who fouled out with 2:27 left in regulation, upset #2E-Alabama in overtime, thanks to the Tide missing 14 of 25 free throws including two with 6 seconds left. UCLA scored 23 points in overtime after scoring just 25 in the 2nd half. Alabama trailed 40-29 at the half and made adjustments to roar back to tie it at 40 but then regressed back to long threes and individual efforts again for some reason. After taking a 58-56 lead, Alabama missed four of their next six free throws, any one make and Bama’s Alex Reese’s near long 3-point buzzer beater (0.4 seconds left) would have been to win instead of a tie. Or with tighter and shorter shorts. A big call reversal with 1:54 left that gave the ball back to UCLA after a dribble went off the foot of UCLA but grazed the long shorts of Alabama. The Bruins will be joined by their cross-town rivals as #6W-USC (10/17 from three-point range) easily won the first battle of Pac 12 teams in the tournament, defeating #7W-Oregon 82-68.
Meanwhile, #1W-Gonzaga shot 60.7% in the first half to torch #5W-Creigthon and #1E-Michigan stifled #4E-Florida St. The Pac 12’s three teams (at seeds #6, #11, and #12) ties their record in ’01 (USC, Stanford, Arizona). The ACC has no teams in the Elite 8 for the first time since ’14. With the extended break (5 days vs 3-4) plus staying in the same city the whole time (vs flying back home), teams came out sluggish and forced the top seeds to pick it up in the second half.
Archive JUST 2ND TIME 7TH PLACE OFFERED For Bonus, all but two entries could guess conference wins correct
NOT IN EL SEGUNDO,CA (smt) – While the last tournament (’19) saw a record low seed total in the Sweet 16 (four #1, four #2, four #3, two #4, #5, #12) of 49, this year saw a record high seed total of 94 (three #1, two #2, #3, #4, two #5, #6, #7, #8, two #11, #12, #15) (was 89 in ’86). The four double-digit seeds are not a record (6) but it is nice that we have at least one #1-#8 seed (large-large-large-large straight) in the Sweet 16. While #1MW-Illinois bit the dust the other three #1 seeds are still chugging along, with #1W-Gonzaga getting #5W-Creighton, and if past that, Pac 12 winner between #6W-USC and #7W-Oregon. While there were four overtime games in the first 16 games of the tourney (including First Four), there have been none since. 9 of the past 10 have been double-digit wins. The Big Ten (9 teams before First Four) saw its first three teams bow out in overtime (including #2S-Ohio St to #15S-Oral Roberts, who are in the Sweet 16) and then 5 of 6 lose in the 2nd round. The Big 12 (7 teams) won its first 5 games and then lost 6 of the next 7. But the SEC, ACC, and Big East managed to two teams in the Sweet 16.
While you are taking an extended break (next game isn’t until Saturday!), take a listen to “Fall of the American Dream” (no, it’s not dire like that) from one of the unsigned bands Paul T (Poolraider (121st-T, 58 pts) helps promote (always his 3rd entry, Rebel Kicks (142nd-T, 55)), an alt-rock band from NYC). Though I prefer the acoustic version. Our 26th year saw a second-best 165 entries from 101 people. Of the 101, 20 entered twice and a record 22 entered three times. But thanks to all, we hit the magic number of 165 entries (I had to look at my own history links page to find out what I had set it to years back) which means we will have a 7th place prize (only other time was in ’17 when we got 178 entries). We will have eight money spots (top 7 plus Bonus) and we have $1,650 to divvy out. The top prize will be $640, $5 less than last year to accommodate the 7th place prize. The prize distribution is listed below and as always, all fee money goes into prizes. What’s the Bonus? Read on…
Archive THREE TRADITIONAL PAC 12 TEAMS CRUSH OPPONENT BamaG jumps to 1st but 6 others have better chance to win the pool
Game over despite 3.8 seconds left
EL SEGUNDO,CA (smt) – Traditional Pac 10 teams #7W-Oregon, #11E-UCLA, and #6W-USC ran all over their opponents while added Pac 12 team (along with Utah) #5E-Colorado got beat handily by #4E-Florida St. The Pac 12 got four of its 5 teams in the Sweet 16 while the mighty Big Ten (9 teams before First Four) is just left with #1E-Michigan, who had to turn a 5-point second half deficit into a comfortable victory. Oregon (finally playing after winning the first round by forfeit) broke a 46-46 tie by scoring the last 10 points of the half and never let up against #2W-Iowa, UCLA scored 18 straight points and led by as many as 26 in their win over #14-Abilene Christian, and in a game you had to see to believe, USC scored the last 11 points of the first half and then built as much as a 35-point lead over Oral Rob…, oh wait, over Norfolk St, oh wait, it was #3W-Kansas. Kansas who had never lost a tournament game by more than 18, got routed by 34. It was such a shock, the timekeeper left and didn’t even run down the last 3.8 seconds, leaving it to the refs to call mercy and end the game.
Archive 3 DOUBLE DIGIT SEEDS + RAMBLERS MAKE SWEET 16 License to ILL remains in 1st but lost champ Illinois
DREAMING THROUGH AN UPSET, CA (smt)- So this was the morning I was going to sleep in, after working most weekends the past month, to get some good REM sleep. I mean, #1MW-Illinois was the first game. So if my phone was buzzing, I didn’t hear it. Woke up and saw #1MW-Illinois was upset by fellow Illinois-team #8MW-Loyola Chicago. And not really close at all, never letting the Illini get closer than 7 in the second half. Sister Jean apparently gave a pre-game speech and magic happened. The Ramblers were a top 10 team by statistics, which no one believed, and thus made an 8 seed. They now get #12MW-Oregon St who withheld several rallies by #4MW-Oklahoma St to keep the Pac 12 perfect (6-0, 7-0 including First Four). Elite 8? We’ll see.
Two other double-digits seeds advanced with #11MW-Syracuse nearly blowing a late 9 point lead to beat #3MW-West Virginia (battle of the 900 win coaches) and #15S-Oral Roberts overcoming an 11-point deficit with under 10 minutes left to stun #7S-Florida. Oral Roberts becomes just the second #15 seed in the Sweet 16 (Florida Gulf Coast ’13). #10MW-Rutgers nearly joined them but blew a 9-point lead with under 5 minutes left as #2MW-Houston scored the last 7 points of the game (making just one shot, 5 points on free throws) in losing by 3. Rutgers did the “prevent defense” which took them out of their rhythm, trying to hold the ball before the shot clock ran out, scoring just two points in the final 4:55.
RECAP OF FIRST FOUR, THE GREATEST UPSET, AND SISTER JEAN At least $56 will be donated to World Vision; over $705 donated in 8 years
EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- Apparently the Selection Committee did watch Pac 12 basketball because they shafted one of the big 5 conferences for a good reason — they suck. With any respect, USC would be easily in, UCLA and Arizona St would be 8/9 seeds, and Arizona, as the conference and tournament champ, would be at least a 3 seed. Nope. No USC, UCLA and Arizona St relegated to the First Four games, and champ Arizona dropped to a 4 seed and not in the West. Well, the committee knew what it was doing as #11bE-UCLA choked down the stretch against #11aE-St. Bonaventure, 65-58, and #11aMW-Arizona St lost a close one to #11bMW-Syracuse, 60-56. This was the first time a conference had two teams in the First Four and now have the distinction as the only conference to have two losers in the First Four in the same year. UCLA’s Aaron Holiday was a turnover machine (10 of UCLA’s 20 total) including three in the last 30 seconds after the Bruins had rallied to tie the game at 58. Arizona St had a 7 point lead with 7 minutes left before Syracuse, the last team in, went on an 8-0 run. Certainly, the Pac 12 basketball teams matched the horrible post-season Pac 12 football had.
#16bE-Radford slowly outscored #16aE-LIU Brooklyn 12-3 in the final five minutes to get their first tournament win, 71-61. There were 42 fouls and 30 turnovers in this grudge fest. #16bW-Texas Southern broke open a 10-10 game and never looked back in routing #16aW-NC Central, 64-46. Like a few of the Southwestern Athletic (SWA) Conference teams, Texas Southern played their first 13 games on the road against top teams and went 0-13 to start but won when it mattered, in the SWAC championship game and in the First Four game, their first ever tournament win. Texas Southern’s 0-13 start was the worst ever for a tournament team and they became the first sub .500 team (15-19) to win a tournament game. NC Central lost their second straight First Four game (last year).
The greatest upset is one of those “where were you when it happened” and I’ll always remember being at the Black Angus in Buena Park with my family and watching the game on the NCAA March Madness app on my iPad Air 2. Stunned. I even tweeted a cryptic message: Watch TV now. History in making? for anyone who didn’t bother to watch another #1 seed trash a #16 seed. The way #16S-UMBC played was fun to watch, they never took the gas off the accelerator that most big programs do when they have a double-digit lead with 10 minutes left. Kept the pressure and #1S-Virigina never responded. Virginia wasn’t a #1 seed, they were the #1 overall seed, and despite losing a bench player who was just 4th on the team in scoring, were still heavily favored to make the Sweet 16 before they had to worry about not having De’Andre Hunter on the bench. In fact, I compiled a few of the predictions below from all over the spectrum, post-Hunter injury. The most interesting was the swarm concept as a bunch of people individually moved a token toward the most likely scenario, in this case Virginia – High Confidence. The concept here as that as everyone is moving their token to that spot, some will Continue reading »
