Great Finishes in the Tournament Today
March 21, 2008 – 4:35 pmToday’s NCAA tournament action was much more compelling than yesterday’s. And the day isn’t even over yet. I’m specifically thinking of two games. San Diego beat UConn on a late basket with 1.2 seconds remaining in overtime. Western Kentucky beat Drake on a three-point basket as the buzzer sounded, also in overtime.
The twelve seed (Western Kentucky) beat the five seed, and the thirteen seed (San Diego) beat the four seed, both occurring in the West region. That means instead of the expected four-five matchup in the second round, we’ll get twelve-thirteen. Nice.
Of course I picked Drake and UConn to win those games. And while I’m disappointed with my poor picks, I’m not too torn up, because those upsets wrecked other peoples’ brackets much more than my own. Comparatively, I’m not in that bad of shape.
Even though the upsets busted up my bracket a bit, it was awesome to watch the end of both of those games live. I don’t know why, but I expect the team that’s down to make those shots. When it doesn’t happen, which is the case more often than not, it’s a little deflating. But when it does happen, it’s great. Today I fist-pumped and hollered like I actually went to either of those schools.
I argue these types of finishes are the primary reason why the NCAA tournament is one of the premier sporting events in America.
6 Responses to “Great Finishes in the Tournament Today”
Well, we’re down to the Sweet 16. I’m glad to see the following teams are still in it:
Texas (go school that Jeff went to!)
Memphis (go school from Tennessee!)
Davidson (lots of highschool friends went there)
and, of course TENNESSEE! This is the first time UT has made it to back-to-back Sweet 16’s. Not bad for a team that until a few years ago didn’t even make it to the tournament. Will we make it any further? Who knows (I certainly don’t). I hope so. Regardless, making it this far should help with future recruiting.
I’m also thrilled to see that Duke is out. If only UNC were also out. That would really make my day. I’m not sure why I really hate those teams so much, but I do.
As a sidenote, Tennessee’s Women’s team is doing us proud, as usual. They debacled Oral Roberts (*snicker*) 94-55 in the first round. The Texas Women’s team is still in as well after a 72-55 first round victory.
By Adam on Mar 25, 2008 at 3:58 am
My bracket hinges on Texas beating Stanford. If that happens, there’s a good chance I’ll win my lab’s “bracket challenge”. If not, I’m likely toast.
It’ll be interesting to see how long Tennessee hangs around as well. Texas and Tennessee are two teams that rarely make it this far in college basketball, so I’m interested to see how they handle playing the big boys that are here year in and year out.
By jjk on Mar 25, 2008 at 11:10 am
Well, Texas lasted a little bit longer than Tennessee. Congrats. However, I will be cheering for Memphis against UCLA.
Hopefully, the success of Tennessee and Texas this year will contribute to future improvement. I’d love to see some new basketball powerhouses take down the old standards.
By Adam on Apr 1, 2008 at 4:18 am
No kidding. I think Texas and Tennessee are in good shape. They both have highly respected coaches, and with the degree of turnover in college basketball today, having a good coach makes a world of difference.
I’m already looking forward to next year.
By jjk on Apr 1, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Is this the Jeff Krimmel I think it is? If so, hows the knee? My shoulders still blow.
Man, what a great year in basketball, and with a bright future showing for next year.
I loved Dexters minutes that he got in the tourney, if he can keep his head on straight, watch out for a great upperclassman contribution from the big fella.
Wingman has flashes that remind me of Dream, cant wait to see him back on the floor after some off seasons with Todd Wright.
If DJ stays, we are the deepest, and most talented team UT, the Texas one, has ever seen. If he goes, we are at the very least an exciting group with a ton of potential.
Either way, I cant wait for next year.
By Geoff Wallner on Apr 11, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Hey Jeff. Yep, you found me. The knees are still pretty crappy. The right knee had always given me problems in high school and college, and now I’ve blown out my left knee twice since I’ve been in California. So those problems certainly haven’t eased with age.
But I agree with you whole-heartedly about next season. It should be interesting, down to us and Kansas like usual.
By jjk on Apr 14, 2008 at 1:48 pm