College Basketball
Blue Blooded
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Duke is one of the blue blood programs in college basketball. The Blue Devils have won five national championships under head coach Mike Krzyzewski. This year’s team might be the best he has ever coached.
They signed the top 3 players in the 2019 recruiting class which is something that has never been done before. Those players are R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish. They also snagged point guard Tre Jones. He was ranked No. 10 overall and the top point guard.
So far, the star freshmen have lived up to the hype. They opened the season pummeling No. 5 Kentucky 118 – 84.
Williamson looks like a lock to be the top pick in the 2019 draft. He’s one of the most explosive players I’ve ever seen. It seems like every game he has an amazing dunk or blocked shot. He averages 22 ppg, 9 rpg, 2 steals per game and 2 blocks.
Barrett leads the team in scoring with 23 ppg. He also gets 7 rpg and 4 assists per game. Reddish adds 14 ppg.
They are currently ranked second in the nation behind Tennessee. Their two loses came against No. 3 Gonzaga and unranked Syracuse. The Blue Devils have one loss in conference play and are first in the ACC.
The schedule consists of wins against several top 15 opponents like Kentucky, Auburn, Texas Tech, Florida State and Virginia. They swept both meetings against the No. 3 Cavaliers, which are their only losses of the season. They beat them over the weekend 81 – 71 in Charlottesville. LeBron James was there to watch the talented freshmen.
“We were just in our zone and it’s great to see when our team is like that,” Barrett said.
“It’s any given night for all of us,” Reddish said after finishing 5 of 8 from beyond the arc, with three coming in a span of less than three minutes.
The next game is at No. 16 Louisville. The remaining schedule has two games against arch rival No. 8 North Carolina, NC State, Miami, Wake Forest, No. 22 Virginia Tech and a rematch at home against Syracuse.
The only game I think they could be in danger of losing is one of the match ups with Carolina. I think it will be difficult to sweep the Tar Heels.
I expect Duke to finish as the best team in the ACC after the regular season and they should also win the conference tournament. I think they will be the top seed in the NCAA tournament.
Once March Madness begins anything can happen. There are always upsets so the most talented teams can get sent home. With a team led by freshmen they could struggle against an experienced team.
For instance, I think the best team at Duke was the 98-99 team. That team had four players drafted within the first fourteen picks of the 1999 draft. They were undefeated in the ACC and only lost one game during the season. They lost the national championship game to UConn by three points.
They will be the favorite to win it all but it’s not a sure thing. If this team can stay focused and win the championship, they will be the best team in program history.
Bee Killer
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Josh Pastner era at Georgia Tech has not been successful thus far. Since taking over as head coach in 2016, he had his best record during his first season, going 21 – 16. The following 2017 – 18 season Tech was 13 – 19.
At this point it might be time for Tech (11–9, 3–4 ACC) to pull the plug. Judging from his previous track record the Yellow Jackets are in for diminishing returns. Pastner replaced John Calipari at Memphis in 2009 and he initially had success.
He led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in four of the seven seasons he coached. In his final two seasons his teams went 18 – 14 (2014-15) and 19 – 15 (2015-16).
He has struggled to have consistent success in Atlanta and that has caused the program to accept mediocrity. He has a losing record against Clemson, only beating them once. Clemson is not a basketball powerhouse so that is alarming. The Tigers lost their first three ACC games going in to the Tech game and they won, 72 – 60.
The Ramblin’ Wreck has actually lost their last 14 games at Clemson. Tech has to win games against these types of opponents in order to have a chance at making it into the postseason. I can understand not having success against Duke and UNC but they have to beat the average ACC teams.
Before conference play began, they lost games against teams that are also struggling. In the ACC/Big Ten Challenge they lost to Northwestern. This is a program that just made their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017 and they are currently ninth in the Big Ten.
They also lost to St. John’s, Gardner-Webb and Georgia. St. John’s is sixth in the new Big East. A non-power five team like Gardner-Webb should not be able to come to Atlanta and win by ten points like they did. The Bulldogs (12-9) are seventh in the Big South so they are not one of the elite small school teams.
Losing to UGA is not acceptable because that’s obviously Tech’s biggest rival. It’s also alarming because the Dawgs (10-9) are struggling and are 11th in SEC play.
It’s going to be an uphill battle to have a winning record in conference play. They lost a close game to No. 12 Virginia Tech 52 – 49.
Georgia Tech beat Syracuse (14-6) on the road so that is a good win. The next game Syracuse beat No. 1 Duke. That gave fans hope that maybe they have a chance against the Blue Devils.
We saw that game this past weekend and Tech played much better than I expected. They played at Cameron Indoor Stadium, which is probably the toughest venue for road teams. They actually led No. 2 Duke at halftime by two points. They held the Blue Devils to a season-low 27 first-half points.
Then the Yellow Jackets extended the lead to eight points early in the second half. After that, Duke’s superior talent took over and they won 66 – 53.
“That’s our only way of survival in this league,” Pastner said. “We have to be really, really good defensively, and that’s who we’ve been in our time here. … That’s just kind of who we are and what we do, and if we don’t do that, we’re not going to have any chance of success.”
The next game is at home against No. 9 North Carolina. At this point we can almost guarantee another season without a tournament appearance. Once that happens, it’s time to make a coaching change.
A Louder Bark
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I was a sophomore in high school, driving around in a lime-green Chevy Chevette with a neon orange bumper sticker that read “Save gas, fart in a jar” the last time the Georgia men’s basketball program “officially” won a game in the NCAA tournament. (I’m sure I don’t have to remind you the 2002 win has been vacated, but just in case, that’s why it’s not counted.)
It’s been twenty-three years since the ‘96 team advanced to the round of 32 and while I don’t think that feeling of loss is going to change this year, there are definitely signs the streak could come to an end within the next two years.
Normally when a program has suffered through this type of drought, especially when playing in a major conference, it has to do with some mixture of coaching, talent, and sanctions. In Georgia’s case they hit the ineptitude trifecta.
It’s always been difficult to recruit top level talent to Athens, but I know the hope was all that would change when Tom Crean was hired; finally, a coach with the cache to bring in that top tier talent.
Crean has already started to show promise on the recruiting trail with two commitments from 4-star recruits and could really bolster things if he is able to land Anthony Edwards, a 5-star guard out of Atlanta. (Edwards is a heavy Florida State lean, but stranger things have happened.)
That being said, the likelihood of the Bulldogs making and winning a NCAA tournament game in the next two years isn’t based on who is entering the program, but rather the three standout sophomores currently on the team.
I doubt there was much fanfare when Nicolas Claxton, Rayshaun Hammonds, and Teshaun Hightower arrived on campus, but the trio are proving to be a sturdy foundation on which Crean can rebuild the program on.
Claxton is having an all-conference season this year and Hammonds isn’t too far behind and should be mentioned in the conversation of all conference player next year.
Hightower on the other hand has that aura of a being the player who tends be an afterthought when compared to the other two, but is quietly one of the most vital players on the team.
Really, besides injury or someone leaving early for the NBA, the only thing I see preventing them for turning things around is the fact the SEC has become a very good basketball conference. If I’m not mistaken it was just a few seasons ago where you had Kentucky in the Top 25 and maybe one other SEC team, but that was about it.
Now the conference has two to three legitimate top 10 teams and about six or seven that deserve the be in the top 25.
Georgia could arguably have their best team in years when the season starts next year, but struggle because the rest of the league has upped their game.
The talent is starting to show, as evident in Georgia’s recent victory over Texas, but it’s still a young team.
Tom Crean was brought in to bring respectability back to the men’s basketball program. Entering this season, it would’ve been easy to think he would need to bring in his own players to achieve that, but there are a few current players who don’t want to wait.
I parted ways with my old Chevette years ago; I think Georgia’s basketball team will be parting ways with their years of futility soon, too.
State Champs?
By: JJ Lanier
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
While both the Georgia and Georgia Tech basketball programs seem to be in a race back to mediocrity- one that neither team looks to be in a hurry to achieve- Georgia State has made a strong argument to carry the mantle of “best college basketball program in Georgia”.
It’s easy to dismiss what the Panthers have accomplished over the last five years. Including this season, since they play in the Sun Belt conference, but that would be a mistake.
Over that five years span, Georgia State has had more appearances in the NCAA than both Georgia and Georgia Tech combined (two to one) and is the only school with a tournament win, advancing to the Round of 32 in 2015 and 2018.
As a point of reference, the last time Tech won a NCAA tournament game was 2010. Georgia’s last tournament victory came in 2002, which technically has been vacated, so it’s actually 1996.
This year the Panthers have the most dynamic and arguably the best player of the three schools in D’Marcus Simonds, as well as Ron Hunter, whom I believe is the second-best coach of the three, behind Tom Crean.
(I’ve always thought Josh Pastner was overrated, and to be completely honest with you, I’d be surprised if he’s still coaching the Yellow Jackets after next season. Crean, I think, is a good coach that was in a little over his head in Indiana, but is a good fit in Athens.)
Georgia State was also crowned the de facto winners of the completely made up title “Intrastate champions of the sport most Georgia fans only watch when their remote is broken and they don’t want to walk over to the TV to change the channel”.
They were awarded this absolutely ridiculous title after Georgia defeated Georgia Tech, courtesy of Georgia State’s 91-67 victory over the Bulldogs. Basically, they’re state champions, in the loosest sense of the word.
There’s also a good chance when you include Georgia State’s victory over Alabama, that even though they aren’t in the SEC they will enter February with as many SEC conference wins as the Bulldogs-two.
Again, while they play in a lesser conference, they have more than proven they can compete when going up against a team from a major conference. Sure, they may not be able to hang with the Duke’s and Kentucky’s of the world, but there aren’t a lot of teams that can.
Even though their entire season and whether they’ll be back in the NCAA tournament will basically come down to the Sun Belt Conference tournament, they are still the state’s best shot at making the big dance.
Barring some unforeseen miracle occurring with either the Yellow Jackets or Bulldogs, both of their tournament hopes will rest on winning their respective conference tournaments, too. I don’t know about you, but if I have to choose between those three, I’m going with the Panthers.
As I mentioned, given the chance I think Tom Crean will have the Georgia program back to respectability within the next years. And given the law of averages, Georgia Tech is bound to trip up and bring in someone that can lead them back to the tournament with some semblance of consistency.
Until that time arrives, when it comes to basketball in the state of Georgia, the Georgia State Panthers are the team to beat.
Add another trip to the tournament this year and the rest of country may find out just how good they are, too.
Eagles Unlucky Feathers
By: Mike Anthony
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
To say that this season is “now-or-never” for the Georgia Southern men’s basketball team might be laying it on thick.
Sure, the Eagles have a trio of seniors in Tookie Brown, Ike Smith and Montae Glenn that have been the core of the team since forced into action as freshmen. It would be a shame for the group to rack up over a half-dozen All-Sun Belt nods between them without an NCAA tournament appearance to show for their effort.
But college basketball is as fickle a game as ever. A tough-luck loss here and an injury there can take even the best teams and leave them scrambling for a spot in March Madness.
There are still two full months of play remaining before the national tournament field is filled out, but Georgia Southern currently sits in that unenviable spot of being a team with a lot of potential that can’t seem to catch a break.
The season began with Iowa State transfer and expected frontcourt starter Simeon Carter sidelined for the first few weeks as he recovered from offseason surgery.
The concussion bug that bit Brown last season sank its teeth into two more Eagle reserves early in the season. That hurt the depth that head coach Mark Byington said would be key in the up-tempo transition game that the Eagles attempt to run throughout each game.
Soon after Carter got onto the floor, both Smith and Glenn went down with injuries. The Eagles were down two starters in their first two conference games and while Glenn was back in limited action.
Smith had to undergo surgery on his back. He hasn’t played since Dec. 14 against Brewton-Parker. Word from the team is that he will suit up soon, but no official return date has been announced.
Adding insult to the Eagles’ injury was a Saturday night showdown with Sun Belt power UL Lafayette. The Eagles and Ragin’ Cajuns have played plenty of exciting games at Hanner Fieldhouse since becoming conference rivals in the 2014-15 season.
Saturday was no exception as ULL controlled the action early before Georgia Southern attempted to win for a sixth time this season after trailing by at least 10 points in a game.
The Eagles looked to have pulled it off when Quan Jackson forced a steal and hit a layup for a one-point lead with 12 seconds to play, but a highly suspect traveling call took the points off the board and the Eagles went on to lose.
Georgia Southern is far from out of the running in what should be a very competitive Sun Belt race, but the bad breaks already suffered have to be wearing on the Eagles.
A blown lead at Texas State and Saturday’s controversial loss have the Eagles sitting at 2-2 in conference action. A quick look at the 14 remaining Sun Belt games also reveals that the Eagles’ toughest road games still lie ahead. Due to some unlucky scheduling, they will only have one game against some of the weaker Sun Belt teams as other front-runners have a pair of chances to fatten up.
None of this should be an excuse for the Eagles. They’re far from the only team dealing with injuries or ‘what-ifs’ of close games, but the first two months have been a stinging reminder that having a deep, talented and experienced roster on paper doesn’t win any games on the court.
The good news is that the Eagles are trending towards being healthier and still have plenty of time to work their way up the standings.
But the regular season will be over before long and a conference-wide letdown in early season play pretty much guaranteed that the Sun Belt will be just a one-bid league to the NCAA tournament.
So, it’s time for the Eagles to kick it into gear. They have the talent to get the job done, but it will take a good finish to the regular season and an even better showing for one final week in New Orleans in March.
Eagles Hard-Court Landing
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In a back-and-forth ballgame, Georgia Southern rarely had the upper hand and couldn’t find a way to come out on top in the end.
Georgia Southern battled East Tennessee State on Tuesday night at Hanner Fieldhouse. The Buccaneers held a small lead throughout most of the game, but the Eagles fought hard and edged ahead several times down the stretch.
Georgia Southern took a 59-58 lead with 5:17 to play, but East Tennessee powered through the final minutes to claim a 69-64 victory and hand the Eagles their first loss of the season.
“I thought we battled and I thought we showed toughness,” GS coach Mark Byington said. “This will come back and help us later on. We missed some shots late and they made them. We did a lot of things right. The things we did wrong that cost us, I know we can fix.”
Tookie Brown led the way for the Eagles (5-1) with 16 points and Quan Jackson added 13 more in his return from an ankle injury suffered last week, but Georgia Southern was never able to turn the game into the free-flowing and high-scoring contests that it has benefitted from so far this season.
The slower pace was, in part, due to a solid effort from the Buccaneers (6-2), who utilized a big lineup to out-rebound the Eagles on both ends of the floor and prevent Georgia Southern from cranking up its transition game that has been a huge weapon so far this season.
At the same time, an Eagle lineup that saw the return of Jackson and the first minutes of the season from junior forward Simeon Carter may have also played a role in keeping the Eagles from finding their rhythm.
“I like our depth, but that means that we’re having a lot of guys working their way back from injuries and getting everyone involved,” Byington said. “We’re going to be a work in progress for a couple of weeks. We were out of rhythm in spots. We just need to learn what we’re like as a whole team.”
Tray Boyd III led ETSU with 17 points, with Isaiah Tisdale adding 15 and Patrick Good chipping in 13 more.
Neither team led by more than seven points during the game and the lead shifted several times in the middle of the second half.
The Bucs took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Boyd with 4:27 to play.
Brown made a pair of free throws to close within 66-64 with 57 seconds to play. Solid defense by the Eagles appeared to force a few extra steps by Mladen Armus, but no whistle sounded and Armus found Good for a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left that sunk the Eagles’ comeback hopes.
Georgia Southern began Tuesday night as just one of 25 Division I squads that were still undefeated. That lofty title is now gone, but the Eagles still have plenty to prove as they continue a very challenging non-conference schedule.
The Eagles won’t have to worry about Tuesday’s loss for long as travel plans are now in order. Georgia Southern is scheduled to catch a 5 a.m. flight out west as they now look forward to a Thursday night matchup against perennial national power Arizona.
“We want to improve on where we’ve come up short, but we don’t have time to dwell on this loss,” Byington said. “Arizona will be a tough test. East Tennessee will win 20 games and maybe be a tournament team.
“We don’t have a single second to feel sorry for ourselves. The games will keep getting tougher, but we’re going to be battle-tested by the time we get into conference play.”
Crean Of The Crop
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I can’t help but imagine it’s been a while since the UGA basketball fan base has entered a new season with any type of optimism.
I guess you have to back to the Jim Harrick year’s, which is not a time most fans look fondly upon. With the arrival of Tom Crean in March, there is reason for some excitement in Athens.
It’s completely fair to include Crean’s tenure at Indiana when judging his ability to coach, but I wouldn’t look too much into it.
For one, he didn’t do a bad job; Indiana has incredibly high standards that aren’t realistic in relation to their spot in the college basketball hierarchy. It’s kind of like expecting John Travolta to carry a movie because “Phenomenon” was popular over 20 years ago.
Plus, if you’re going to compare program expectations, Georgia is more aligned with Marquette, than Indiana.
At Crean’s two previous stops it has taken a couple years to implement his system with the players he wants, but has turned things around quickly once he was able to do so.
I fully expect him to have the same type of influence on Georgia’s program; unfortunately, that means it’ll be a year or two before fans really start to see everything pay off.
Even with a proven coach like Crean at the helm, this is going to be a difficult year. Their lone double-digit scorer from last year (Magen) is gone, and there isn’t much left over for the new coach to work with.
There are some young talented players coming in, who will be good building blocks 2-3 years down the road and could put up some good numbers, if for no other reason than they’ll have to.
Crean’s main objective this year is similar to that of Hawks head coach, Lloyd Pierce, albeit with a few minor differences.
Most of this upcoming season will be spent implementing his system, seeing who will be able to contribute over the next year or two, and making the Bulldog program as attractive as he can to prospective recruits.
There is a lot of basketball talent in the state that has seemed to have little, to no interest in signing with Georgia. Part of that has to do with the program’s history of mediocrity, but mainly because of their head coaches.
Most recruits today are concerned about their brand and making it to the NBA before they’re able to legally buy a beer. All the Georgia coaches since Harrick haven’t had a proven track record of being able to get players to the next level. When a player has made it, like with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, they are looked at as an outlier.
Crean’s notoriety and history with players like Dwayne Wade and Victor Oladipo should help in keeping some of the homegrown talent within the state.
Once that starts to occur, you’ll begin to see the program start to take off. But, like I mentioned earlier, all that is still a couple years away.
So, as the Bulldogs struggle to stay out of the SEC cellar this year- and probably next year- just keep in mind that Crean knows what he’s doing. He’s a good coach and recruiter that I bet will have this team back in the Sweet Sixteen within the next 4-5 years.
For a program that hasn’t tasted that type of success in over 20 years- 22 years, to be extract- it will be well worth the wait.
The Madness Ends
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The biggest game in men’s college basketball was played Monday, April 2, 2018.
The national championship game featured two great teams, Villanova (36-4) and Michigan (33-8). Both of them are blue blood programs that have had great success recently.
The Wildcats just won a national championship in 2016. Villanova became the first school in 31 years, since the 1985 Villanova Wildcats, to not only beat four top-three seeds on the way to a national title but to also beat four straight opponents ranked in the AP top 10, in addition to beating AP ranked Iowa in the Round of 32.
Michigan last played in the national championship game in 2013. They lost to Louisville 82 – 76. The Wolverines had won a national championship in all the way back in 1989.
These teams are led by veterans, which is very different from what college basketball has been over the last decade. Typically, highly recruited freshman lead programs like Duke, Kansas or Kentucky to the Final Four.
The leading scorer for the Wildcats is junior guard Jalen Brunson. He averages 19.2 points per game and he makes 52.7% of his shots. Brunson is the National Player of the Year.
His backcourt mate is also a junior guard, Mikal Bridges. Bridges is the second leading scorer on the team with 17.6 ppg and he shoots 51% from the field.
They have very good shooting percentages and it’s rare for star players to make at least half of their shots. We normally see volume shooters that rely on taking so many shots that some have to go in.
Redshirt sophomore guard Donte DiVincenzo averages 13 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 3.5 assists per game.
The Wildcats beat Michigan convincingly 79-62. Villanova won all six games by double digits over this tournament run, joining Michigan State (2000), Duke (2001) and North Carolina (2009) in that rare air.
“I thought we played our best game in the championship game,” coach Jay Wright said.
DiVencenzo aka Big Ragu came off the bench and led all scorers with 31 points. He shot 10 of 15 and 5 for 7 from three-point range. This great performance won him the most outstanding player in the Final Four.
“The way DiVincenzo shot the ball, it was just incredible for us to try to win that game with the roll he went on,” Michigan coach John Beilein said.
Bridges finished with 19 points and he’s expected to enter the NBA draft. Surprisingly Brunson struggled, only scoring 9 points and making 4 of 13 shots.
Jay Wright boosted his credentials for the Naismith Hall of Fame and put himself in elite company. The only other two active Division I college basketball coaches with multiple championships are Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (5) and North Carolina’s Roy Williams (3).
The Wildcats have been outstanding over the past five years. They are 165-21 since the start of the 2013-14 season, a stretch that includes a pair of national championships and a combined seven Big East regular season or tournament titles.
This was an interesting season because it seemed like there were more scandals than usual. It was great to end the year with a dominating performance by a great team.
Final Four Madness
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I’m not a religious man.
Don’t get me wrong, I was raised Catholic but the only thing I retained are the litany of jokes regarding Catholicism. After this Loyola Chicago run and the support they’re receiving from America’s most popular nun since Whoopi Goldberg in “Sister Act”, I’m starting to rethink my religious convictions.
March Madness always has upsets, buzzer beaters, etc., but it just feels like this year has taken all those things to a whole new level. From a 16 seed defeating a 1 seed for the first time in history, to a Sweet Sixteen consisting of two regions without any top 2 seeds, to an 11 seed making it to the Final Four; throw in all the other stuff that has happened in between, I’m not sure there’s been a more entertaining tournament in recent memory.
Of course, based upon the first two weekends of the tournament, it’s only fitting we have the Final Four that awaits us in San Antonio. This year, we’ll get a little bit of everything.
The Pedigree: Kansas. After two years of having their season end in the Elite Eight, the Jayhawks were finally able to break through and advance. I’m not sure they are the best team remaining, but they are the most complete team.
Like the other three teams, Kansas’ strength is their perimeter play, but nobody has their size down low. If the Jayhawks are to win it all, they’ll need their post players to play big.
Arguably the Best Team All Season: Villanova. The Wildcats will arrive in Texas as the favorites to win their second title in three years. There really isn’t anything they don’t do well.
Defense? Yes. Take care of the ball? Yep. Potent offense? Sure, if you’re the type of person who likes your team to score a lot of points and hit a lot threes. For a team that plays 4 guards a majority of the time, they even rebound well. Not to say they can’t have an off night, or can’t be beat, but they’re the favorite for a reason.
Big Conference Team Clicking at the Right Time: Michigan. As much as I just drooled over Villanova and the way they play, you could argue the Wolverines are playing the best of this group. Three point shooting is going to be the key. If they’re making their shots from beyond the arc, they’ll have a shot. If not, it may be a one and done situation for the Big Ten champs.
Cinderella Team: Loyola Chicago. There have been other double digit seeds and mid-major schools (George Mason in 2006) that have made the Final Four, but I’m not sure any of them had as legitimate a chance to advance to the championship game as this Ramblers team.
Defensively, Loyola is good enough to disrupt Michigan’s offense and either of the teams they would meet in the championship game, if they are to make that far. They’re the underdogs, without a doubt, but don’t be surprised if they cause a little commotion.
After a season and tournament that has more than lived up to the hype, you can only hope that the final weekend will be more of the same. Based on the way the remaining four teams have played, I would expect nothing less.
You can take the pageantry of the Super Bowl or the excitement leading up to the college football playoffs; I’ll take March Madness over either of those every single time. It’s become a religious experience.
A Maddening Weekend
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It feels like just about every year you could make the claim “this year’s opening weekend to March Madness was the craziest one yet”!
Obviously, this year was no different. Over the course of the tournament’s four day opening weekend, among all the upsets and buzzer beaters, I learned a few things as well as had some beliefs reinforced.
For instance, I learned the next time Syracuse makes the tournament as one of the “last four” teams in, I need to automatically pick them to make it to the Sweet 16.
For the 2nd time in 3 years the Orangemen won 3 games in 6 days, to make it the second weekend. Two years ago, they made it all way to the Final Four. They’ll have to go through Duke and possibly Kansas, if they want to make a return trip this year; it’ll be rough, but I’m not counting them out.
I also felt more secure in my theory that when it comes to tournament knockout pools, under no circumstances should you ever pick a team coached by Sean Miller or Rick Barnes.
While the final score against Buffalo was a surprise, Arizona actually losing to them wasn’t. As for Tennessee, I thought about picking them for their game against Loyola Chicago, until I remembered who was coaching. Barnes may have a done a great job with the Vols over the course of the season but winning in the tournament isn’t exactly his forte.
I realized this year that if an ACC team makes their conference tournament and enters the NCAA tournament as a 2-seed, playing in the closest venue to their campus, just go ahead and pick them to be upset.
It happened to Duke last year. They won the ACC tournament; were upset by USC in Greenville, as a 2-seed and it happened this year with UNC getting completely dominated by Texas A&M.
This next one hasn’t exactly taken place yet, but I feel so confident that it will, I’m going to go ahead and include it under the “beliefs I had reinforced” category.
After complaining about Kentucky’s seeding and draw, John Calipari will somehow try to convince people that his Wildcats made the most miraculous run to the Final Four ever and that the other teams had a much easier route, although his own team won’t have played a team seeded higher than 9th.
For the record, if Kentucky makes the Final Four, I’m not diminishing their accomplishment because of who they played to get there; just pointing out one of the many ways Calipari contradicts himself. Trust me, it’ll happen.
One thing I probably knew but was finally forced to come to terms with is as good of a coach as Tony Bennett is, the style of play his teams run isn’t conducive to being successful in the tournament; at least not consistently.
They’ve had some success in the tournament over the past 5 years (1 Sweet Sixteen and an Elite Eight appearance), but they’ve also been purses in the first weekend three time; twice as a 1-seed and once as a 2-seed. Plus, there’s the loss to UMBC, which doesn’t help their case.
Speaking of UMBC, the most important thing I learned over the first four days of the tournament was what UMBC actually stands for; University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I mean, it’s only fitting I try to learn everything I can about the team that made this “the craziest opening weekend in March Madness history”!
