10 Mar22 - MM Good

Volume XIV, No. 20 - 10 Mar 22

MM Good

The Golden Child era may have brought pro-calibre talent back to college basketball (at least for a year or two), but even so, good BCS-level big men don't hang around whereas Mid-Major-level big men stay all four years. So it turns out that the MM teams have still been able to compete with the big boys come tourney time. [M9]Northern Iowa essentially led wire-to-wire against top-seeded [M1]Kansas, holding on for a 69-@67 shocker in Oklahoma City. fJordan Eglseder(14p5r) held his own against cCole Aldrich(13p10r), but it was gAli Farokhmanesh's dagger three-pointer that sealed the win (just like the game-winner he sank in the Panthers' 66-63 first-round win over [M8]UNLV.
     Vulnerability in the paint was [S2]Villanova's weakness all year. The Wildcats were lucky to avoid a first-round upset by [S15]Robert Morris, winning 73-70(OT). They had no answer whatsoever in the second round against [S10]St. Mary's cOmar Samhan(32p7r) and they couldn't force turnovers from the Gael guards, either -- hence a 75-68 win for SMC.
    Even at [E12], Cornell was probably underseeded, but they saved their best performances of the year for this weekend with two jaw-dropping routs, 78-65 over [E5]Temple and then 87-69 over [E4]Wisconsin. Not only did the Big Red seniors cap their three-peat Ivy champ careers with an NCAA win; they became the first Ivy League team since Penn'79's magical trip to the Final Four to advance past the first round into the Sweet 16. And they don't want it to end, pLouis Dale(21p7a and 26p) said, "We want to take this ride as long as we can because after this, it's just nothing but babies and memories." (Don't think they have no shot against Kentucky next round, either. They get to play in Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. It might be the only time Kentucky ever plays a tournament game that doesn't feel like a "home" game because of how well the Wildcat Nation travels to support them. A huge crowd rooting for an upset might well unnerve even these most talented of freshmen UK stars.)
    It seemed that this year's [W4]Vanderbilt squad was a little better athletically on the perimeter and wouldn't be so vulnerable to a smaller/quicker "waterbug" team as has knocked them out in the past. Guess again. The Commodores looked completely helpless trying to hold on at the defensive end trying to stop gDanero Thomas' smooth game-winning jump shot from falling as [W13]Murray State sank the 'Dores, 66-65. There's no explanation whatsoever for [M3]Georgetown's not showing up ready to compete against [M14]Ohio University (the surprise 9th-seed winners of the MAC tournament), but OU won in a laugher 97-83 behind 30p from (ex-Indiana) gArmon Bassett.
    So, thankfully, the Mid-Majors [4 Sweet 16 spots; 4 other first-round splash wins] and 1BCs [One Sweet 16; two splashes] are still doing just fine in the GC era.

The NCAA is considering expanding the tournament to 96 teams for next year. Let's hope that absurd money grab doesn't pass. It's fine as is and, in fact, I could easily do without one at-large bid and get rid of the insulting Play-In game. (Why single out two 1BC schools/leagues for designation that they are markedly different than any of the others?) I get that, ideally, you'd like to have 16 1BC-calibre teams to seed #13-16 with some wiggle room for party-crashers from MM land.
    Their 81-80(OT) win over self-destructive [E8]Texas notwithstanding, [E9]Wake Forest didn't warrant a bid -- (they're rating is a glaring standout mistake). Following the official conference RPIs, four #16-seeds jump out: Patriot[Lehigh/M16], Northeast[Robert Morris/S15], MEAC[Morgan State/E16] and SWAC[(Arkansas-Little Rock)/S17a]. The cut-off for #13-seeds would have been: Mid-American[(Ohio University)/M14], Southern[Wofford/E13], Big Sky[(Montana)/E14] and Big West[M15/UC-Santa Barbara]. Due to their strong regular seasons, you could have foreseen to bump Cornell[E12] and Murray State[W13] up and drop bid-stealers Houston[M13] and New Mexico State[M12] down into #13-seeds. Your worst #13-seed would have been Siena[S13], which would have been fine.
    I suppose having the Play-In protects you from 1BC party-crashers (like Winthrop[17b] this year) -- regular season champ Coastal Carolina wouldn't have warranted being put in the Play-In game; it would have been East Tennessee State[E16] in their place. But #16 seeds never win anyway -- (0-104 now) -- so I don't see what the Play-In game gets you at all.

No shock that [E1]Kentucky rolled through its first two NCAA games (100-71 over ETSU and 90-60 over Wake). All we learned is that the Kids don't have stage fright. Pleasantly surprising, though, was how well [W1]Syracuse turned the switch back on after tanking in the Big East tournament. Even without cArinza Onuaku, the Orange looked better than ever in Buffalo beating [W16]Vermont @79-56 and, especially, [W8]Gonzaga @87-65 behind 31p14r;11/16fg from Big East Player of the Year xWesley Johnson and 24p from gAndy Rautins. There are no big men left on their entire half of the draw any better than GU's cRobert Sacre(17p8r), and SU survived his effort while holding the 'Zags to 3-for-21 shooting on three-pointers.
    [S1]Duke cruised into the Sweet 16 behind an easy 68-53 win over [S8]California. [W2]Kansas State got a career-high 34p;7 3s from gJacob Pullen in the Wildcats' 84-72 win over [W7]BYU; the Cougars' gJimmer Fredette was "held" to 21p5a against KSU after a stellar 37p performance in their first-round win 99-92(2OT) win over [W10]Florida. [M2]Ohio State's tEvan Turner had 24p9a9r and the Buckeyes hung in on the boards (28-31) against a tall front line in their 75-66 win over [M10]Georgia Tech.

Having lost tRobbie Hummel, [S4]Purdue got a lower seed (and a tougher draw) than would have been the case; so it's even more impressive that they made the Sweet 16 without him. First, they denied [S13]Siena a third-straight first-round splash win, 72-64 as cJuJuan Johnson had 23p15r. Then, it took everything they had to get by tough [S5]Texas A&M, 63-61(OT) on a driving layup with :04 left in overtime by senior bChris Kramer(17p7r).
    [M5]Michigan State got a career-high 25p from gKalin Lucas in their first-round 70-67 win over [M12]New Mexico State, and he paced the Spartans to a 16-point lead over [M4]Maryland in the second round before leaving the game with a season-ending injury. UMd's pGreivis Vasquez(26p8a) led the Terrapins all the way back and seemed to have won the game with a driving jumper; but gKorie Lucious saved the day for MSU with a three-pointer at the buzzer to give them a 85-83 win.
    Ten days ago, [E11]Washington was on the outside looking in with "NIT" clearly stamped on its postseason ticket. But after stealing a bid by winning the Pac-10 tournament, the Huskies have continued their party-crashing ways; first, with a thriller 80-78 win over [E6]Marquette on fQuincy Pondexter's drive through the lane, and then 82-64 in a rout of [E3]New Mexico (leaving the Lobos' gDairese Gary(25p4a) in disbelief: "They're not even that good.")
    Good enough. Thanks to these efforts, the Big 10 paced the BCS leagues with a 7-2 record and 3 teams into the Sweet 16; and the Pac-10 at least kept pace with the MMs, going 3-1 and placing one team in the second week.

[S3]Baylor handled upstart [S11]Old Dominion, 76-68, paced by bLaceDarius Dunn's 26p6r; and -- don't look now -- but they get to play in Houston next round in the South Regional. [W6]Xavier got 28p5a and 27p from pJordan Crawford in two games as the Musketeers handled [W11]Minnesota 65-54 and "upset" (on paper only) overachieving [W3]Pittsburgh 71-68.
    [W5]Butler and [M6]Tennessee safely made the Sweet 16 as well, but both benefitted from their draws opening up (at the expense of [W4]Vanderbilt and [M3]Georgetown). The Bulldogs had more trouble with [W13]Murray State (54-52) than [W12]UTEP (77-59). The Volunteers survived against [M11]San Diego State (62-59), but had no matchup problem against [M14]Ohio U (83-68).

The NIT field is typically made up of bitter teams: either BCS and MM teams who were on the wrong side of the bubble, or 1BC regular season champs who blew it in their conference tournaments. Not anybody's first choice to be there, so it becomes a real motivational issue just to get your team to regroup and want to compete. The 1BCs get the worst of it, having to play true road games against BCS opponents (except, this year, for [m4]Kent State and [m8]Stony Brook {because [m1]Illinois had a scheduling problem}). While the likes of Ohio University and Murray State were first-round splash winners on neutral courts in the NCAA, [s7]Coastal Carolina (the one dominant 1BC team who failed to win its conference tournament -- Winthrop got blown out in the Play-In in its place) was buried at [s2]UAB, 49-@65. (I'm not advocating any change in automatic qualifying for 1BCs -- I like it as is -- but they shot themselves in the foot by blowing a chance at getting the notice they deserved for this season.)
    All props, then, to [w8]Jacksonville which came back on the road to win at the buzzer at [w1]Arizona State, 67-@66 on pBen Smith(26p5a)'s game-winner.
    [w4]North Carolina, playing in old Carmichael Arena, survived a barrage of three-pointers (16-for-43) from William & Mary to win @80-72, and then pulled off the road win at [s1]Mississippi State, 76-@74, on pLarry Drew's layup past all-time shot-blocker cJarvis Varnado. [e4]Connecticut barely survived at home against [e5]Northeastern, @59-57. [w2]Mississippi knocked off [w3]Memphis, @90-81. [s2]UAB drubbed [s6]N.C. State, @72-52, behind 27p15r from cElijah Millsap.

Teams in the CBI are more happy to be there. It's generally filled with squads who had good seasons, but weren't quite good enough to be regular season or conference tournament champions. Young teams, poised for bigger things next year. [1m]St. Louis was the only "top seed" to advance past the first round; [4s]VCU won 79-@73 on the road at [1s]George Washington; [4w]Boston University beat defending champ [1w]Oregon State 96-@78; and [4e]IUPUI won 74-@60 at [1e]Hofstra. [2e]Princeton won at home; and [3s]College of Charleston won on the road.

CIT is a catch-all draw for teams who "sort of" had a good season: mid-level MMs and second-place 1BCs plus, this year, the inaugural Great West champ, {South Dakota}. {USD} fell 78-@89 at Creighton, though. Appalachian State knocked off Harvard, @93-71; Marshall beat Western Carolina @90-88; Pacific won on the road; and Northern Colorado beat Portland, @81-73. The field may not seem impressive, but last year's winner, Old Dominion, was TiTo champion of the Colonial this year with a first-round splash win over Notre Dame in the NCAAs to boot. So it can be a real stepping stone for next season.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

NCAA

Thursday, Saturday:

NCAA EAST REGIONAL Semis,Finals @ Syracuse NY

• [E1]Kentucky v [E12]@Cornell
• [E2]W Virginia v [E11]Washington

NCAA WEST REGIONAL Semis,Finals @ Salt Lake City UT

• [W1]Syracuse v [W5]Butler
• [W2]Kansas St v [W6]Xavier

Friday, Sunday:

NCAA MIDWEST REGIONAL Semis,Finals @ St. Louis MO

• [M2]Ohio St v [M6]Tennessee
• [M5]Michigan St v [M9]No Iowa

NCAA SOUTH REGIONAL Semis,Finals @ Houston TX

• [S1]Duke v [S4]Purdue
• [S3]@Baylor v [S10]St Mary's

Sat 3 Apr, Mon 5 Apr:

NCAA FINAL FOUR,NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP @ Indianapolis, IN

• (1/[MIDWEST]) v (4/[WEST])
• (2/[EAST]) v (3/[SOUTH])

NIT

Monday:

16s on-campus

• @ [e1]Virginia Tech v [e4]Connecticut
• @ [m1]Illinois v [m4]Kent St
• @ [m2]Cincinnati v [m3]Dayton
• @ [e2]Rhode Island v [e6]Nevada

Tuesday:

Qtrs on-campus

• @ [s2]UAB v [s4]N Carolina
• @ [w2]Mississippi v [w5]Texas Tech

Wednesday:

Qtrs on-campus

• @[e1]VirginiaTech/[e4]Connecticut v [e2]RhodeIsland/[e6]Nevada
• @[m1]Illinois/[m4]KentSt v [m2]Cincinnati/[m3]Dayton

Tuesday week, Thursday week:

Semis, Finals @ New York NY /MSG/

• ([e]/VirginiaTech) v ([s]/UAB)
• ([m]/Illinois) v ([w]/Mississippi)

CBI

Monday:

Qtrs on-campus

• @ [1m]St Louis v [3m]WI-Green Bay
• @ [4s]VCU v [3s]Col of Charleston
• @ [4w]Boston U v [2w]Morehead St
• @ [4e]IUPUI v [2e]Princeton

Wednesday:

Semis on-campus (re-seeded)

Monday week, Wednesday week, (if necessary: Friday week):

Finals on-campus (Best of 3)

CIT

Monday:

Qtrs on-campus

• @ Marshall v Appalachian St
• @ Creighton v Fairfield
• @ Missouri St v Louisiana Tech
• @ No Colorado v Pacific

Wednesday:

Semis on-campus (re-seeded)

Tuesday week:

Final on-campus