Weekend Summary

Thus ends weekend #1 of March Madness. However, outside of the city of Tampa, madness was on relatively short supply. In fact, the number of upsets in Tampa was higher than the total number of upsets in the rest of the country. While the nation saw all four 12 and 13 seeds in Tampa win (Siena, Villanova, Western Kentucky, San Diego), the upsets were relatively minor in the rest of the country.

Kansas State (11) defeated USC (6), which is an upset more in terms of expectations than actual seed, as many experts had USC going as far as the Elite Eight. I had expected Wisconsin to shut down the freshman-led USC, but as it turns out they accomplished the same thing, just against a different team and a different star freshman, in K-State and Michael Beasley.

Perhaps the most significant upset thus far was Davidson slaying the figurative Goliath, in Georgetown and 7’2” Roy Hibbert. Led by relatively tiny Stephen Curry (6’3”), Davidson stormed back from a large deficit to topple the second-seeded Hoyas. Another two-seed fell, although for many the question was not if Duke would lose before reaching the Final Four, but when. West Virginia handled Duke and sent the Blue Devils packing after the first weekend for their second consecutive year.

I have to confess that I actually did not watch too many games this weekend, due to traveling and generally doing things that involved not watching basketball. And I have to say, I completely understand when people say they don’t enjoy watching college basketball. The first game I watched was Michigan State-Temple, and seeing both teams barely clear double digits midway through the first half, well let’s just say I wasn’t eager to keep watching. I watched both Tennessee games, and though the Butler game was intense and massively nerve-wracking, the amount of fouls and free throws was frustrating. Both teams shot nearly 30 free throws each, and it seemed like it was virtually impossible for a player to drive to the basket without getting fouled. I suppose when both teams are shooting are 65% from the line, fouling isn’t a bad idea, but watching almost 60 free throws nearly made me want to chuck the television out the window. Anyway, beside the two Tennessee games, I also caught the end of both Duke games. I was upset when Belmont choked away the end of that game after looking like they would pull off the upset, but at least West Virginia finished the job in the next round.

The upcoming Sweet 16 games should (generally) provide more excitement and a higher level of play. The highlight has to be Tennessee-Louisville. The winner will most likely face off against UNC for a Final Four appearance. Both Louisville and Tennessee play an exciting style of basketball and have the talent to win the whole tournament. It’s a shame they have to face off this early in the tournament. I consider both to be the best tournament teams at their respective seed. Wisconsin-Davidson will also be an interesting matchup, although Wisconsin has to be the heavy favorite. Texas-Stanford features a two and three seed. Texas is one of the most (if not the most) battle-tested teams in the tournament, with an astounding fifteen games (11-4 record) against RPI top 50 teams. While Stanford did not play a tough out-of-conference schedule, the Pac-10 was enough of a proving ground to earn the Cardinal a three seed.

As expected, all four number one seeds remain alive, and UNC and Kansas have yet to be truly tested. Both Memphis and UCLA looked a little shaky and pulled out close wins. Kansas and UCLA are theoretically beneficiaries of the Tampa upsets, since both will face 12 seeds. UNC could have its hands full with Washington State. Michigan State has performed well thus far, but I don’t see them sticking with Memphis.

[Bracket Alert – Do not continue reading if you become extremely agitated/bored when hearing about others’ brackets]

Well, as I mentioned, all four number one seeds are still alive, which means all four of my Final Four picks are still kickin’. Despite correctly picking only 9 of the Sweet 16 participants, some kind of statistical anomaly has occurred in which all of my Elite Eight picks are still alive. In a somewhat disappointing discovery, it turns out I actually picked UCLA and not Kansas, which means that my bracket will look like 50% of the population, including the Sports Guy. I’m pretty sure that having the same picks as Bill Simmons means there is no way I can win. For example, two of his Final Four picks (USC, Pitt) have already been eliminated, and as a Tennessee fan, it makes extremely nervous that he made Tennessee his other Final Four pick.

For anyone that cares, my Elite Eight consists of UNC, Tennessee, Kansas, Wisconsin, Memphis, Texas, UCLA, and Xavier. Yeah, so I didn’t take anyone outside of the top three seeds. Big whoop, wanna fight about it?? You know my Final Four picks, and I apparently have UCLA defeating Kansas in the final.

We'll see how it turns out. I may be near the bottom of the standings now, but I have a feeling I'll move up after this weekend. For what it's worth, a bracket picked purely on seed would be around the 90th percentile in ESPN's bracket challenge, which is much higher than my bracker right now.