Day One Reactions

Why was I looking forward to anything Pittsburgh-related again? Please remind me.

Coming in to today, I highlighted WVU-Gonzaga and Wichita-VCU as the two most exciting matchups of the day.

Well, at least I was right once.


Even as a diehard fan, it was hard to watch the West Virginia blowout while a mid-on-mid classic was raging on CBS.  I'm famous for sticking around til the absolute eleventh hour in obvious WVU losses, but even I have my limits.  With eight minutes to go and stuck in a never-changing 25-point hole, I finally called it quits. Close friends will tell you that you know I'm pretty pissed off when I have to go lift weights to purge the rage from my system. It's a rare event, but until I calm down, I am not a fun person to be around.

On the bright side, my Wichita/WVU picks were really my only incorrect notions on the day.  Other than those two teams (both of whom I had advaned to the Sweet 16), my bracket did okay.  Not blowing people out of the water, but not horrible either. Pretty typical first day for me- when my bracket does well, it's because I nail the later rounds, never because I start strong.


My other reactions:

-Boy, what to say about that Syracuse game. I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but how many gifts can one program get in a year's time? There was the inexplicable extra point debacle last fall, don't forget. The saw-it-with-even-my-naked-eye goaltending miss at the end of regulation vs West Virginia. Who knows how many games Syracuse picked up because Fab Melo played when he was, in all actuality, probably ineligible. And now just blatant, egregious missed calls against Asheville today.  I did not personally see the lane violation so I won't speak to that, but the horrible possession call at the end of the game (in a one possession game!) is just horrible. My heart breaks for those kids from UNCA. If a 16 seed was ever to knock off a 1 seed, this was it- not only was the Cuse at its most vulnerable in its first game without Fab Melo since the end of January, but UNC Asheville is a pretty solid team. You know, for low end major teams anyway. In all actuality, they probably deserved a 15 or a 14 seed.

Jim Boeheim said after the game that the "better team won." And he's right. Syracuse is a better team than UNC Asheville.  I'm not sure anyone would argue the letter of that statement.  But it doesn't mean they were a better team today. Because frankly, they weren't.

-It's only halftime, but Iowa State is handling UConn pretty handily.  People thought UConn would not only dominate ISU, but really challenge overall #1 seed Kentucky.  Remember- there's a reason they were 8-10 in the Big East. It's because they're honestly not that good of a team. (And just think about what that means for WVU, who the Huskies beat not once but twice this season.)

-Other than Syracuse looking like a 10 seed, not a 1 seed, the top 10 teams in the tournament cruised. The only other closish game was Baylor. That game was highly publicized as a tough matchup for the Bears, even as a 3-14 game. So not even that was totally shocking.

-Team that looked the best so far: Marquette.  Missouri is a popular pick to get out of the West region and go onto the Final Four and beyond.  But I have them losing to Marquette in the sweet 16.  My upset picks are usually brilliant or completely idiotic (see: Creighton over UNC), but I think this one trends toward brilliant. Marquette can play small ball right with Mizzou, and have not one but two go-to players in Jae Crowder and DJO, whereas I think Kim English is the only guy on the Tigers that is THE GUY.  Marquette can match the four guard set, they can match the inside-out play, and they can guard English in the 4 spot.  If they continue to play like they did today (Thursday) then I feel good about the pick, and I shall watch as bracket empires crumble around me.


Remaining S16 Teams after Day 1: 13/16 (WVU, Wichita St, UNLV out)
Remaining F4 Teams after Day 1: 4/4 (UK, MSU, FSU, Creighton still in)