everything that's on my mind
(as if there's not already enough people doing this)Friday, March 17, 2006
Dance : day two
My brackets condition has worsened. The doctors say it's not going to make it.
Atlanta
Only one real surprise here, and that is the last second 3 by Northwestern State that beat Iowa. I guess Indiana fans still want Alford to come home, but he's not really done anything significant in the tournament yet. And, of course, I picked Iowa in the elite this year. Thanks, Steve.
Seems I heard several people pick SIU over West Virginia, I guess since nobody would be surprised by WVa this year (and please, people, stop using Pittsnogle as a verb.) Mild upset with NC State beating Cal (who I, of course, had in the sweet 16), but I was glad to see the ACC team win. Texas struggled with Penn, but it seems nobody really blows out an Ivy League team very often.
Oakland
Memphis, who people have called (and rightfully so, in my opinion) the weakest #1 seed, actually had the largest margin of the 1 seeds, I believe. Some said ORU would give them trouble, and they did, but only for about the first 15 minutes. Bucknell pulls off the upset for the second straight year (although 9 over 8 is not really much of an upset). I thought Arkansas would not be surprised by them - since they'd upset Kansas last year - and would pull it out. But great 3-point shooting by Bucknell and horrible free throw shooting by Arkansas pretty much was the story there.
Pitt handled Kent State pretty easily (or so it seemed while watching the score change in the upper section of my TV screen.) And speaking of Bucknell, not only did they repeat their first round feat of last year, so did their opponent from last year - Kansas. Kansas loses to Bradley and for the second straight year has gone home after game one.
Minneapolis
Villanova, like the other #1's, played a relatively close game with Monmouth, while Arizona hammered Wisconsin. I haven't seen Arizona play this year so have no idea when they look like and whether or not they can play with Villanova. Georgetown and Ohio State won with relative ease. There's really not much to say here, because none of these games were really upsets (9 over 8 doesn't count).
Washington
The days of #1 seeds blowing out #16 seeds seems to be over. All four 1 seeds had relatively competitive games. Duke, Memphis and Villanova all kept theirs relatively comfortable - around 10 or more points - through most of the second half.
Connecticut, however, managed to find themselves behind by 12 points with 12 minutes to play in the game. And Albany held that lead until around 6 minutes or so, when Connecticut finally tied it, before winning by double digits. Connecticut has been criticized for uninspired play at times this year, and for "taking off" parts of games. They apparently did so in this game, and they came close to making history, as a #16 has never beaten a #1. If Connecticut continues to try to just "turn it on" when they need it, they'll be going home earlier than everyone has predicted, because everyone they play henceforth will not only be better than Albany, but will be better with each game. I still say they won't win it all.
Kentucky got a measure of revenge for losing as a #1 seed to UAB two years ago, by beating the Blazers in the 8-9 game. I picked UAB, but I really thought Kentucky would probably win. Yeah, I realize that doesn't make any sense. UNC also had a tough game with Murray State. I'll be interested to see how their freshmen do going forward. However, they'll get another low seeded team next, as George Mason took out Michigan State, a team that returned a lot of players from their final four team last year, but hasn't really played that well all season.
Final thoughts
It was an exciting first two days, and noticably missing so far are blowouts. They used to be more common. The upsets seem to be occuring at about the same rate, I suppose, but blowouts by higher seeded teams seem to be far less common, especially among the 1, 2 and 3 seeds, where they are most likely. Looking forward to Saturday and Sunday.
Atlanta
Only one real surprise here, and that is the last second 3 by Northwestern State that beat Iowa. I guess Indiana fans still want Alford to come home, but he's not really done anything significant in the tournament yet. And, of course, I picked Iowa in the elite this year. Thanks, Steve.
Seems I heard several people pick SIU over West Virginia, I guess since nobody would be surprised by WVa this year (and please, people, stop using Pittsnogle as a verb.) Mild upset with NC State beating Cal (who I, of course, had in the sweet 16), but I was glad to see the ACC team win. Texas struggled with Penn, but it seems nobody really blows out an Ivy League team very often.
Oakland
Memphis, who people have called (and rightfully so, in my opinion) the weakest #1 seed, actually had the largest margin of the 1 seeds, I believe. Some said ORU would give them trouble, and they did, but only for about the first 15 minutes. Bucknell pulls off the upset for the second straight year (although 9 over 8 is not really much of an upset). I thought Arkansas would not be surprised by them - since they'd upset Kansas last year - and would pull it out. But great 3-point shooting by Bucknell and horrible free throw shooting by Arkansas pretty much was the story there.
Pitt handled Kent State pretty easily (or so it seemed while watching the score change in the upper section of my TV screen.) And speaking of Bucknell, not only did they repeat their first round feat of last year, so did their opponent from last year - Kansas. Kansas loses to Bradley and for the second straight year has gone home after game one.
Minneapolis
Villanova, like the other #1's, played a relatively close game with Monmouth, while Arizona hammered Wisconsin. I haven't seen Arizona play this year so have no idea when they look like and whether or not they can play with Villanova. Georgetown and Ohio State won with relative ease. There's really not much to say here, because none of these games were really upsets (9 over 8 doesn't count).
Washington
The days of #1 seeds blowing out #16 seeds seems to be over. All four 1 seeds had relatively competitive games. Duke, Memphis and Villanova all kept theirs relatively comfortable - around 10 or more points - through most of the second half.
Connecticut, however, managed to find themselves behind by 12 points with 12 minutes to play in the game. And Albany held that lead until around 6 minutes or so, when Connecticut finally tied it, before winning by double digits. Connecticut has been criticized for uninspired play at times this year, and for "taking off" parts of games. They apparently did so in this game, and they came close to making history, as a #16 has never beaten a #1. If Connecticut continues to try to just "turn it on" when they need it, they'll be going home earlier than everyone has predicted, because everyone they play henceforth will not only be better than Albany, but will be better with each game. I still say they won't win it all.
Kentucky got a measure of revenge for losing as a #1 seed to UAB two years ago, by beating the Blazers in the 8-9 game. I picked UAB, but I really thought Kentucky would probably win. Yeah, I realize that doesn't make any sense. UNC also had a tough game with Murray State. I'll be interested to see how their freshmen do going forward. However, they'll get another low seeded team next, as George Mason took out Michigan State, a team that returned a lot of players from their final four team last year, but hasn't really played that well all season.
Final thoughts
It was an exciting first two days, and noticably missing so far are blowouts. They used to be more common. The upsets seem to be occuring at about the same rate, I suppose, but blowouts by higher seeded teams seem to be far less common, especially among the 1, 2 and 3 seeds, where they are most likely. Looking forward to Saturday and Sunday.
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