One And Done

You’re probably thinking, “Wow, this site was suprisingly quiet during the first two rounds of the tournament.”

And you’d be right.  We were.

One reason is that I’ve been making some updates to the design, organization and features of the site.  Some subtle, some slightly larger.  It’s tough to write and design at the same time.

The second is, it’s tax season and work had to be accomplished.  Some things are more pressing than sports, as long as you decide not to take the Pete Rose route to paying the IRS (i.e., actually doing so).  Ugh!

And, the last… I was too engrossed in the actual games!

So, let’s look at now done Weekend One:

For me personally, I had my absolute worst first round ever in picking games. Ouch!  What killed me was losing almost every game decided by three-points or less.  There were quite a number of such games, demonstrating how evenly matched most of the teams are these days.  The top tier of teams is still in a league of their own, and the less-than-mid conferences (is there a term for those leagues smaller than mid-majors?) are still well-beneath, but the middle of the road has a lot of parity.

But while my first round was terrible, I scored better than my average on the Sweet Sixteen and all of my Elite Eight are alive.  In my pool, everyone ahead of me has at least one different pick, so I’m very much in the running.

Cheers:

First Round Upsets – Western Kentucky, Sienna, Dayton, Cleveland State!  Yes, there were others such as Michigan and Arizona, but those were power conference schools with low-seeds, not mid-majors making the grade.  The one positive I can say about my first-round picking was that I nailed three of these four (I missed Cleveland State).

Connecticut – What, cheers to a top seed?  Yes, for validating themselves. After many questioning whether they deserved a #1 seed over Memphis, the Huskies were the most dominating team in the first two rounds of the tournament.  How good would this team be if they hadn’t lost Jerome Dyson for the season?  Probably the overall #1.

Heartbreaks:

Western Kentucky and Sienna – So, so close to the Sweet Sixteen!  I’m stunned that so many people were surprised by their first round victories; anyone who’s really been watching over the last couple of seasons (and not just giving lip-service) knew these schools were dangerous!

Marquette – Tough way to lose with such a stupid unforced error (stepping on the inbound line).  Not that they would necessarily have won if that hadn’t happened, but that was the nail in the coffin.  I still feel for this squad over the Dominic James injury.  They were a potential high-seed prior to his going down, and then they went into a terrible slump.  It completely derailed their season.

Butler and VCU – My first round upsets that didn’t happen.  Again, so close.  Butler I still feel deserved a much better seed than they received based on their regular season, and thus should have had an easier match-up.  But sooner or later you have to win these games, and they came up short.

Yikes:

Pitt – Other top teams struggled in one of their first two games, but the Panthers had problems in both. One game can be shrugged off; two are a reason to be concerned.

Conferences:

Big East - Five of the final sixteen.  6-1 in the first round, 5-1 in the second, 11-2 overall.  An all Big East Final Four is a distinct possibility.  Easily the best conference in basketball.

Sadly, there aren’t any real stories left in the Sweet Sixteen–no Cinderellas–but there should still be plenty of excitement as the big boys square off!

• March 27, 2009 -- Wildcats Humiliate Blue Devils (0)
• March 13, 2009 -- Fierce And Nerdy: The Madness Has Begun (2)
• March 30, 2009 -- Average Frank Views: Gonzaga Makes Them Suffer, Again (1)
• February 26, 2009 -- Around the Horn, Sort of (5)
• January 20, 2009 -- Domination (5)