Yeah, they were really under seeded.
Sheee-it! State is running all over the Gophers.
Duke got out by a hairs breath from that game. Kudos to UCF for standing toe to toe and taking them to the brink.
Agreed. I loved seeing that Johnny Dawkins had his team ready to that extent. I just loved it.
It was a pretty tough game. I only saw a bit of it, but damn, what I saw was really good.
-xtien
By my count, there are no real Cinderella teams left, Oregon being the closest thing to one and I can’t see a team from a major conference with the added benefit of tons of Nike money as a Cinderella. I’ll take it though since it means Liberty didn’t make the sweet sixteen. When was the last time a tournament was this chalky after the first weekend?
Hi, this is once again the time for me to come in here and ignorantly proclaim it to be Gonzaga’s year! Sounds like this is almost plausible in 2019… didn’t they come in as the top-ranked team overall? But… are they really better than Duke? I have no idea, because I don’t follow the games until the Sweet 16! Go Gonzy (my alma mater)!
You are correct, sir! I heard one of the commentators say this is the first year all the 1s, 2s, and 3s, made it to the sweet sixteen.
No. They are fourth.
-xtien
Not sure, but the only Final Four I ever went to was the chalkiest of all chalk - 4 #1 seeds in 2008 - the only time that’s happened (probably with the caveat “since the move to 64”).
PS - posted this in the lawyerly law stuff, but applicable here:
The AAU coach in question is, according to ESPN, Gary Franklin who ran Cal Supreme out of the Los Angeles area for years and was recently cut by Nike.
While no specific players or college programs are mentioned in the indictment, Cal Supreme’s website features a list of recent alums who are prominent current and former college players — Brandon Williams (Arizona), Deandre Ayton (Arizona), Bol Bol (Oregon), Tevian Jones (Illinois), Jordan Schakel, (SDSU), Ethan Thomas, (Oregon State), Brandon McCoy, (UNLV), Justice Sueing, (Cal), Johan Matthews, (USC), DeAnthony Melton, (USC) and Milan Acquaah (Washington State).
“A suit and tie doesn’t mask the fact that at its core this was an old-fashioned shakedown,” U.S. Attorney Geoff Berman said.
If that list is indicative, Sean Miller is in trouble, and the rumors about Oregon in the Fed Adidas trial could be true…
Curiosity got the best of me and I had to look this up. Even in 2008, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers made the sweet sixteen and the Davidson Steph Currys made the elite eight (I believe that was the year there came within a hair of beating Kansas).
However, 2009 featured every 1, 2, and 3 seed in the sweet 16, two 4s, one 5, and one 12, but that 12 seed was Arizona. Satisfied that this was way more common than I thought I stopped looking, but it now would not shock me for there to have been a second weekend without anything worse than a 5 seed.
Edit: the worst seed in the 2007 sweet 16 was UNLV at 7. It did have some high-seeded mid-majors though, like Butler as a 5 and Southern Illinois (!) as a 4.
OMG, Duke survived another. VA Tech ran an excellent out of bounds play and was ohsoclose to tying at the final buzzer.
The past two days just completely blew up our fantasy team. 8/10 guys left going in, 2 left after. Lost our first and second round big guns tonight in Luke Maye and Cody Davis. (17 team league, 10 players a team).
To have any chance at all, we need MSU’s Henry to go off a couple more times like he did tonight.
After watching their last two games I am both thinking that Duke can be beaten and that they can’t be beaten in the tournament.
You know, it’s good to be good, but it’s also good to be lucky. If it ends up that Duke is both, then they’re unstoppable.
Wow. Gonzaga fell. What a shock.
-xtien
Great game.
Yeah, you’re right. And that out of bounds no-call after the block was sucky.
Watched Mark Few talk afterward. Class act.
-xtien
