1st Weekend of the NCAA Tournament

by Brandon Hurley

As usual, we got a taste of some excitement over the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. Most of the top seeds struggled on in the second round except for UCONN, who blew out a solid Texas A&M team, 92-66, after coming off a 56 point smackdown over sixteen seeded Chattanooga. Louisville slithered their way from an up and coming mid major power house, Siena. North Carolina had to rely on banged up point guard Ty Lawson in order to sneak past LSU, and Pitt got a giant game from Sam Young dropping 32 points and also received a few clutch baskets from point man Levance Fields to overcome the fight of the Cowboys from Oklahoma State.

While on the topic of the no. 1 seeds, I believe Ty Lawson showed absolutely no signs of his toe injury. When the Tar Heels needed a basket, Lawson pulled a quick crossover and used his speed to get to the rack. After a few plays mid way through the second half I had already forgotten about his injury showing us why he won ACC player of the year. The Heels are a completely different team with Lawson in the lineup. He makes them run like a well oiled machine. Now if he can stay healthy for the rest of the tournament there is no doubt UNC will reach the Final Four. They only have to get past Gonzaga and either Syracuse or Oklahoma.

Even though Louisville struggled in their first two games I still have no doubt they will run through the rest of their bracket. They have nothing to be concerned of because, T-Will, Terrance Williams, had another NBA caliber game dropping 24 points while snagging 15 boards and knocking done four trey balls along the way, and Earl Clark had a double-double as well pulling down 12 rebounds and adding 12 points in the win against Siena. I see the Cardinals making the Final Four but they will get tested by Arizona and the winner of the colossal coaching matchup of Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans and Bill Self's defending champion Kansas Jayhawks. Each of these games Lousiville will have to fight to pull out the victory but I don't see anyone being able to bring them down. Pitino's squad just has too much overall balance for anyone to keep up. If T-Will isn't getting his points he can affect the game in other areas with steals and assists.

Then on the other side of the bracket, Pitt looks to have the tougher road to Detroit. The Panthers have to face a Xavier team out of the Atlantic 10 that is totally outmatched. They don't have enough players to shut down Dejuan Blair down low, Young on the wing and Fields at the point. They only way I can see Xavier pulling the upset is if the fairy godmother comes out of nowhere and blesses the Musketeers with superior shooting ability and Blair is eliminated from Pitt. Other then that it's highly unlikely that Xavier gives Pitt a fight for the entire game. The elite eight game is where it gets dicey for the Panthers. They have to face either either Villanova or Duke. I definitely see Nova over Duke with the way they are playing, but if the Dukies hit a hot streak anything can happen. Now when Nova gets past Duke, it's nearly a toss up from here. The Wildcats beat Pitt at home earlier this year and this game is in Boston, so the crowd will most likely be split. It's tough to say who will win, but if Nova keeps shooting like it did against UCLA, and Dante Cunningham keeps roaming the paint down low, and Pitt continues its struggles, I could very easily see Nova punching it's ticket to Detroit.

No doubt UCONN has the easiest route of the four top seeds. They face a slow Purdue team in the Sweet Sixteen, then face either Mizzou or Memphis in the elite eight. Memphis hasn't really been tested in the last two months besides it's opening round matchup against upstart Cal State Norhtridge who gave the Tigers a giant scare and Mizzou can play with anyone because of their pressure D, but they can also get blown out like they did at Phog Allen Field House against Kansas about a month ago. So UCONN should make the final four with relative ease, especially after not even having to play their starters the whole game for either of the first two games.

For those harping that the Big Dance doesn't have anymore stunning upsets, I say to them, big deal. The NCAA was made to settle who the best team in the nation is, and if a fifteen seed doesn't beat a two seed every year it's nothing to cry about. We got our fair share of first round upsets with thirteenth seeded Cleveland State blowing out fourth seeded Wake Forest, 12th seeded Arizona taking down fifth seeded Utah, even though that wasn't much of an upset because 'Zona was actually favored in Vegas, 11th seeded Dayton knocking off sixth seeded West Virgina, 12th seeded Western Kentucky upsetting a five seed for the second year in a row against the Fighting Illini of Illinois and 12th seeded Wisconsin beating fifth seeded Florida State. The upsets haven't been major, but they have been there. If you really know basketball, you will appreciate the top seeds moving on. So what if it is chalk? It makes for good basketball games between great teams. We don't need a George Mason going to the final four every year. Parity is good, but the reason most people watch the NCAA tournament after the first two rounds is because they want to see the best teams in the nation face off against eachother. What game would you rather see, Cleveland State vs. Western Kentucky, or North Carolina vs. Pitt? Case and point. If it was the regular season, nobody would even watch that first game probably just the fans of the team. Prennial powerhouses are what people want to see, not the Horizon League versus the Atlantic Sun. It has no draw to it.

Even the games that weren't upsets were exciting. Gonzaga had to come down to a last second layup to beat Western Kentucky in the second round, Utah State missed a three pointer near the end of the game and Marquette escaped with a first round victory, then staged a monstrous comeback behind the courageous play of senior guard Dominic James only to fall short to Missouri in the second round. Michigan State held off an upstart USC team behind a career high 18 points of Travis Walton to give Izzo another trip to the Sweet Sixteen, and Oklahoma held off a feisty Michigan team. Heck Duke pulled a typical coach K style game getting favorable bounces and calls to knock off a very underachieving Texas team. Scheyer's save was an incredibly lucky and skillful play. Then to make matters worse Texas is out rebounded one Dukie while they had three guys lined up around him. The Sweet Sixteen is filled with many coaching geniuses which include; Izzo, coach K, Self, Jamie Dixon, John Calipari, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim and Mark Few. Not only is the Sweet Sixteen loaded with talented players, but also with bright minds, so settle in and enjoy some more exciting March Madness in the weeks to come.