This surely has been an excited Round 3. As stated in the last blog, the skill gap between the top teams to the bottom clearly isn't as big as people expected. The lower ranked teams are putting up a hell of a fight if not winning the games, other than George Mason who was just the next victim in Ohio State's wake of destruction.
(4) Kentucky and (5) West Virginia put up a decent game to start the round.
(11) Marquette and (3) Syracuse played out to be a good Big East game with Marquette moving on, as predicted in the last blog.
(7) Washington almost came out on top over heavily favored (2) North Carolina.
(8) Michigan gave all (1) Duke could handle, as predicted in the last blog as well.
(5) Arizona edged (4) Texas with a controversial call.
(2) San Diego St and (7) Temple had an exciting double OT finish.
(8) Butler was the first team to take down a 1 seed, as Pitt was defeated.
(2) Notre Dame was surprised by (10) Florida St.
The MWC, which sent 2 teams, has two teams in the Sweet 16: (3) BYU and (2) San Diego St
The Big East, which sent 11 teams, has two as well: (3) UConn and (11) Marquette
Disappointing tournament by the Big East so far. With the exception of Big East teams that lost to another Big East team, the other 7 teams have lost to non Big East opponents and 5 of them have lost to a lower seed, (9) Villanova and (5) West Virginia being excluded as they lost to (8) George Mason and (4) Kentucky, respectively. Seems like the only way to salvage the tourney for the conference is to have (11) Marquette and (3) UConn in the Final Four. (11) Marquette has a difficult path, as they have to face (2) North Carolina and then most likely (1) Ohio State afterwards. (3) UConn and Kemba Walker have been hot since the start of the Big East tournament so they'll have a shot going up against (2) San Diego St and most likely (1) Duke after.
UConn has to beat SDSU. They can't lose to a mid major. Too many Big East teams have done that already. (1) Pitt, (4) Louisville, (6) St Johns, (6) Georgetown, and (9) Villanova have all done so. That's 5 loses to mid majors, 2 to Big East, and 2 to major conferences. That doesn't look good for a conference regarded as the best in the country. They can't be losing to small name schools. UConn has to show SDSU that they're simply not at the same level as Big East competition. The rest of the Big East sure as hell has convinced the nation otherwise unfortunately.
Going back to my last blog, I thought (11) Gonzaga would take down (3) BYU through their size. Well, the Zags out rebounded them 34-23 while grabbing 8 more offensive boards with a 10-2 spread, but it didn't translate to a win like I expected. They didn't do much with their second chance opportunities. Oh, and too much Jimmer. Gonzaga kept it close most of the first half, but the last few minutes consisted of Jimmer running down the court and tossing up a quick 3 and going in. It'll be fun watching them play a damn good (2) Florida team no one seems to be talking about. They've been winning convincingly, as they should be, which not a lot of teams have been doing lately. I'm pretty much thinking Final Four for them. Their path doesn't seem too difficult with BYU and either (8) Butler or (4) Wisconsin in their way.
(11) VCU continues to surprise. They absolutely decimated (3) Purdue. I haven't watched either of their games this tournament but I'll be sure to watch them if they get past (10) Florida St. Who would've guessed we'd have an (11) vs (10) matchup in the Sweet 16? The Southwest bracket has a (1), (10), (11), and (12) seed remaining. Unreal.
Notable upsets for the Sweet 16:
(11) Marquette over (2) North Carolina
That's pretty much it I guess. As far as seeding goes, I have (3) UConn over (2) SDSU. Doubt that's actually classified as an upset, though.
I'll be back after the Sweet 16.
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