It’s that most wonderful time….of the year!
Sporadic thoughts from Day One of the tourney:
– I feel bad for George Mason. I really do. There defense actually played pretty well against Notre Dame. They just couldn’t shoot to save their life. Every roll and every bounce went against them. It was really kind of tragic.
– It won’t happen, but wouldn’t it be cool if Duke won the tourney after its fright against 15th-seed Belmont? We could have a tournament champion who was nearly derailed on day one by Belmont. Belmont!
– More seriously, how does Duke come out of this for Round Two against West Virginia? Are they scared straight from the experience? Or is this proof of vulnerability? Personally, I think that one of the announcers had it right: the three-ball is a fickle mistress. Teams that live by the three, die by the three, and Duke lives on the perimeter.
– First Half : Kent State :: Second Half : Winthrop. Yowzers.
– I’m really annoyed at the NCAA committee for its bracket lay out. If Kansas State had played any other 6 seed, I’d have picked them for the upset. Instead, I foolishly thought that Beasely and Mayo canceled each other out. I had USC in the Elite Eight!
– “Don’t bet against Mormons” turned out to be about as effective at predicting basketball as it was predicting Republican primaries. Oops.
– Is there such thing as a “low-major”? Or are all schools that aren’t part of the big, elite confrences “mid-majors”? On the one hand, it feels weird to put Mississippi Valley State in the same category as Butler or Kent State. On the other hand, I’ve never heard of them described any other way. New rule: Any school which could not conceivably make the tournament but by automatic-bid is not a mid-major.