Final Four Predictions

Final Four:

Butler beats Michigan St.
Duke beats W. Virginia

Championship:

Duke beats Butler

South Region: Second Weekend Review

After being the region in which nothing really went according to plan in the first weekend, the three matchups in Houston last weekend all went to the favorites. Purdue, who wasn't supposed to even win a game in the tournament without the services of Robbie Hummel, "surprised" the nation with two wins in white jerseys and earned a Sweet 16 game vs. the Dukies. Meanwhile, Baylor took care of business and were to meet up with surprise St. Mary's and their "superstar" Omar Sandman Samhan in Houston, only like two miles from their campus in Waco, TX.

I guess it's "Texa" now. Must have sold the rights to the "s" to Jerry Joness.

Not gonna say much about the Baylor/St. Mary's game because it was pretty much over before it started. The Bears had a 46-17 lead at halftime and won 72-49. Samhan had 15 pts and 9 reb, but who the hell cares? The Gaels were out-everythinged and, even though I did not watch one second of this game, were clearly overmatched. If St. Mary's can recover from losing Samhan's 21 ppg and 11rpg (as a graduating senior), they should be pretty solid year next year.

Pretty big IF.

Duke and Purdue played one hell of an ugly great game. Both teams shot under 40%, there were 41 total fouls called, and the first half featured 47 total points, but this is what March is all about. Purdue held fort against the Blue Devils in the first half, but Duke just had too much talent to be bottled up and Purdue did not. Coach K's bunch had 24 from Singler, 18 from Scheyer and 15 from Smith for 57 of their total 70 points, while Purdue had 23 from Johnson and 18 from Moore for 41 of their total 57 points. In short, Purdue had one less weapon than Duke...

Because he was on the bench.

With Baylor playing so close to home, they had the advantage that could hurt Duke (all five losses in road games). The first half was full of momentum swings, including a run by Baylor at the end of the half to take a 35-32 lead into the break. Baylor outshot Duke (46%-36%) but were outrebounded by the Blue Devils (41-35) and shot ten less foul shots than Duke (29-19) and that was the difference. Baylor was called for a technical foul with about 80 seconds left and the Blue Devils secured an eight point win to reach the Final Four.

So... are you cutting anything in particular?

Midwest Region: Second Weekend Review

It's funny how one afternoon a cinderella team can knock off the best team in the country, then turn around four days later and lose to a team without its best player. Oh well, such is life sports. Michigan St. had lost Kalin Lucas halfway through their previous game vs. Maryland, but pulled it out on a buzzer beating three. All signs pointed to N. Iowa, who thoroughly outplayed the #1 team in the tourney, to keep the unlikely story going into the Elite 8. Oh, how we underestimate the man in the Izzone.

All the guy does is freaking win.

Without its leader, point guard, leading scorer, etc. the Spartans were down 29-22 at half due to N. Iowa's suffocating D and Michigan St.'s ineptitude putting the ball in the basket. Well, Izzo must have kicked somebody in the ass during the break because Michigan St. came out hot and tied the game up soon after the second half started. The Spartans held off the Panthers through the rest of the game, with the help of some N. Iowa missed foul shots in the last few minutes and advanced to the Elite 8.

Again...

Meanwhile, Even Turner and Co. were poised to run shit in this region after Kansas went down. Too bad Tennessee had been playing its best basketball of the year. I honestly only saw the last few minutes of this game and do not have any idea what happened before there. The Vols outrebounded the Buckeyes 36-23 and even though Turner went berserk (31 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast) he missed a three at the buzzer (which he probably got fouled during), and down went Ohio St. The most bizarre thing was Turner's reaction to the final; he walked off the court without acknowledging any of his teammates or Tennessee players and did not seem to come back to shake hands. I lost a little bit of respect for Turner, similar to the respect I lost of Brett Favre when he went to the Jets.

Still a great player though.

Amazingly, this was Tennessee's first ever trip past the Sweet 16. They haven't been an outstanding program over the years, but it is still kind of unbelievable. Meanwhile, this was like Michigan St.'s 76th straight Elite 8 appearance. The two teams came out hotter than hell. It's not like there was bad defense being played, but for the first five or six minutes, neither team could miss, literally. I think the two teams combined to score on each of the game's first 13 possessions, unreal. The first half was wildly entertaining, including some sick alley-oopskis to J.P. Prince.

Crazy shit dude.

But after the first half fireworks and a 41-39 Tennessee advantage at the break, the teams realized that defense would win this game. I missed the entire second half, but rumor has it that the game was tied with a few seconds left and Raymar Morgan was fouled shooting under the basket. He made the first and intentionally missed the second. After a timeout, the Vols missed a half court heave and the game, and the net went to the Spartans for the second consecutive year.

"AGAIN?!"