March Madness: Reflections on the First Round
The best two days of the entire year are over. Thursday and Friday’s first-round games have brought the usual upsets and late-game heroics. Here are a few highlights the first two days:
Cinderella: The biggest upset of them all arrived yesterday when Cleveland State utterly dominated ACC powerhouse Wake Forest, a team that spent part of the season as the nation’s No. 1 team. The Vikings won 84-69 and could win again in Sunday’s game with No. 12 Arizona. No. 11 Dayton also provided a bit of an upset by beating No. 6 West Virginia 68-60. The Flyers could give Kansas all sorts of trouble in the second round.
The Favorites: Pitt looked absolutely awful in its win over East Tennessee State, giving everyone a glimmer of hope for the elusive 16-seed win. North Carolina looked like the tournament favorite in a lopsided win over Radford and UCONN was dominant as well in a 103-47 win over Chatanooga. Louisville struggled with Morehead State before finishing off a 74-54 victory. Look for the Panthers and Cardinals to win ugly a few more times before the tournament ends.
The Heartbreak: My Ohio State Buckeyes seemed to throw away every opportunity in a two-overtime loss to No. 9 Siena. Overrated big man B.J. Mullens threw up two critical bricks on late game free throws that killed OSU’s chances. I’m guessing Wake Forest fans are feeling the same sickness this morning. Many people (including my buddy Mike, Whoops!) had the Demon Deacons in the Final Four. Not this year. It’s going to be a long offseason down there in North Carolina.
Overall impressions: Friday’s excitement followed a rather ho-hum Thursday, giving the tournament a little more mojo heading into the Sweet Sixteen. The Midwest bracket is shaping up to be pretty interesting with three double-digit seeds (No. 11 Dayton, No. 12 Arizona and No. 13 Cleveland State) still alive. North Carolina’s road to the finals still looks like the easiest path of the top teams. Don’t jump of the Tarheel bandwagon just yet. And if you like defense, make sure to check out the Wisconsin-Xavier game. Both teams play suffocating man-to-man. The first team to 50 points will probably win.
Check back later for another update.