NCAA Hoops Weekend Update

Only the first two rounds, and the upsets are already piling up...

#12 Manhattan over #5 Florida - 75-60: No surprise here, considering that this season's Gators are the weakest in sometime. Their weakness possibly rivaling the 2002 Gators, who lost to the Creighton Blue Jays in the first round. The picks for this were split across the board, with those who picked Florida (like my brother) shaking their heads and those who took Manhattan (like me) bobbing their heads.

#10 Nevada over #7 Michigan State - 72-66: Just like the Gators, the Spartans are normally a b-ball powerhouse, but just didn't have the guns to get out of the first round. Also, while my brother acts like the following was remedied later in the season, I have to highly disagree with him...the Spartans' problem throughout the season was not having an honest to goodness point guard. The only reason Izzo's team got a number seven seed was because of the Big Ten being a veeeeery weak conference.

#12 Pacific over #5 Providence - 66-58: A shock that wasn't really a shock...it was only made a shock by people like me who, for no particularly good reason, had the Friars going to at least the Sweet Sixteen in their brackets. Providence basically followed up on and capped their season ending woes...a darn shame considering how good they were about a month ago.

#9 UAB over #8 Washington - 102-100: Not really an upset per se, but probably the best and most entertaining game of the tournament thus far. Not only was it obviously high scoring, but it was also very back and fourth and evenly officiated.

#10 Nevada over #2 Gonzaga - 91-72: Wow. Yet, not really all that surprising despite me and quite a few others having the Zags go to the Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight. You'd think we would learn after two or three seasons of that tiny Washington state college's losing in the first or second round. The Bulldogs, as potentially great as we are always misled to believe, don't really get a real test until the Big Dance. With that said, I cannot help but feel that Gonzaga always manages to get highly rated because of having some kind of huge cult following, possibly fueled by the fact that one of the NBA's best point guards ever, John Stockton, came from there. Unless the Zags prove themselves with a truly tough schedule next season and/or beyond, I'm not falling for again having them only one or two games away from the Final Four.

#8 Alabama over #1 Stanford - 70-67: Another HUGE upset that is not all that surprising when you think about it. The Cardinal's (Yes, it's singular...not plural, like it SHOULD BE. Then again, what else do you expect from a college whose mascot looks like a Christmas tree constructed by first graders.) NCAA tradition is to get into the tournament with a rather high seed and lose early. As a matter of fact, Forrest Gump's alma mater's victory is all too reminiscent of the UNC Tar Heels' win over Stanford in 2000. While the Cardinal was numero uno both times, the Heels and Crimson Tide were both number eight.

#5 Syracuse over #4 Maryland - 72-70: Another upset that wasn't really an upset per se. Both 'Cuse and Maryland are potenially good teams that are really young with one or two veterans, and it came down to who was a little more hungry. I doubt the Orangemen will make it to the Final Four, but give them and the Turtles another year or so, and they'll be fearful once again.

#5 Illinois over #4 Cincinnati - 92-68: It's another #5 over #4, but dang, what a #5 over #4. And to think that I had the Illini losing to Murray State in the first round. At least that's not nearly as damaging to one's bracket (considering I had Murray State losing in the next round) as Cincy losing. Quite a few had the Bearcats going far...at least one or two I know even had Bob Huggins' squad winning the whole kit and caboodle. Talk about cat scratch fever...

#6 Vanderbilt over #3 NC State - 75-73: This game was not nearly as close as the score indicates...State overall played a pretty crappy game. Not surprisingly, a ton of Pack fans are calling for Herb Sendek's head, despite having one of the best seasons in the last decade AND making the tourney for a second year in a row. To those Pack fans: I could be totally wrong about this, but as long as the Wolves keep having great seasons like the 2003-2004 one AND keep making the Big Dance, Herb ain't going anywhere. I may be a Tar Hole fan, but I was and am certainly not blind to what an overall good team the Pack were and are depending upon who stays.

(goes into Tar Hole mode) BUT, way to go Commodores for making me feel much better about my Heels losing...heh heh heh. >;)

#7 Xavier over #2 Mississippi State - 89-74: Did I say in an earlier entry to this blog that the Atlantic 10 is a weak conference? They may be overall compared to their glory years, but darn, are their two representatives making quite a showing! You of course got St. Joseph's having no problem defending their number one seed. And then you have Xavier not just beating the Mississippi State Bulldogs, but also blowing the pooches out! As huge as that is, it is nowhere near the following for the top upset of the weekend...

#9 UAB over #1 Kentucky - 76-75: What can be said about this one that hasn't already been said? Rather embarassing to be the darling of CBS and ESPN's Bracketology specials, predicted to be the National Champs or only losing to Dook or Pittsburgh, and then losing in the second round to an upstart Conference USA college. This was a game that the Wildcats shouldn't have lost either...something that helped the Cats have the great record they had and all were a bunch a games where they got the game-winning shot with a few seconds left. Obviously, as the score indicates, Tubby Smith's squad could not pull such a thing off where it counted the most, and got burned by the Blazers. Shame on you Kitties...if people and their brackets didn't catch cat scratch fever from the Bearcats, they certainly caught it from you.