NCAA Tournament

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well today is the first day so far there are two pretty good games on. NC State and Cal are fighting it out in the East, Cal has a 6 point lead right now. But the big game is in the midwest, Holy Cross is giving Marquette fits right now this could be a huge upset if HC wins. In the West bracket Gonzaga is winning by 11 or Cincinatti, so far a great day of college basketball.

[JMK]

Go UVM Catamounts!

[Figrin D'an]

Marquette advanced, although it was very close... Holy Cross once again shows that they are a very good small school program.

Cal/NC State are in OT.

[Jedi Master Carr]

HC came very close, Cal and NC State is now a free throw contest. Gonzaga has a three point lead with less than 30 seconds left.

[Jedi Master Carr]

What an ending for Cal NC State hit a 3 to take the lead than Cal hits a three to basically win it. Wow. Gonzaga just won by 5.

[CMJ]

The California - NC State game was thrilling.

Gotta love March.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Best game so far, the Marquette-HC game looked too but I didn't see much of that. BYU is giving UConn some trouble right now but I still think Uconn has too much for them.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Ugly starts for the 2 #1 seeds SC State is leading 7-3, it took Oklahoma 5 minutes to hit anything. Arizona and Vermont are tied at 7 not sure if either team will stick around but it should be interesting.

[JMK]

103 years since Vermont's last appearance in the NCAA tournament. I hope they don't get crushed after one game. :\

[Figrin D'an]

Looks like Arizona has started to open up the can on Vermont.

And UConn is up 11 on BYU.

[CMJ]

I really thought Southern Illinois was gonna pull their game out.

[Figrin D'an]

Originally posted by CMJ
I really thought Southern Illinois was gonna pull their game out.

The Salukies got screwed... that "block" with 4 seconds left was either a no-call or a charge. His feet were set. Granted, I picked Mizzou, so I'm happy they advanced, but S.I. has a right to be ticked off, IMO.

[CMJ]

I thought it was a charge all the way. :\

BTW I'm 5-2 so far. How's everyone else doing?

[Figrin D'an]

6-1 in the early games... I had NC State over Cal, and for moment, I almost had that one too... :\

[Admiral Lebron]

I think I'm pulling about average at the moment. I was really hoping Holy Cross would win.


Edit: I'm like 5-5 right now... :\

[Jedi Master Carr]

I am 7-5 right now, the upsets that I thought would happen didn't and then some liek Central Michigan and Arizona St, which surprised me. I am surprised by no big upsets, especially in the 4,5 games, so far 4 of them have won, there are still 4 left though and Notre Dame is playing now they could easily go down.

[Jedi Master Carr]

There is at least one upset that is going to happen, Tulsa is killing Dayton in the first half, so one 4 will go down today, probably, Duke and Kansas, Notre Dame are in tight games but all of them have 6-7 point leads.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Kansas and Notre Dame won very close games, ND should have lost theirs how did that guy miss that shot? The other two games are kind of close Duke is up by 7 and Tulsa is up by 9.

[Figrin D'an]

UWM blew so many chances against Notre Dame... if they would have capitalized on some of those turnovers they forced, they would have won by about 10. :\

[Jedi Master Carr]

I know I guess it was the luck of the Irish JK. Duke has their hands full right now only up by 6 and Colorado State is playing pretty good. Also Dayton is gotten within 5.

[Figrin D'an]

Man, Duke could be in serious trouble... up by two, but Colorado St. is going to the line...

[Jedi Master Carr]

Looks like Duke is going to escape, this is just like the ND game they commited too many turnovers for them to win.

[Figrin D'an]

Looks like the Dookies are gonna pull out the win...

Probably would have busted a lot of peoples brackets if they lost...

[Figrin D'an]

There have been so many really close scares for high seeds today, but very few actual upsets...

The only game I really would consider to be an upset was Arizona State over Memphis. I can't really for Central Michigan beating Creighton... CMU is very underrated.

If Tulsa beats Dayton, that'll be the biggest upset of the day, by far.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Yeah it would but they are only up by 3.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Looks like Tulsa is going to pull it out up by 6 with less than 30 seconds left. I will post the numbers for everybody in a second. I will also put up Saturdays games so you can pick them if you want.

[CMJ]

If I counted correctly..I went 9-7 today. I picked some upsets that didn't come through...

[Figrin D'an]

Given that there was only one really significant upset, there will probably be a slew of them on Friday... :p

[Jedi Master Carr]

I know it sometimes works that way.

[Figrin D'an]

Booyah!

Purdue 80
LSU 56

:D

Now... they get to be run over by Texas...

:(

[Figrin D'an]

With Utah beating Oregon, that means that all of the 9 seeds beat the 8 seeds. Wonder when that last happened? o_O

[CMJ]

After the day games I now stand at 14-10.

[Figrin D'an]

17-7 so far for me.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I am stinking it up today went 4-4 through the first games, I need Butler to pull the upset, they are give Miss. St trouble right now, UNC Willmington to win, and Indiana to come back in the second half or I am screwed. Man there have been no huge upsets this year, I guess if Maryland and Miss. St lose that would be big but not like previous years.

[Figrin D'an]

It's been a very upset-free tournament so far. There have been some really close scares for some high seeds, but that's about all. The lowest seed to advance so far is Tulsa (#13). Beyond that, it's CMU (#11), 2 #10's (Arizona St. and Auburn) and all the #9's, but those are hardly upsets, IMO.

Looks like Butler is the last hope for a sigificant 1st Round upset.

[Figrin D'an]

OMG! What a shot by Drew Nicholas! Maryland squeaks by!

[CMJ]

I know...incredible shot. I have Maryland making the Final Four so I was sweating. On the other hand I woulda liked to see the upset.

I think I went 8-0 in the night games..which would put me at 22-10.

[Figrin D'an]

24-8 after the first round... unbelievably, I had the entire South bracket right.

[Admiral Lebron]

OMG!!! We won. That was close... Goldsberry with his devil worshipping ways... 8 three pointers in a row... Maryland did pretty well to win against that. I'm estatic.

[imported_Grev Drasen]

I look forward to seeing Kentucky and Utah, only for the simple fact that Rick Majuers absolutely hates playing Kentucky (as should every coach, but Utah's coach more so than others).

Today's game with Kentucky wasn't even worth watching, 95-64? It'll be fun to see what kind of fight Utah puts up.

Other than UK the only real team I'm keeping an eye on is Arizona, and I'm seeing them vs. Kentucky in the final four. Naturally I'm rooting for UK to take it all (being from Kentucky and all) but if Arizona somehow squeaked by I couldn't say I'd be disappointed with them winning it.

[Figrin D'an]

I'd kind of like a one of the slightly lesser regarded teams to go on a run and take the title... like Pitt or Marquette or Wake Forest. Not that I hate teams like Kentucky or Arizona, but they've won it all recently (ie. within the last 10 years). I like it when the wealth gets shared a little.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I would too, I like to see somebody smaller win it. At least Butler won so we have a had a few upsets. I have been thinking couldn't this be more trouble for the bigger teams because they will be facing better teams like an Illinois vs a Western Kentucky, I just mean I think Illinois has a better chance of beating Arizona than Western Kentucky.

[CMJ]

Illinois barely squeaked by WKU. The Hilltoppers represented the Sunbelt very well. :D

[Jedi Master Carr]

Oh I am not dissing Western Kentucky :) Also I was wrong about Illinois anyway Notre Dame really out played them, actually I think I was the only one to pick Notre Dame I could be wrong but I think I was, that was just hard pick though on paper both teams are evenly matched. The question now is, is Notre Dame playing like they did in the early part of the season? If they are they could be very dangerous from here out.

[CMJ]

The Irish win the first game of the day. The Big East is looking great so far.

[Figrin D'an]

And may they get crushed by Arizona in the Sweet 16. :D

[CMJ]

Provided the Wildcats get past Gonzaga. ;)

I'm actually looking into going to the West Regional. Anaheim isn't too far from Los Angeles. Provided I can get reasonable tickets.

I know someone who's a Kansas alum. I figure I can con her into taking me if she goes. ;)

[Figrin D'an]

UConn and Marquette both advance. Marquette scored 101 points, 21 in OT to beat Missouri. :eek

[CMJ]

Marquette looked GOOD.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Uconn looked good too I think they might be a surprise team too. I think Notre Dame can beat Arizona, if they play like they did today they could.

[CMJ]

After last night, I'm 28-13. That Gonzaga AZ game was one of the best I've ever seen, bar none.

[Admiral Lebron]

Butler just beat Louisville 78-71. Hopefully they will beat Oklahoma too.

[CMJ]

Good to see a true honest to God Cinderella advancing so deep in the tourney. Not only are they a low seed, they're ALSO from a "Mid-Major" conference.

[Admiral Lebron]

All four fourth seeds are out... and Maryland is pwning Xavier 45-28 at the half.

[Admiral Lebron]

Maryland wins by 13... on a sadder note Wake Forest is out to Auburn by 6.

[Figrin D'an]

Texas 77
Purdue 67

:\

They hung in there, at least. It was within 2 points with about 2:30 left to go, but then some bad turnovers combined with Texas hitting their freethrows down the stretch sealed it. Very physical game... lots of fouls. Neither team shot the ball that well.

Purdue loses Willie Deane and Darmetrius Kilgore to graduation, but everyone else will be back, and a healthy Kenneth Lowe will help them significantly (that brace he was wearing today was hella weird... I don't know how he could move his left arm.) They should be better next year, and at least they got two games of tourney experience under their belts.

[JMK]

That Gonzaga/Arizona game had my heart pounding. I have no vested interest in either team, but that was incredible to watch.

[Figrin D'an]

35-13 after the first two rounds... not too bad...

[Jedi Master Carr]

Actually Wisconsin is 4th seed and they are still around. Also what about the big East, 8-0 in the tourney and get 4 teams in the Sweet 16, the most of any conference. I think they have a good chance of getting one to the Final Four. Watch out for Pitt, their defense is incredible, UConn and Notre Dame both could surprise people and Syracuse has one of the best players in the tournament, I think it should be very interesting.

[Figrin D'an]

Wisconsin a #5 seed. The #4 in the Midwest was Dayton.

Agreed, the Big East is putting on quite a show. I was impressed with Syracuse' comeback. They looked liked were going to role over in the first half against Oklahoma State. Pitt is excellent team, but freethrow shooting is going to kill them eventually. Marquette is going to seriously test them. Notre Dame relys a bit too much on their outside shooting. If Thomas and Carroll go cold, their offense shuts down. I like Syracuse chances, because Boeheim will have them ready to play... he's a tremendously underrated coach... and I like UConn because of their balance, and Okafor on the inside.

How about Auburn? Probably the last team in the tournament, taking a lot of criticism about how they don't belong, only to knock off Wake Forest and get to the Sweet 16.

Maryland is starting to look more dangerous now as well. That first round scare, and needing the buzzer beater by Nicholas to win, woke them up. They beat a very solid Xavier team.

Some really interesting matchups in the Sweet 16... not going to be easy to pick.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I guess I was wrong about Wisconsin. Michigan State looks dangerous too I think they could go deep. About Notre Dame I think they could shock Arizona but if they get cold they might be in huge trouble. UConn has a lot of balance but they are a young team which should really help them next year, since Gordon and Okefor are both coming back.

[CMJ]

Hmmm 32-17 through two rounds. I lost one of my Final Four picks, but I'm doing okay overall.

[imported_Grev Drasen]

Originally posted by JMK
That Gonzaga/Arizona game had my heart pounding. I have no vested interest in either team, but that was incredible to watch. Yeah, that's easily one of the best games in the tourney I've seen yet.

[CMJ]

Seriously...best game I've seen in the college basketball in years. It had everything...

[Admiral Lebron]

I wholly believe Maryland will pwn Michigan State.