Forget Christmas. MARCH is the most wonderful time of the year....at least for sports fans. It's the time of year when everyone can come together, share predictions, yell at the television, and win/lose money. Hearts are crushed and dreams are made as 64 college teams from around the country battle to become #1. Brackets are handed in, and the first 2 rounds are completed. The sweet 16 is set. Although, nothing too unusual in the first weekend of play.
The only big back breakers were courtesy of #12 seed Arizona, #13 seed Cleveland State, and #12 Wisconsin, all in the first round. Both Cleveland State and Wisconsin were huge shockers. Cleveland State could have played their bench, and still beat their opponent, # 4 Wake Forest, who might as well not even have showed up. Same goes for Arizona. They whooped up on # 5 Utah whose defense did not live up to reputation. This does not come as a huge surprise considering everyone thought Arizona deserved a better seed to begin with. Wisconsin, however, won an overtime nail-biter against Florida State who actually made it to the ACC Championship this year against Duke. Many thought Florida State would have no problem beating a #12 seed such as Wisconsin, but it's called March Madness for a reason.
Despite 3 big upsets in the first round, nothing too crazy happened in the second round of play. Arizona did wind up playing Cleveland State, and winning. Duke, a #2 seed this year, managed to narrowly escape Texas towards the final minutes of the the second round. Also, #4 Gonzaga, a team that roughed up Akron in the first round, barely squeezed out a 2 point win with .9 second left on the clock against a possible Cinderella in Western Kentucky.
What really concerned everyone is the intensity of the higher seeded teams. Pittsburgh, a #1 seeded favorite to possibly win the tournament has trailed late in both games they have played. Pittsburgh came together in the final minutes, but it is really scary seeing a #1 seed scratching and clawing to beat a lower seeded team. DeJuan Blair is able to dominate the glass, but I'm not sure if that will be enough for the Panthers against a tough #4 Xavier.
Preview of Sweet 16
Some very hard match-ups are coming up, and can make or break anyone's bracket. An aggressive #3 Villanova will take on #2 Duke. It's Coach K's opportunity to prove President Obama wrong. North Carolina will have to prove that they are the nation's best team with Tyler Hansborough and Ty Lawson against #4 Gonzaga. Syracuse looks like they are barreling through everyone in their sight, especially after their 6OT win late in the season. That seems like trouble for one of the best athletes this year in Blake Griffin, who averages 22.5 points per game for #2 Oklahoma.
Other games include #1 Louisville who has been looking like Pittsburgh, but it should not be anything to worry about considering they are playing #12 seed, Arizona. Michigan State vs. Kansas is another battle between a #2 and #3. Kansas won the national championship last year, and they are looking to defend their title, and are looking to play a seriously aggressive game against State. The last two match-ups between UCONN/Purdue, and Missouri/Memphis will most likely be overlooked this weekend, but I think they will be something to talk about.
Who will be this years hero? Which teams will crumble and fall? How many buzzer-beaters, or Overtime wins will there be? When will the next bracket buster come? Anything is possible in College Basketball. Welcome to the Sweet 16!
I think Pitt will win tonight agaisnt Xavier but it will be close and I am kinda scared of what might happen. Pitt plays well agaisnt good teams (beat UConn twice) and Xavier is a pretty good team. The reason i think Pitt's games against bad teams are so close is because Pitt takes them less serious thinking they can't get beat by them but then they start losing and start playing good. Pitt will win agaisnt Xavier but it will be close. Im guessing 78-71
ReplyDelete