Sweet sixteen baby!

WOW!!!!!!!! Hello Cam Thoroughman!!! I'm exhausted from all the screaming, pacing, jumping, and rocking on my hands...LOL!

Watching Wisconsin and KState now. I think my Big 12 is about to start dropping. Texas A&M faces up against UCLA tonight. UCLA should clear that one easily.

I'm hoping Texas will move out of Little Rock to Houston where we pick up the home court and get away from Razorback fans who hold an old SWC grudge (remember, I'm a Hawg fan also but for some reason don't hold the grudge as bad as others do). Texas appeared much more athletic yesterday than Memphis. We'll see if Memphis played to their competition (I hate that phrase but it's true sometimes).

A Texas-Memphis Regional Final would an awesome game to watch. DJ Augustin against Chris Douglas-Roberts could make for great fun. But first is Little Rock. The Memphis-Miss St game will be a good test to see if Memphis is tourney ready.

WOO-HOO! Go Mountaineers!

Huggins has done a great job this year with a bunch of players who had to adjust to a totally different style of basketball than they were used to playing.

Yes it was impressive play by Darren Collison and Kevin Love but I think the fact that UCLA had trouble with the game against the Aggies shows they are a weak #1 seed. It was a great game and made for great basketball to watch. I could be very wrong (as my brackets seem to show) but I think the Pac-10 was the most overrated conference in the tournament. I can't wait to see the UCLA-WVU/Xavier (too close to call this one) matchup in Phoenix.

I'm so glad WSU is going to Charlotte. Cougars haven't been to Sweet 16 since 1941.

What a dazzling effort by Washington State. I mean they just lulled ND to sleep. Incredible effort. Incredible team. One player from Notre Dame said he things the Cougs could go all the way and in fact said he was rooting for them. Cool! Go Cougs!!!

GO STATE!!
HUGE win last night for Michigan State against a very tough PITT team..
I'd be lying if I said I'm not surprised that the Spartans find themselves in yet another Sweet 16 for the 7th time in 11 years....
Neitzel did show up last night, and Freshman Kalin Lucas continues to impress.....

What a stinker of a game for ND. I was actually glad when CBS switched away from it.

Cyd will be glad to know I've adopted Stanford as my new favorite team. Although I think the Pac-10 is a chronically inferior conference, I love the play of the Lopez twins. They're easy on the eyes, too.......

As I said in the Big East thread, a very disappointing way for Pitt's season to end, but I am proud of what they accomplished in a very tough year. I love that we have been playing meaningful games in March for 7 years in a row, and that will surely continue. Good luck the rest of the way, State, but I still have to say...

GO BIG EAST!

GO DAVIDSON! the Dream Team 2008

Wow. The first weekend is finished and what a weekend it was. My Horns survived a great comeback by Miami to advance to Houston. The Miss St-Memphis game was a dogfight until the last part. My Hawgs were slaughtered by an almost perfect UNC team (68% FG? Unheard of!).

My brackets are toast on all counts. I get to see if my Horns advance to San Antonio in the South. I have both NC and Texas friends hounding me for my other Final Four ticket. On to the Regionals for more fun. I hope the rest of you have had as much fun this weekend.

Cinderella has arrived! Our guys are in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1969... the year Lefty took off for Maryland.

Wisconsin is next and I can't wait... only one other person in the OS pool besides myself picked Davidson to advance to the Final Four. That should do wonders for my standing in the pool.

I had an absolute f-ing blast in Tampa this weekend!! It was a honor and a priviledge(sp) to witness the greatest first round subregional in NCAA history.

To be certain today was only going to be a disappointment but Western scored another win for the mid majors and 'Nova continued its suffocating D, this time for an entire game in blowing out Siena. They kept a crowd desperate to cheer for Siena at bay on the way to an ez win.

Stopping in Charlotte on the way home to Buffalo on Thursday, can anyone hook me up with a pair of tix for the regional semifinal??? Please

And 3-4 in the second round! Yeah! Oh, wait...

It was quite apropo that the Big East chose Easter weekend to lay a bunch of eggs...

Big East leads all conferences with 3 teams in sweet 16.


Btw,


This is a basketball board. Are you lost?

My Cougs will be challenged like nobody's business but I think we can still beat UNC.

Tough loss for WVU, definitely a game they should/could have won- multiple chances in close that didn't drop on one play that ended up with a foul and two free throws for X and then free throws at the end/overtime. Hard way to lose it in what was a very nice year end run.

Am I the only one who thinks the South regional is going to be a shocker? I don't know why but I see Texas & Memphis as being very thin-skinned for some reason.

BTW, this is a thread about a tournament that will determine a National Champion in a sport other than Coed Rifle. Are you lost?

A preview I read today said that West Virginia was a better, deeper version of St. Joseph's, and St. Joe's beat Xavier twice this year (once in the season and then in the A-10 tournament), so the prediction went to WVU. Oops.

Well I was wrong but we still made a SWEET 16 RUN.

Well my bracket went to hell already, but at least Stanford lost.

Did anyone watch a lot or all of the Villanova-Kansas game? I had it on only occasionally but a couple of times when I had it on I was amazed at how quiet the crowd was. The attendance listed in the boxscore is 57,028 at Ford Field. That might be the quietest 57,028 I've ever heard. I know the game wasn't really close but still, most of the parts I saw was in the first half. Were they all Wisconsin and Davidson fans who left after the first game or something? Or maybe basketball games shouldn't be put in big stadiums like Ford Field. It's not exactly intimate.

Did you make it to the games in Charlotte? I ended being a good Texas Democrat all week and weekend long and miss ALL of the games (damn, I hate this stupid Texas Two-Step process of electing a president).

I'm finally able to sit down and watch college basketball today and enjoy it. Texas-Memphis! Go HORNS!!!

Got my tickets to the Final Four last week from the LOC. Look for me. I'm in section 345 row 6 Like you'll really be able to see me. At least I'm in the Dome Baby! I keep seeing the scalp prices on Stub Hub and other places. I keep thinking - attend the game or 50" HD. I have a Carolina fan who I've decided to take. He'd kill me if I sold the tickets.

You know you'd see the game more clearly on TV.

That was great! Too bad Texas lost in the final, but Friday was amazing to see the sea of burnt orange. Stanford's band was amazing; the energy they spend is incredible. Michigan State was run over(so was Texas) by Memphis. I can't stand Calipari and hope UCLA spanks them good.

I will definitely go to another regional final.

Wow what a finish between Davidson and Kansas. Davidson gave all it had and could have won it with a last second shot. So for the first time ever (under the current format) four number one teams make it to the final four, it was only a matter of time before that was bound to happen. This should be a very competitive four games, at least that's what I hope for.

DAMN that was close!!!!! My guys almost pulled it out in the final seconds... almost. Just remember though, Steph has 2 more years of eligibility, and he's not about to leave early. Coach McKillop also just ensured his own continued presence for, oh, the next 5 years or so...

I normally don't like low-scoring defensive games but Davidson gave Kansas all they could handle, and played good hard mostly clean defense to do it. Curry is a treasure. Any big school would have been lucky to get him. The whole ACC must be kicking itself now. Frankly they deserve it IMO.

Former Terp player Len Elmore called a good game, though I wasn't keen on the mention of Lefty Driesell without emphasizing both the good and the bad of his career. He may have built up both Davidson and Maryland but he hurt them with his negligence of the players' academics and ignoring the behavioral problems, drugs in particular.

Not to mention both teams seeing their greatest achievements after he left.

But then who would expect fair-and-balanced portrayals of the sport's history during the broadcast of a moneymaker like the NCAA basketball championship?

Regardless, kudos for Davidson's current program and that cute Stephen Curry. Hope he does stick it out with Davidson.

I made it!!! The games certainly weren't the level of the Tampa subregional but what could have possibly topped that. The final was a pretty good game and the better team did win. L'ville did a nice job in what was clearly a hostile arena. There was maybe a couple grand of red and the rest was very vocal Carolina Blue.

Also coincidentally did a drive by of the Davidson campus just a few miles away, what a hoot that place was.

I don't mean to pimp myself but I and my pal do run a blog about sports in Buffalo and our sports related travels. To get a gander at some of the stuff we saw in the NCAA's...have a look.

Hmmm.....Final Four in '09(I hope)! Not gonna get any closer to me than Detroit.

Maryland... yeah, I can see that. But come on, sportinlife, Lefty left Davidson 39 freaking years ago! (I know, make me feel old... )

Is it a good thing that all four #1 seeds are in the Final Four? I'm thinking it's not all that great because unless you're a hardcore college basketball fan or connected to one of those schools, there's no underdog or Cinderella to root for.

And it seems to be a trend that the bigger schools/conferences are getting stronger, so this might occur more often. Fewer upsets = less madness in March Madness.

I think it's pretty cool. The top program of all time (UCLA), and the three most prominent coaches (Roy Williams, Rick Pitino, John Calipari), plus some awesome freshmen who are not going to come back. I'd much rather watch those games than a George Mason blowout.

I would get boring if it were to happen every year but seeing as this is the first time ever that all 4 top seeds made it to the Final Four, I think it's pretty cool. Hopefully the games will live up to the potential.

Great comments today in the San Antonio Express-News by Roy Williams:

"Next question: When North Carolina arrived at their downtown hotel Wednesday night, Coach Roy Williams was asked his thoughts on playing Kansas.

Williams left Kansas five years ago after coaching the Jayhawks for 15 seasons.

"I've only answered that 7,000 times," Williams said. " You're going to have to be a little more original. We're here to play whoever they put in front of us.

"I love Kansas. I always will."

Williams' tradition: Williams has a tradition of spitting in the river for good luck in the town in which his team is playing in the NCAA tournament.

In 1982, as an assistant under Dean Smith at North Carolina, he spit in the Mississippi River on the eve of a win over Georgetown.

In 2005, Williams took the entire team back to the Mississippi before the Tar Heels' victory over Illinois in the title game in New Orleans to continue the tradition.

Will he do it this week?

"I haven't decided yet," he said.

John Whisler"

I actually love the idea that all four #1 seeds made it. I am excited to see some awesome games by some awesome players. And I am rooting for UCLA to go all the way!

All #1, all blue, all across the country, all types of game. This is really going to be a great Final Four.

Someone asked me today what I was wearing to the game tomorrow - blue? I told him I'd be coming from my shift at Hoop City. After 3 prior Final Fours with red volunteer shirts, they decided to pick blue this year. Who'd have expected? The entire town is blue this weekend.

I live in LA and I must say that this is a great start to a great weekend...USC football and UCLA basketball...I'm so over all the front runners. Sorry True Bruin fans! (Seriously, I just get annoyed with everyone else)

Thank you Kansas...so sick of hearing about Tyler Hansborough!

I didn't see any of the games but judging from the final scores, they weren't exactly stellar. A Cinderella could've done what the losing #1 seeds did today.

I usually cheer for North Carolina, especially over Duke, but,

it wasn't fair NC played all 4 games in the state of North Carolina, obviously playing your first game on the road got to you, wow 38-10 at one point ?!

Some of us have long memories. I can forgive anything but to forget would be...unscientific.

I'm impressed with both of these teams in the finals for different reasons. The starting guards for Memphis are both ambidextrous (Rose is a lefty but they often go both ways - so to speak) making them extremely difficult to guard given their other talents. Glad I lucked out enough to pick them to take it all.

I'd like to think that's due in part to the post-John Amaechi coming out era (he was forced to learn to use his left when his right hand was injured during childhood) but I suspect it has a lot more to do with better teaching of fundamentals since many of the teams have better athletes now than in the pre-jumpshot days (I wasn't there but I told you I had a long memory ).

And both teams, but especially Kansas, have shown the discipline necessary to win when the odds are in their favor - not all that easy as one might think in NCAA Championship games. Memphis's Rose may have broken that discipline a bit by boasting that "We knew we would win this one..." after defeating UCLA, but then that's the sort of hubris for which freshmen are famous. Hopefully he hasn't totally destroyed my picks.

Wow...great game. Gotta make the free throw's under pressure Memphis. Congrats to the Jayhawks who I flove after beating UNC. I gotta say though that of all the 4 number 1 seeds I thought Kansas was the least likely to have won this thing. So much for what I know. GO JAYHAWKS!!!

Outstanding comeback for the Jayhawks tonite. I'd be taking my own life if I was a Memphis fan the way the team gave up a 9 point lead with 2 minutes to go....
GO JAYHAWKS!!

I'm still trying to figure out why in the hell Kansas was allowed to even go for a three? Shouldn't Memphis have immediately fouled them? What exactly was the strategy there? That 3 sealed the deal. It was over for Memphis before overtime even began.

Edited to add: Well Memphis coach said that they were trying to foul at the end of regulation, but that they didn't do it hard enough.

..and I ended up in 30th place in the Outsports pool, which is not bad considering at one point I was down in the 200's.....

Any predictions on next year's winner?