An unsatisfying ACC basketball weekend* was salvaged by Virginia smiting the Devils in the championship game AND a pretty good draw for the Tar Heels in the NCAA tournament. The tragedy side of my Greek psyche was expecting much worse on Sunday.
ACC Tournament
It was obviously good to see Duke lose. Any day that Krzyzewski is sad is a good day for America. As I posted on twitter over the weekend, Duke is like the Tea Party: some individual alums/members are nice, but as a whole both are bad for the country.
NCAA Tournament
It is hard to quibble with the selection committee's work on the NCAA tournament. I was very glad to see six ACC teams, including N.C. State, make it. That is second to the Big 12's seven bids (actually they got eight if you count Nebraska though they apparently are in the Big 10 now - who knew? - which by the way has 12 members, while the Big 12 has only 10 members. Thanks football!)
Of course, I will quibble a little bit. I agree with most Americans that BYU did not deserve an invitation to the big dance; they were very bad down the stretch. Actually Nebraska should not have made it either; their one marquee win was over Michigan State without their two best players.
Colorado and Stanford, two Pac 12 schools, are also more suited to the NIT than the NCAA. If I was on the committee I would have dropped those four in favor of Wisconsin Green Bay, Louisiana Tech (who beat Nebraska I think), Florida State and probably SMU and Larry Brown.
How could the selection committee pass on Larry Brown?
I keep scratching my head about Clemson, too. They finished with 10 wins in the ACC including one over Duke, yet never seemed to merit much consideration. It is great to have six teams in but the ACC probably should have gotten seven.
So there is some quibbling over the teams but only a few on the seeding. UCLA probably should not be a 4, BYU should be in the NIT let alone a 10 seed, Kentucky is one of those nightmare 8 seeds, but that's about it.
The number one seeds, however, seem obvious and just.
But like many Americans I can not believe that Louisville is a 4 seed. They seem like a 2 seed the way they have been playing lately.
Louisville is a reminder of the rigor that is the Midwest bracket. I guess the selection committee was not impressed by Wichita State's strength of schedule since they gave them a brutal path to follow if the Shockers hope to make consecutive trips to the Final Four.
Their second round game could be against a Tennessee team that blew out Virginia. Get past the Vols and Kentucky or Kansas State could await. Both K teams are tough outs from tough conferences. If the Shockers go to the Sweet 16 they could see Louisville - who they will likely lose to - and if they make it past the defending national champs would likely see Michigan, another team that made the Final Four last year.
My only real upset pick is North Dakota State over Oklahoma. I have NC State winning two games including over St. Louis in the 2nd round, and George Washington over Memphis.
I DON'T buy into most of the trendy upset picks. VCU will not lose to SF Austin, and I do not buy into the Harvard thing. Finally, I see Syracuse getting their act together enough to beat W. Michigan but lose to Ohio State.
My bracket is here: http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/en/group?groupID=407767&invitesource=email&inviteuser=MjUzNDkxA&ex_cid=invite-email-tcmen You can also join my group, Marcus Paige is GOD, from there.
TAR HEELS
Unlike last year, Carolina got a great draw in 2014. Iowa State and Villanova will be tough, but I love our chances of getting another shot at Virginia and going to the final four. Once there I have the Heels beating Louisville - again - then winning one for Dean, whose last game was a loss to Arizona in the 1997 Final Four. This time ol' Roy will win one for his mentor and take down the Wildcats for the National Championship - or something like that.
GO HEELS! GO DEAN! GO AMERICA!
* The best basketball news of the weekend was attending the Wizards' scintillating win over the Nets of Brooklyn. John Wall kept the Zards close until Drew Gooden - DREW GOODEN - took over in the 4th quarter and scored 11 of his 21 points to lead Washington to the win. This is a fun team led by a player, Wall, who has really grown as a leader and a shot maker. It will be interesting to see the Wizards in the playoffs.
ACC Tournament
It was obviously good to see Duke lose. Any day that Krzyzewski is sad is a good day for America. As I posted on twitter over the weekend, Duke is like the Tea Party: some individual alums/members are nice, but as a whole both are bad for the country.
NCAA Tournament
It is hard to quibble with the selection committee's work on the NCAA tournament. I was very glad to see six ACC teams, including N.C. State, make it. That is second to the Big 12's seven bids (actually they got eight if you count Nebraska though they apparently are in the Big 10 now - who knew? - which by the way has 12 members, while the Big 12 has only 10 members. Thanks football!)
Of course, I will quibble a little bit. I agree with most Americans that BYU did not deserve an invitation to the big dance; they were very bad down the stretch. Actually Nebraska should not have made it either; their one marquee win was over Michigan State without their two best players.
Colorado and Stanford, two Pac 12 schools, are also more suited to the NIT than the NCAA. If I was on the committee I would have dropped those four in favor of Wisconsin Green Bay, Louisiana Tech (who beat Nebraska I think), Florida State and probably SMU and Larry Brown.
How could the selection committee pass on Larry Brown?
I keep scratching my head about Clemson, too. They finished with 10 wins in the ACC including one over Duke, yet never seemed to merit much consideration. It is great to have six teams in but the ACC probably should have gotten seven.
So there is some quibbling over the teams but only a few on the seeding. UCLA probably should not be a 4, BYU should be in the NIT let alone a 10 seed, Kentucky is one of those nightmare 8 seeds, but that's about it.
The number one seeds, however, seem obvious and just.
But like many Americans I can not believe that Louisville is a 4 seed. They seem like a 2 seed the way they have been playing lately.
Louisville is a reminder of the rigor that is the Midwest bracket. I guess the selection committee was not impressed by Wichita State's strength of schedule since they gave them a brutal path to follow if the Shockers hope to make consecutive trips to the Final Four.
Their second round game could be against a Tennessee team that blew out Virginia. Get past the Vols and Kentucky or Kansas State could await. Both K teams are tough outs from tough conferences. If the Shockers go to the Sweet 16 they could see Louisville - who they will likely lose to - and if they make it past the defending national champs would likely see Michigan, another team that made the Final Four last year.
My only real upset pick is North Dakota State over Oklahoma. I have NC State winning two games including over St. Louis in the 2nd round, and George Washington over Memphis.
I DON'T buy into most of the trendy upset picks. VCU will not lose to SF Austin, and I do not buy into the Harvard thing. Finally, I see Syracuse getting their act together enough to beat W. Michigan but lose to Ohio State.
My bracket is here: http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/en/group?groupID=407767&invitesource=email&inviteuser=MjUzNDkxA&ex_cid=invite-email-tcmen You can also join my group, Marcus Paige is GOD, from there.
TAR HEELS
Unlike last year, Carolina got a great draw in 2014. Iowa State and Villanova will be tough, but I love our chances of getting another shot at Virginia and going to the final four. Once there I have the Heels beating Louisville - again - then winning one for Dean, whose last game was a loss to Arizona in the 1997 Final Four. This time ol' Roy will win one for his mentor and take down the Wildcats for the National Championship - or something like that.
GO HEELS! GO DEAN! GO AMERICA!
* The best basketball news of the weekend was attending the Wizards' scintillating win over the Nets of Brooklyn. John Wall kept the Zards close until Drew Gooden - DREW GOODEN - took over in the 4th quarter and scored 11 of his 21 points to lead Washington to the win. This is a fun team led by a player, Wall, who has really grown as a leader and a shot maker. It will be interesting to see the Wizards in the playoffs.
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