I Probably won’t be the Only one with a Hangover Tomorrow

The “Friday Pregame” is aptly named as a piece that is designed to prime the average fan and get them ready for the weekend’s occurrences.  That being said…

Welcome to the Sunday Evening hangover- named not only because the basketball I watch over the weekend sometimes makes me sick, but also because of the massive amounts of time I spend watching basketball on a given weekend (and generally ignoring all other aspects of my life in the process, such as studying) are enough to make my stomach hurt at the work I need to make up come Monday morning.  And with the epic amount of quality basketball that was on this weekend, let’s just say that my free time tomorrow is no longer free time.

Wow, though.  Clearly I won’t be the only one with a hangover tomorrow.  Of the top ten teams, four of them lost on the road this weekend- Texas, Pitt, Ohio St, and Notre Dame.  Granted, all played in very rough environments, but the loss is the loss, and all four will be smarting from the lost opportunities for some time.  Factor in the Kansas loss earlier in the week, and you’re looking at some real insanity at the top of the polls.

There were even more wins just barely scraped out by other ranked teams.  Villanova needed overtime to escape DePaul, a team I highlighted a few days ago as a team to watch as they got hot (when you’re DePaul, a one game winning streak is hot).  Other prominent teams that barely (and I mean BARELY, as in the game came down to final possessions) squeaked out wins against unranked opponents: Arizona, Texas A&M, UNC, and Syracuse.

So what does it all mean?  Well, for one thing, bubble teams are finally making a push.  I don’t know, maybe all the very average teams out there have finally realized that it’s crunch time.  Maybe they have realized how soft the bubble is, and all these mediocre teams still have a shot with a few key wins coming down the stretch.  Either way, bubble teams are sending a clear message in the last weeks of the regular season.  Watch out, tournament locks.  Nothing is more dangerous than a desperate team.

The last thing I will feature at the end of every Sunday Evening Hangover is my record from the games I predicted on Friday.  This is mostly so most of you can mock me when I have a bad weekend.  Don’t say I never did anything for your all’s collective self-esteem.

This weekend: 17/22
Alltime: 17/22