One Weekend Down

What a weekend of games!  The upsets were few and far between in the first two days, but there were more close games than I can remember.  Starting off with WVU-Clemson and ending with Kansas St-Utah State, Thursday was jam-packed with entertaining games.  4 of the first 5 games ending on last second shots.  Here are a few of the best calls.. I am partial to Bill Raftery giving the "Onions" call.  You also have to love Butler winning again, and the announcer go to the built in line "The Butler did it again!"  I usually despise listening to these commentators, as they usually are uninformed, boring, and just plain stupid, but for some reason the NCAA Tournament brings out the best in them and they are some of the most memorable calls in sports history.  A few teams that came away from Thursday that had to be feeling good about themselves was Gonzaga, Cincinnati, and Wisconsin.  My bracket was also in pretty good shape, 12 out of 16.. Not too shabby

Tough day at Work 

Now on to Friday.. I forgot to mention earlier about just how sweet my work is.  Instead of everything "secretly" watching games on their computer, watching out to make sure the boss doesn't catch you, my boss set up a screen to watch in our large conference room.  Talk about winning.  Anyways.. Friday was a great day because it was time for Ohio State to start its 4-game run to Houston. Friday offered very little in the way of excitement, but Gus Johnson was announcing Friday, you knew there had to be at least one exciting game, and here it is. Texas-Memphis also provided us when a great ending, only this time it was an outstanding defensive play.. Marv Albert with the call (by the way, love Marv Albert) Friday had a large number of higher seeds playing the "little sisters of the poor" so that could explain the lack of excitement.  Winners on Friday include, Ohio State, who looked primed to make a run at the championship, North Carolina, and Texas, who had a huge win over underdog Oakland.  Bracket update: 24/32, I'll take it.

Now let the games begin. We are down to 32 teams, very few mismatches, let's go! Saturday started off with a dandy of a game between West Virginia and Kentucky.  Back and forth game until UK pulled away late in the 2nd half.  It was about time Calipari beat Huggins, still not a better coach though.  Florida just outplayed UCLA to advance to the Sweet 16. I think they were rooting for BYU to beat Gonzaga to have a shot to avenge their loss to them in the first round of the 2010 tournament when the Jimmer dropped 37 on the Gators.  UF got their wish as BYU absolutely blew out Gonzaga, playing perhaps the best game of any team in the tournament to that point.  Saturday night had some outstanding finishes.  San Diego St-Temple went double OT with SDSU having a shot to win at the end of regulation and OT #1, before pulling away in the second overtime.  Pitt and Butler had one of the craziest/mind-boggling finishes I have ever seen. Check it out.  Going into the Regionals, no team that played Saturday could feel better than the Cougars of BYU.  San Diego St feels pretty good as well, as they are playing 90 miles from home. The Show will be in full force in Anaheim. 

On to Sunday, the Buckeyes second game.  This one worried me as George Mason was experienced, and well-coached.  Ohio St didn't care, they played, by far, the best game of any team in the tournament. Winning by 32, and leaving Cleveland on an extremely high note.  Texas was beaten by Arizona on a great play by perhaps the best player in the tournament, Derrick Williams. Sunday night was chalk full of upsets as Florida St knocked off Notre Dame, First Four participant VCU continued their run by knocking off Purdue, and Marquette defeated Syracuse.  Bracket update: At this point in the tournament, everyone's bracket is "busted" and while I had quite a few picks go wrong, I still have all Final 4 teams remaining, and that's all you can ask for.  I currently have 33 out of 48 correct.

Re-evaluating the tournament.  The East is still the bracket with the most difficult road to the Final 4.  The top 3 seeds remaining have all played great to this point.  I still see Ohio State advancing on to Houston.  On the the West, San Diego St has an obvious geographical advantage over Duke and North Carolina.  Although they have not played great their first two games, I think SDSU fans come out in droves, and push the Aztecs to their first ever Final 4.  In the Southwest, Kansas has a cake walk with 3 double digit seeds remaining.  If they don't win each game by 15+, I would be worried.  In the Southeast, Butler-Wisconsin will be a great battle. Shelvin Mack on Jordan Taylor will be a great one-on-one matchup, I see Butler's run continuing.  BYU has the talent to beat Florida, and with neither team anticipating having a strong fan base in New Orleans, I believe most of the fans will jump on the back of The Jimmer and push BYU over the top.  I think BYU defeats Butler and advances to Houston.  Oh, and Gus Johnson is doing this region, so you know something out of the ordinary will happen, say like two crazy upsets and the one player all of America loves going off for 50.

It all starts tomorrow, my bracket is still not busted, and by Sunday night 4 teams will be planning a trip to Houston for a chance to win it all, hopefully they are all my predictions, as I could use the money, but more importantly so I have a chance to watch Ohio State in Reliant Stadium cut down the nets as the 2011 NCAA National Champions.

Go Bucks!