Brackets were crumbled well before today.
The Kansas game was disjointed by all the fouls. I don’t think the refs were awful, but they dictated how the game was played.
In spite of the mess upsets have made of people’s brackets, I have actually done pretty well on my ESPN bracket. My percentile ranking is 98.7 and I am leading my group. This is in spite of the fact that my eventual winner is already toast.
The ACC is down to only two teams, Pitt and Miami. It will be embarrassing if the ACC gets shut out of the sweet 16, but the narratives that the ACC was down were pretty accurate with only one top 4 seed earned and blueblood UNC watching (or not watching) from their couch.
Today is all about chalky matchups with only Pitt and the darlings of FDU as carryover high seeds. I don’t think either of them have a real shot at advancing further.
And another #2 seed bites the dust! I did not expect Michigan State to make the Sweet Sixteen this year but as he often does, Izzo has his team tournament ready once again. The Spartans pull off the upset of Marquette and now move on to face the #3 seed Kansas State.
🔮🔮🔮
I think Gonzaga beat UCLA last night on the ultimate “no no no no no no YES” shot. Dude had a foot on the half court “March Madness” logo when he fired.
Coach will either kill or kiss him, no other options available.
Zags had a timeout right before that play, and I think that’s the play Mark Few called. But maybe not from THAT deep – like in the play he wanted them to do, he had the guard get a little more penetration and maybe inside the three point line and then the scoop pass/screen for the three attempt from about 20-25 feet.
Ah yeah, I can see that. But hey, if your guy goes under on your screener and you’re feeling it, in 2023, you shoot that thing.
Well, unless your Russell Westbrook, maybe.
I also think Few wanted his guys to take advantage of some surprise there. There were 12 seconds on the clock, so maybe UCLA is thinking that the Zags make a couple of passes to find the best shot they can much later in the clock. Plus it’s a 1-point game, so Gonzaga doesn’t NEED a three.
So maybe UCLA is thinking that’s going to be a standard criss-cross guard move…so the defender goes under the screen and…well, there you go.
They ran almost the exact play Villanova did to win the National Championship six years ago.
That dude basically quick-pitched the UCLA defense.
Great analogy.
I also think Gonzaga gave UCLA a WAY too good shot at the end with 1.1 seconds left in the game.
I was impressed that UCLA got off a decent desperation shot without a timeout (they had none). That was clearly well practiced.
UCLA is also probably having flashbacks to a couple years ago:
The UCLA guard who brought the ball up after the long shot should never have stopped. That’s a “get to the rim or die trying” moment. If you get called for a charge, so be it - but make the ref make a decision.
There has never been an NCAA Tournament in the modern era with no number one seeds advancing past the Sweet 16. Until 2023, maybe.
Aztecs send Bama packing. That’s three number ones out. And Houston is getting run out of the gym by Miami.
2006 was the only year without a number one seed in the Final Four. In that year, though, Duke lost in the Sweet 16, and then UConn, Memphis, and Villanova all lost in the Elite 8.
The Ivy League right now has more teams in the tournament than the Big 10 and the SEC.
The favorites have become an endangered species. Good show by Miami repping the ACC. The Big 10 has been a fraud in the tourney for decades now. They consistently get tons of invites every year but no Natty since 2000.
Bama being out is ideal.
Left side of the bracket: Creighton, SDSU, FAU, K State. Not exactly Murderers’ Row, but one of those teams will play for the title.