Down to 16

Thoughts on the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament


It seems like the Clemson vs. West Virginia game was a microcosm of the last 10 years for Clemson basketball. They start off strong, and then people realize they are not that good and they lose.


To quote the immortal Dennis Green, Clemson “WAS WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!”


Why did I pick against Butler? Don’t pick against Butler unless it is a lock. I should know this by now.


Would anybody be real surprised if Butler beat Pitt? I could see it. (Yes, I wrote this Thursday. I promise)


Louisville started that game like an Iowa team coached by Todd Lickleiter.


Kenneth Faried is fun to watch. Could be the next Ben Wallace, except not near as big of douche. I still blame Wallace for the Malice at the Palace. Well, him and the voices in Ron Artest’s head.


Knowels getting hurt is going to kill Louisville. He has been everywhere on defense.


Peyton Siva really took that game over at the end. Could he have looked off the defender at the end and hit the guy under the hoop who was wide open? Hard to tell.


Taylor Battle finally gets national attention. Good for him.


Wow, Fernandez from Temple was totally trapped and made that game winner by the defense letting up.


Damn Kentucky. Thought Princeton would have the upset of the tournament. Wasted all their magin on Harvard.


Wow, Uconn looked absolutely great against Bucknell.


There are three teams I never ever bet on, unless they are a top three seed: Vanderbilt, Clemson, and Utah State. This has been my rule for a few years, and has worked wonderfully.


How much does the big guy from UCLA weigh? I liked him.


Worst year in Izzo’s tenure at Michigan State. There were deeper problems on that team than just what we saw on the court. Glad I picked against them.


I always pick against Xavier and they always do the opposite of what I pick. IF I ever bet on Xavier or Villanova, they will inevitably screw me, and it would be wise for everybody else to do the opposite of me.


Tennessee looked just awful. Pearl may be on his way out. That would be a shame for Tennessee basketball. Wonder where he will go? It won’t take long for him to find a job I can guarantee you that.


There is usually one game a year that makes me glad I spent so much time watching regular season basketball because I feel like I know something the casual fan doesn’t. What was that game this year? Gonzaga vs. St. John’s. The Johnnies have played to their competition all year, and were not a great team. And Lavin has never been a good tournament coach. Thank you Zags.


Arizona vs. Memphis is what all first round games should be. Exciting.


Jesus Christ Illinois.


Nobody, I repeat NOBODY, saw VCU getting to the round of 32. Apparently the Vegas “sharps” were feeling USC. Missed that one. The big winner of the VCU vs. G-Town game was the Tournament Committee.


On to the Second Round


I m not liking this scheduling the NCAA did. I am not in favor of the single games during the day and then overloading the games at night. It has its advantages, but overall I’d rather have them staggered throughout the day.


Kentucky has some talent, but I wasn’t overly impressed with either team. West Virginia was not a great team this year and really hung with the Wildcats.


Florida vs. UCLA was pretty boring, until the end. Nice ending.


Is anybody else not impressed with Kawhi Leonard? He looked very sub-par against Temple. Reggie kept saying how he should be the one with the ball, and he didn’t see it at the end of regulation or overtime. SDSU didn’t impress.


Morehead State just couldn’t shoot well enough to hang with Richmond.


OHHHHHH BUTLER!!!!


I will never bet against Butler, I will never bet against Butler, I will never bet against Butler.
It is easy to say someone like Reggie Miller is my idol, but in reality, I was never going to be an NBA superstar. At this point in my life, even though I get ideas some days, I am not striving to play in the NBA. Brad Stevens is my actual idol. I aspire to be Brad Stevens.


Ref’s made the right calls in the Butler game. Dumb play by Mack, and dumb play under the basket by Pitt.


I think everybody needs to stop grilling Jamie Dixon for having the Pitt guys on the line for the missed free throw that Howard was fouled on. If Pitt had a lead, of course they wouldn’t have been there, but, the game was tied with, what, 1.8 left? Missed free throw and put back wins it. Those guys have to be smart enough to not foul 90 feet from the basket. I would have kept them there too.


Jimmer is the player of the year. BYU looked good.


Kemba is the player of the year. He carried the young Huskies again. Sorry Jimmer.


Kemba’s performance was inspiring. He was a warrior tonight. I haven’t had a man crush on a college basketball player like this in a long time. More on him later this week.


Wisconsin keeps hitting the shots they need. Any of the four teams in the Southeast could go to the final four and I wouldn’t be surprised. The funny thing is that all four of those teams might have already been eliminated had them been placed in a different region.


Washington may have just played the worst final 30 seconds of a game ever. First the inbounder telegraphs his pass horribly. Then they threw up that “shot” from half court with three seconds left. Just awful. I hate North Carolina.


Michigan just hangs around.


I liked the look that Morris got to tie the game for Michigan, but, if you are Michigan, who has already overachieved this year and have a chance for a three to beat the defending champs, don’t you have to go for the W? I would have liked to see Hardaway or Novak get a shot for the win. Either way, John Beilein is a great coach.


Ohio State looks good. Keep it up Buckeyes. Make me look smart.


I have a lot of thoughts on the Texas/Arizona game. 1) Rick Barnes teams are never prepared for anything. 2) Derrick Williams is good, but he needs to look to actually score more, instead of drawing touch fouls. 3) Terrible use of timeouts for Texas. The five second call lost the game for them. 4) Why did Texas walk the ball up with nine seconds left? Get a shot with like three or four seconds left so there is still a chance for put back, or a foul. Arizona had no time outs left. Stupid Texas.


Purdue, what the fuck?


Purdue and Syracuse going down within an hour of each other to two #11 seeds was incredibly damaging to my hopes of scoring over 78 points on my OldChicago bracket and getting a free pizza. In other words, Matt Painter and Jim Boeheim owe me roughly $15.


Even though I hate the Illini, I gotta cheer for the upset. Just to shake things up.


FSU got off to a hot start, but I won’t be surprised if the Irish make a comeback. Perks of being senior-heavy.


Butler vs. VCU Final Four? Yes, Please.


Final thought on opening weekend: I LOVE the NCAA Tournament. It is the best sporting event there is. The problem is that I am competitive. Really competitive. I spend so much time watching and studying basketball from November until March, and I want that to pay off in the form of a winning bracket. It never does. And I accept that. I really do realize that bracket pools are for fun and someone who hasn’t watched more than five games all year wins it. What angers me, is having to talk to these people and justify why they got a game right and I didn’t. I don’t have to defend my picks to them. Acting like they know stuff about Richmond. I could give them three names, let’s say Dino Flinstone, Jamal B Jammin, and Justin Harper, and ask which one actually played for Richmond, and most would get it wrong. But when it comes to pulling an upset out of their ass, they are experts on college basketball. No, dude, it was your year to get lucky. Congratulations. I really am happy the cards fell your way. But, just keep in mind, if this was like those old ESPN “knowledge” commercials, where the peoples “knowledge” was a fur ball thing, mine would be the Andre The Giant to your Mary Kate Olson from Full House. (Or Ashley if you prefer). So please just accept your winnings, admit it wasn’t really because of your expertise, that maybe, just maybe, you knew some stuff, but some stuff just kind of worked out (Fucking Pittsburgh), and move on. Brag all you want about winning, but don’t act like you knew Purdue and Georgetown would lose to VCU. You won, I lost. Congrats. See you next March when you watch basketball again. I’ll let you know if the rims are still 10 feet high.