Just a few thoughts on the NCAA Tournament heading into the Sweet 16.
Alabama, wow…eye test only…no other team can match the Crimson Tide in terms of pure talent… I’m not sure anyone can beat them.
No one has the talent, but maybe Houston has the toughness…what a superb second half from the Cougars against Auburn in what felt like a road game at times…despite foul trouble…they play legitimately great defense. And this is not to say the Cougs don’t have talent as well.
Oh, my Purdue, what happened? You had the best player in the country, 7’4†Zach Edey, and couldn’t best utilize him against the smallest team in college hoops…not the tournament, but the entire country. Insane… We can fully appreciate what FDU did without pretending Purdue didn’t blow this.
On the other hand, Princeton actually looked good, not fluky. I wouldn’t expect them to win a seven-game series against Arizona, but they are every bit as good as Missouri. The Tigers were under-seeded.
Let’s get back to the Big Ten. What happened? What always happens, right? After a sold first round (5-2) other than the Boilermakers, the B1G went 1-4 in the second round, leaving Michigan State as the lone representative in the Sweet 16.
Speaking of Sparty, Tom Izzo has made it to the Regional Semifinals in 15 of the past 25 NCAA Tournaments! That deserves another wow. I’m an Izzo fan, but hot-take warning…I sometimes wonder if he’s a bit overrated because his team often “overachieves†in March. Why does that potentially make him overrated? Why are they often in a position to overachieve?
It’s a smaller sample size, but Mark Few is even more impressive, leading Gonzaga to eight-straight Sweet 16 appearances. I’ll let someone else hate on Few for not winning a Natty because that’s a remarkable run of consistency.
And if you want to minimize Gonzaga’s accomplishment, ask the Blue Bloods how easy it is…this Sweet 16 has no Kansas, no Duke, no Kentucky, no Indiana (someone may have mentioned fading those four last week), and no North Carolina.
Another team with a Sweet 16 streak is Arkansas, who has made it three straight under Eric Musselman, the program’s longest streak since the heyday under Nolan Richardson in the mid-1990s. BTW…this team has oodles of talent. Please don’t call them Cinderella.
Hey ACC, we didn’t forget about you, with only Miami advancing to the Sweet 16. This conference is overrated. Yeah, I said it. Also, Jim Larrañaga is underrated. He made the Final Four with George Mason, the Elite Eight last year, Miami’s first, and now has two of the program’s five Sweet 16s.
I watched the Big East and ACC more than any other conferences this season, and it’s no surprise which one performed better. I wrote my love letter to the Big East yesterday, so I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves. The Big East and SEC lead all conferences, with three teams in the Regional Semifinals.
S-E-C! It’s not just Alabama. Even with another disappointing Kentucky run (or lack thereof), the conference has three teams in the Sweet 16. Tennessee overwhelmed favored Duke to join Arkansas as upset winners on Saturday. All three have a realistic shot at making it to Houston.
While I wouldn’t mind seeing the Big East do well, Kansas State is the team that’s captured my heart, not just because the Wildcats feature four New Yorkers. Was there a player more entertaining or clutch than Markquis Nowell? He’s my Most Outstanding Player of the first weekend.
It’s also easy to get behind the Texas players and interim head coach Rodney Terry, who have followed through on the special season we thought was blown up when Chris Beard was fired.
Don’t even get me started on Ole Miss. I’m here to party… let’s dance!
