14 Mar24 - The Ultimate Question

Volume XVIII, No. 21 - 14 Mar24

The Ultimate Question

An overachieving bunch of journeymen playing together efficiently as a team vs an undisciplined group of all-stars used to getting by on their individual talent -- it's the ultimate matchup and the age-old question: "Which team would win?" You can go back to the recently proclaimed "Game That Made March Madness" -- 1989's [1]/[16] clash between a Georgetown team led by SuperFrosh cAlonzo Mourning vs a "Million-to-1" IVY champ Princeton team. The Tigers nearly shocked the world, but fell just short when game-winning free throws and a gave-saving block by cMourning saved the day for the Hoyas' 50-49 escape. Fast forward to 2013, and we've got the ultimate version of the ultimate matchup. The latest "Greatest Recruiting Class Ever" at Kentucky boldly proclaimed its intent to go 40-0 at the start of the season (only finish six games out of first place in the SEC, including being swept 0-3 by league champion Florida). Meanwhile, Mid-Major Wichita State, coming off its surprise trip to the Final Four, actually did go undefeated through the regular season and conference tournament in the MISSOURI VALLEY (which turned out to be only an Anti-Spoiler 1BC after all). How much of the 'Shockers' gaudy record was due to the weakness of the league Creighton left behind and a schedule that saw them face only one ranked team? How would WichSt handle the Big Blue Nation travelling fan base that turns every "neutral" venue into a Wildcat home game? In (by far) the best game of the tournament (and one of the best games ever, frankly), neither team disappointed as [M8]Kentucky closed the game 13-7 in the final segment to beat [M1]Wichita State, @78-76, in an all-time classic. bCleanthony Earl's 31p7r and bRon Baker's 20p5r came up just short as twins gAndrew Harrison(20p) and gAnthony Harrison(19p) as well as cJulius Randle(13p10r6a) rose to the occasion as Kentucky displayed a level of team play not seen all season. Big plays on offense and defense, clutch free throws -- this game had everything you'd want from both teams. Was Wichita State really good enough to win it all? No doubt. This game was worthy of being the National Championship. This level from Kentucky will rout the rest of the field if the Wildcats can repeat it four more times (but the challenge of being run over en route to someone else's 40-0 season may have drawn an effort they can't reproduce). No matter. Just marvel and be grateful for the gift these teams gave us. It gets no better than that game.

    
[S9]Pittsburgh dominated [S8]Colorado (77-48) but top-seeded [S1]@Florida shut the Panthers down (@61-45) in Orlando. [W8]Gonzaga handled [W9]Oklahoma State (85-77 despite 23p7a13r6s6to from xMarcus Smart), but [W1]Arizona had no trouble with its familiar tournament foe (84-61). [E8]Memphis edged [E9]George Washington (71-66), but [E1]Virginia cruised by the Tigers (78-60).

    
[E7]Connecticut broke through to the Sweet 16, edging [E10]St. Joseph's (89-81[OT]) and then dumping [S2]Villanova (75-66) as bShabazz Napier starred (averaging 25p3a7r in two games). Resurgent [W6]@Baylor (fresh off a solid run in the BIG 12 tournament) crushed fan-favorite [W3]Creighton (@85-55) on sheer physical superiority (as Doug McDermott[15p] bowed out as the No. 5 all-time leading scorer in Division I). [M4]Louisville handled [M5]St. Louis (66-51). [E3]Iowa State (which lost tGeorges Niang to a broken foot in its first game) edged [E6]North Carolina (85-83) on xDeAndre Kane(24p7a10r7to)'s game-winner. [W2]@Wisconsin handled [W7]Oregon (@85-77) in Milwaukee. After [M7]Texas edged [M10]Arizona State (87-85; despite 25p7r from 7-2 cJordan Bachynski), [M2]Michigan took out the Longhorns (79-65).

    
B-Major teams claimed 15 of the Sweet 16 spots. Mid-Major [S11]Dayton looked like a Top 25 squad in the preseason in MAUI but was buried inside the competitive ATLANTIC 10; tournament play befits the Flyers as they edged state-rival [S6]Ohio State (60-59 on gVee Sanford's game-winning drive, ending the career of bAaron Craft[16p4a5r5to]) and then edged [S3]@Syracuse 55-@53 in Buffalo. Late-bloomer [M11a]Tennessee rallied to knock off [M11b]Iowa (78-65[OT]) in the FIRST FOUR and then routed [M6]Massachusetts (86-67 behind 26p14r from cJarnell Stokes) and upstart [M14]Mercer 83-63 (on cStokes' 17p18r5a performance). Surprising [S10]Stanford edged its way into the Sweet 16 (58-53 over [S7]New Mexico [who tanked right away for the second-straight year]) and 60-57 over [S2]Kansas (as SuperFrosh Andrew Wiggins[4p4r] couldn't step up and the absence of 7-0 cJoel Embiid in the paint was apparent).

    
The 1BCs did manage 5 (counting WichSt) 32-Splash wins -- (up from 2 last year) -- but no Sweet 16s. Not even its customary cushy North Carolina Pod placement -- (Raleigh, this time) -- could save [M3]@Duke as [M14]Mercer hung around until the Blue Devils got tight, pulling off the 78-@71 upset (as SuperFrosh fJabari Parker only managed 14p7r). [E12]Harvard made its second-straight Round of 32, edging [E5]Cincinnati 61-57 (ending things for SeanKilpatrick[18p5to]); but [M4]Michigan State put an end to the run next round (80-73 as fBranden Dawson had 26p9r). [S12]Stephen F. Austin proved its gaudy record was for real, edging tourney-darling [S5]VCU (77-75[OT]); but [S4]@UCLA took out the Lumberjacks next round, rolling @77-60 in San Diego. [W12]North Dakota State edged young [W5]Oklahoma (80-75[OT] as tLawrence Alexander had 28p8r despite 25p6r from bCameron Clark); but [S4]San Diego State ended the dream run (63-44 as pXavier Thames[30p6a] starred).

Most of the individual headliners failed to make it through the first week of the tourney (excepting bNapier[Mich], bDeAndre Kane[IowaSt] and gXavier Thames[SDgoSt] who have had big games as well as pScottie Wilbekin[Fla], tNik Stauskas[Mich], cFrank Kaminski[Wisc], gRuss Smith[Lville], gXavier Thames[SDgoSt] and tKyle Anderson[UCLA]). The SuperFrosh didn't fared well, either -- tWiggins[Kans] and tParker[Duke] disappointed; gTyler Ennis[Cuse] made poor decisions at crunch time -- but fAaron Gordon[AZ] and cRandle[UK] are still around.

    
Much maligned during the regular season, the SEC was the star of stars among conferences in the postseason's first week, going 12-2 overall (including 7-0 in the NCAA with 3 spots in the Sweet 16). The BIG 10 was 10-4 overall (also with 3 Sweet 16s). The 8-5 PAC 12 placed 3 in the Sweet 16 as well. 7 BIG 12 entrants only went 6-5 (2) in the NCAAs. The 6-2 AMERICAN had two Sweet 16s. The 9-5 ACC only placed 1 of 6 teams.

    
The Millers (Sean[AZ] and Archie[Dayt]) made history as the first pair of coaching brothers to make the same Sweet 16.

In the NIT, B-Major teams went 11-3 in first-round games (including 4 wins by SEC teams -- witness [w5]LSU's 71-@63 road win at [w4]San Francisco); 1BC teams were only 4-12 (highlighted by [e8]Robert Morris' 89-@78 win at [e1]St. John's and [e5]Belmont's 80-@65 road rout of [e5]Green Bay). In the second round: [m3]Southern Mississippi won 71-@63 at [m2]Missouri and [s3]Louisiana Tech won 79-@71 at [w2]Georgia to go 4-0 for CONFERENCE USA, and [e5]Belmont beat [e8]Robert Morris @82-71.

    
The 5 B-Major teams slumming in the CBI only went 3-2 in the first round; 3 three road teams were able to come through: Radford (96-@92 at Oregon State), Fresno State (61-@59 at UTEP) and Princeton (56-@55 at Tulane).

    
This year's CIT was almost exclusively 1BC (30/32 teams) -- WEST COAST/San Diego and Pacific both went 2-0 (as did IVY/Yale and Columbia) -- but @UOP-SDiego and @Colum-Yale must face each other in the quarters. Road teams won half (8/16) of the first-round games; Yale (71-@66 at Holy Cross), San Diego (77-@72 at Sam Houston State) and Towson (83-@77 at East Tennessee State) won second-round road games.

- -

[S1]Florida looks to have the easiest path to the Final Four. [W1]Arizona will likely face a stiff challenge from [W2]Wisconsin; [E1]Virginia will have its hands full with underseeded [E4]Michigan State (not to mention surging [E7]Connecticut); blossoming [M8]Kentucky must get past hated in-state rival/underseeded [M4]Louisville (with [M2]Michigan likely waiting in the wings).

    
1BC's [s3]Louisiana Tech, [m3]Southern Mississippi (at [m1]Minnesota) and [e5]Belmont (@ [e3]Clemson) all face tough games before they can make the semifinals in New York. [m1]Minnesota's path to the title looks the easiest. Fresno State (vs Princeton) and Old Dominion (vs Radford) have the easiest paths to the semis in CBI. Expect a WCC-IVY final in CIT.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

NCAA

Thursday, Saturday:

NCAA SOUTH REGIONAL Semis @MemphisTN

• [S1]Florida v [S4]UCLA
  
• [S10]Stanford v [S11]Dayton
  

NCAA WEST REGIONAL Semis @AnaheimCA

• [W1]Arizona v [W4]@San Diego St
  
• [W2]Wisconsin v [W6]Baylor
  

Friday, Sunday:

NCAA EAST REGIONAL Semis @NewYorkNY/MSG/

• [E1]Virginia v [E4]Michigan St
  
• [E3]Iowa St v [E7]Connecticut
  

NCAA MIDWEST REGIONAL Semis @IndianapolisIN

• [M2]Michigan v [M11a]Tennessee
  
• [M4]Louisville v [M8]@Kentucky (KY)
  

Sat 5 Apr, Mon 7 Apr:

NCAA FINAL FOUR,NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP @ArlingtonTX/COWBOYS/

• {[1/SOUTH]} v {[4/EAST]}
  
• {[2/WEST]} v {[3/MIDWEST]}
  

NIT

Monday:

16s on-campus

• @ [w1]SMU v [w5]LSU
  
• @ [s1]Florida St v [s4]Georgetown
  
• @ [w2]California v [w3]Arkansas
  

Tuesday:

Qtrs on-campus

• @ [m1]Minnesota v [m3]So Mississippi
  
• @ [e3]Clemson v [e5]Belmont
  

Wednesday:

Qtrs on-campus

• [s3]Louisiana Tech v {@[s1]Florida St/[s4]Georgetown}
  
• {@[w1]SMU/[w5]LSU} v {[w2]California/[w3]Arkansas}
  

Tuesday week, Thursday week:

Semis, Finals @NewYorkNY/MSG/

• {[w]/SMU} v {[e]/Clemson}
  
• {[m]/Minnesota} v {[s]/Florida St}
  

CBI

Monday:

Qtrs on-campus

• (e): @ Siena v Penn St
  
• (m): @ Illinois St v Texas A&M
  
• (s): @ Fresno St v Princeton
  
• (w): @ Old Dominion v Radford
  

Wednesday:

Semis on-campus (re-seeded)

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

Finals on-campus (Best of 3)

CIT

Monday:

16s on-campus

• @ Murray St v {Omaha}
  

Wednesday:

Qtrs on-campus)

• @ Pacific v San Diego
  
• @ Ohio U v VMI
  
• @ Columbia v Yale
  

Thursday:

Qtrs on-campus

• @ {MurraySt/Omaha} v Towson
  

Monday week:

Semis on-campus (re-seeded)

Wednesday week:

Final on-campus