South Region: First Weekend Review

First of all: Why the hell was Duke ranked ahead of Syracuse in terms of #1 seeds? But I digress...

Even though Duke may not have deserved to be ahead of Syracuse, they sure took care of business. The Blue Devils whooped on (play-in game winner) in the first round then handled a surging Cal team in the second. Now they travel to Houston to take on Purdue, who shocked the world and did not get upset. Pretty much everyone on earth, except for this kid, had Purdue either bowing out to #13 seed Siena in the first round, or to Big 12 surprise Texas A&M in the second.

No idea who this is.

Well, the Boilermakers squeaked past both of those opponents and now have their hands full with Duke. Without Robbie Hummel and with limited service from point guard Lewis Jackson, Purdue took down two weaker opponents but will they be able to defeat such a solid team in Duke. The only chance Purdue has is if Jon Scheyer plays like he has in the first two rounds. He has been subpar, but the frontcourt carried Duke through the first two rounds. If Duke's guards do not step it up, Purdue will make them pay.

Vintage. Sick.

The first Big East team to go down was Notre Dame, although I thought the Irish might have been a tough tournament team the way they were playing. Unfortunately for them, they ran into perennial powerhouse Old Dominion and Luke Harangody did not show up until there was one minute left. Meanwhile, Baylor beat Sam Houston St. and then continued on vs. Old Dominion to get to the Sweet 16 without even playing a team from a power conference.

Old Dominion's starting five.

The first game of the tournament featured underdog Robert Morris and (overrated) Villanova. Long story short, Robert Morris got robbed. It was literally the worst, most one-sided, officiating I have ever seen in a college game and Villanova still needed overtime to beat the Colonials. Robert Morris legitimately outplayed Villanova on this day and deserved to win, but was robbed of a chance to win by the referees. I would love to see a soundbite of the Colonials' coach Mike Rice after this game, but I am sure he just locked himself in a padded room and just yelled for a few hours to relieve the frustration.

Seriously, Rice almost left the stadium.

In my bracket, I picked Richmond to beat St. Mary's and then take down Villanova in the second round, but I did not realize how shitty Richmond was, or how good St. Mary's was. Omar Samhan ran shit in the first round, totally dominating the Spiders' defense and the Gaels cruised to a comfortable win. When St. Mary's met Villanova in the second round, it was a total mismatch. Even though the Wildcats were a #2 seed, they were one of the coldest teams in the country, and even though the Gaels were a #10 seed, they were one of the hottest. Long story short, Samhan was dominant and the Gaels moved on to the Sweet 16, to meet Baylor in Houston this Friday. Yikes.

Good... Luck... There...

West Region: First Weekend Review

The West seems like the region that all goes according to plan.

Jimm. Er.

So far there have only been two upsets in this region. Pretty much the only exciting thing to happen was some guy on BYU named Jimmer Fredette. His name... is Jimmer. How freaking awesome is that? Jimmer and the Cougars beat Florida in 2OT in the first round, but then bowed out to Kansas St. in the second round because Jacob "Abe Lincoln" Pullen scored 34 points including seven threes. I am not sure how good Kansas St.'s front court is, but Pullen and Clemente alone may be good enough to win the Wildcats a few more games.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Conclusion: Absolutely sick.

Pitt easily beat Oakland in the first round while Xavier survived a tough matchup vs. Minnesota. When they met in the Round of 32 on Sunday it was a rematch of last year's Sweet 16 game when Pitt squeaked by and move on the Elite 8. Both of these teams are not as good as they were last year, but with each team's season on the line it turned out to be a great matchup. Simply put, Pitt missed a ton of short shots and Xavier made a ton of tough, contested shots. That was the difference and Pitt missed two potential game-tying threes in the final five seconds and lost 71-68.

Stupid gold jerseys...

At the top, Syracuse took care of business for two games without Onuaku by beating the #16 seed and then whooping Gonzaga. Murray St. knocked off overrated Vanderbilt on a buzzer beater in the first round, then bowed out to 22-game winning streak Butler. In the next round, most people will say Butler has no chance, and I am one of them. Syracuse saw Kansas go down and there is blood in the water. Some say Kentucky is the favorite, but I believe the Orange are the most complete team remaining in this tournament, assuming Onuaku comes back this weekend.

Poor little fella.

Midwest Region: First Weekend Review

Kansas is gone. Michigan St. is still alive. Georgetown was crap.

About 8,000% of the brackets had Kansas winning it all, however, Kansas failed to survive the weekend. They ran into a "dangerous" N. Iowa team with a real life neanderthal, a legit wolfman and a guy named Farokhmanesh. Oh yeah, the "h" is silent. The thing was that Kansas did not come to play and N. Iowa did, and they were good enough of a team to hold off the Jayhowks when they made a late surge. There were so many 50/50 rebounds that Kansas did not seem to want throughout the game. Sure they could have played like this and beaten Nebraska, but N. Iowa was 29-4 coming into this game, and regardless of whatever shit league they are from, this team knows how to win.

Look at these sexy boys.

Michigan St. survived its first round game with the help of a... questionable lane violation call, then played run and gun with Maryland for 40 minutes until some dude hit a three from the top of the key to send Greivis Vasquez back to... wherever he is from. The big story is that, according to Tom Izzo, there is an 85% chance that Kalin Lucas has a torn Achilles. Even if he just has a sprained ankle, he will be out this weekend. Who knows? Maybe N. Iowa will be favored against the Spartans? That would be pretty cool. Tom Izzo is a great coach, but I am sick of Michigan St. making it far in the tournament with a mediocre team. On a related note, N. Iowa's nickname should not be the Panthers, it should be the Purple _______. Just a thought.

"Damn youuu Achilles!!"

How about we get this straight: Georgetown was not a good team. Sure, they went on a run in the Big East Tournament, but they should not have been a #3 seed. Their defense is crap, and little John Thompson is a very overrated coach. Do not get me wrong, they should have not lost to Ohio, but to have any legitimate tournament expectations for the Hoyas was a mistake. Meanwhile, #6 seeded Tennessee took care of business against San Diego St. although most people were calling for the upset. This season, Tennessee beat the likes of Kentucky and Kansas by outplaying them, while Georgetown beat teams like Villanova, Syracuse and Duke by outscoring them. Therefore, Tennessee wins games in the tournament, while Georgetown gets knocked off.

Yeah, maybe back in 1924...

There is not much to say about the bottom fourth of this bracket. Georgia Tech knocked off Oklahoma St. but who cares. Meanwhile Ohio St. struggled in its first game and in its second game, but with Kansas out of the picture the Buckeyes are the clear favorite to take the Midwest. They need a little more consistency from Evan Turner and others, considering their bench is very slim, but I think they can do it. Some teams struggled this weekend and were knocked out, but Ohio St. did not play their best and still pulled out two wins. With three practice days to figure out a game plan against the Tennessee press and athleticism, Ohio St. should take down the Vols.