There are 67 games played in the NCAA Tournament and 52 of them have already been completed. Yet, with just 15 games still to play, the picture isn’t much clearer than it was a week ago. Recapping some of the
There are 67 games played in the NCAA Tournament and 52 of them have already been completed. Yet, with just 15 games still to play, the picture isn’t much clearer than it was a week ago.
Recapping some of the picks I made last week, it’s time to whip out my red pen to grade what I got right and wrong:
Right – Upsets: Minnesota (11) over UCLA (6), Iowa State (10) over Notre Dame (7), Davidson (14) over Marquette (3)*, Boise State (13) over Kansas State (4)*.
Wrong – Oklahoma State reaching the Final Four, Wisconsin being a potential Final Four team; Upsets: St. Mary’s (11) over Memphis (6), and Bucknell (11) over Butler (6).
We’ll See – Florida, Indiana and Arizona reaching the Final Four, Florida winning the championship
*I’m taking partial credit on those two picks and I feel completely justified in doing so. (I also clearly need the points.) I still don’t know how Davidson lost its opening game. They held a 53-46 lead with 1:49 to play and still led 58-54 with 20 seconds left. Marquette was 1 for 12 from 3-point range during the first 39 minutes, then nailed three crazy threes in the final minute. The best free-throw shooting team in the country had a one-point lead and the ball with seven seconds left. Somehow, Davidson didn’t advance and Marquette is into the second week after two of the luckiest wins I can remember. As for the Boise State over Kansas State pick, that game never happened because LaSalle topped Boise State in their First Four contest. It’s on my bracket as Boise State/LaSalle into the second round, so I’m awarding partial credit in this self-grading exercise that already has credibility issues.
Overall, I give myself a C+ with a “Keep studying” note at the top. Looking forward, Louisville remains the favorite. It’s bizarre that in a season that everyone agreed was without a dominant team, so many analysts chose Louisville to win the tournament. They’re looking justified in doing so. Here are the Cardinals after a pair of blowout wins and playing every bit like the best team in the country.
The most exciting team has been 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast University, which made history by knocking out perennially disappointing Georgetown (2) and overmatched San Diego State (7). FGCU hasn’t been lucky in the least, they’ve just been the better team. They’re a 40-minute highlight reel and deserve to be right where they are. We’ll see how they fare against Florida (3), as the big brother from
Gainesville tries to send Cinderella home at a reasonable hour. Their performance, plus Wichita State, LaSalle and Oregon crashing the second week earn this tournament an A- so far, the only note being “More buzzer beaters.”
I’m sticking with my Final Four picks of Indiana, Florida and Arizona, but we’ll throw Louisville in as the fourth to replace ousted Oklahoma State. While I can’t stray from Florida to win it all, I’d be lying if I said I won’t be rooting for FGCU to pull another upset on Friday. Finally, for the number of times the refs use instant replay, the fact that they can’t use it for out-of-bounds calls late in the game is ridiculous. I bet that changes moving into next season, but it will be of little solace to Illinois, which was on the wrong end of an easily correctable blown call against Miami. That rule gets an F. No partial credit.
We’ll grade the Final Four teams next week, so I’ll put away my red pen until then. Enjoy the games.
•‘My Thoughts Exactly’ appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays in The Garden Island. Email David Simon your comments or questions to dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
