Yes, it's THAT time of year again! You mean the Spring Classics Matt? Well, yes, that is true....but not what I mean...I'm talking about COLLEGE BASKETBALL!
And it's really kind of funny as I'm not a BB fan at all normally. But during the month of March every year, the nation turns towards the 64 teams that made it to THE SHOW! I love this tournament as it's the ONE big sport where any team in the country actually has a chance to win the National Championship. Not so in Football....if your a smaller school or in a lesser-status division you don't really have a chance, no matter how great you play.
I always like to fill out a bracket just for fun...to see how far a guy who knows pretty much NOTHING about the teams can do. Last year I did pretty good, but I didn't end up picking the eventual winner (Villanova)...I picked Duke. This year I AGAIN picked Duke to win...this time over North Carolina. They are both #1 seeds in their divisions, along with the other #1 seeds Gonzaga and Virginia (really it was hard to choose between those 4...and not surprisingly I have all 4 of them making it to my final 4).
Anyway...the 32 games over the lst 2 days were typical...a lot of expected wins and a few upsets. In the East I did NOT pick #12 seed Liberty to beat #4 Mississippi, nor #10 Minnesota to beat #7 Louisville. In the West I missed Baylor (who I totally meant to pick, have no idea how I had Syracuse on my bracket), Murray State and Florida, all winning over higher seeded teams...Murray State also a #12 seed.
In the South I missed Oklahoma (another one that I THOUGH I picked but my bracket shows otherwise), Oregon (another #12 seed winner), UC Irvine (the lowest seed to win, they were #13), Iowa, Utah State, Ohio State (sorry, I can't EVER pick them no matter the seeds...it just goes against my very soul), and Wofford (who won over Seton Hall...and I have to ask...just who the HELL Is Wofford??)
It seems every year I do far worse in the South and Midwest for some unknown reason...you'd think I'd be pretty average in my division losses being as I am TOTALLY GUESSING every single game. But I lost 7 of the 16 games in those 2 divisions, and only 5 of 16 in the East and West. Of the upsets, #4 Kansas State and #5 Marquette and #5 Mississippi were the highest ranked to lose in the opening round...and of course I picked all 3 of them to go into the 2nd round.
And so....round 2 starts TODAY and there will surely be more upsets. I do have to say that I LOVE the upsets...and even though I didn't pick them, I will be rooting HUGE for Liberty, Murray State, UC Irvine and Wofford to go past the 2nd round. Those upsets are what makes March Madness so MADDENING and yet wonderful! As of this moment they all have a chance to win the National Championship. THAT is what makes the College Basketball tournament every year such an amazing thing. Hoping for a Cinderella Story...another Miracle on Ice out on the hardwood. Are there any Giant Killers in this years tournament? We shall see soon enough. Certainly there will be a higher seed than Kansas State at #4's to lose in this next 2 days...who will it be? Will one of these relative unknowns wind a HUGE game? Wofford plays #2 Kentucky which is the highest ranked team playing one of the lower ranked teams in this next round (even though Wofford was at #7, I'd still rank that as a HUGE underdog...I gave them virtually NO CHANCE against the usual powerhouse Seton Hall).
So....all I can say is GO WOFFORD!!! GO UC IRVINE! GO MURRAY STATE!! And last but not least, GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!!! (sorry...got a bit dramatic there).
Ahhh...March. And hey...did you know there are some AWESOME BIKE RACES happening too?
What's not to love about March?
GAME ON!
I did pretty good in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tourney...I still have 12 teams in the Sweet 16. Boy, Duke survived a scare yesterday! UCF had THREE tries in the final seconds to get the ball to drop and win the game...it was THAT CLOSE! So now...does that mean that Duke isn't as good a team as I thought they were? (I've picked them as Natnl Champs)...OR, did they have an off game and UCS played great...and this will light a fire under them and they will play like gangbusters here on out? We shall see in a few days. All 4 #1 seeds are still in...been a while I think since that has happened. But my pool is still alive! Happy Monday!
ReplyDelete3rd round was pretty good also...I have 6 of the Elite 8 teams in my bracket (however I lost the Midwest division stream when NC lost to Auburn...as I had NC picked into the Final with Duke). In the others I have Duke, Gonzaga and Virginia going to the Final Four (I'm afraid of Purdue...they are looking like Giant Killers this tourney!) Round 4 starts tonight...keeping my fingers crossed!
ReplyDeleteWow, nailbiter between VA and Purdue (as I was afraid it was going to be)...my Cav's hung in there...WHEW!!! So I lost my Zags tho...rats. Really thought they would get to the Final Four. I have one more chance tomorrow...Duke has to beat Mich. St...if they do I'll have 2 of the final 4 (and Duke is my pick to win it all, so they MUST stay in!) Wow, great games! (as expected in March Madness!)
ReplyDeleteBlah....got killed in the final four....only Virginia remains of my 4 picks. Really thought Duke would make it that far. Rats.
ReplyDeleteIs the madness over yet? Fingers crossed for you tomorrow, Matt!
ReplyDeleteI decided to spring for a VPN service, then have pretty much forgotten to tune into most of the spring races up to now (I did DVR and watch most of Paris-Nice). But today, I was signed up to run a 10k race this morning and decided to bail out because of the troubles I was having with my knee, and remembered Flanders just in time to see the last 35k. I VPN'd into Brussels and was able to watch the Sporza livestream beautifully until about 10k to go, when it started stuttering and finally froze -- the problem was with Sporza, though, they commented that they had so many watching online that it was overwhelming the stream. So I didn't see the finish until they put up a replay of the last km. Happy to see Bettiol and Education First win not just a major race -- but one of the MOST major races -- what a coup for them! Sep Van Marcke really sacrificed himself for the team victory; I think winning Flanders has always been a career goal for him, hasn't it?
One thing I was disappointed to learn is that even with going around the geo restrictions, I would have to subscribe and pay to stream Eurosport, and it isn't cheap (almost 7 Euros for a month). I was most hoping to be able to view it with the VPN since I would enjoy the commentary -- I can only follow the Dutch and Belgians a little bit. I guess I will pay the $20 to NBCSports Gold for the rest of this spring season -- and just not buy a couple of pizzas! I wish Fubu had a better subscription set up -- I do not want to pay for their basic service which I will not watch, then pay more for cycling!
I think that I am going to have to visit an ortho to figure out what the deal is with my knee -- I was able to run/walk 10 miles, then ran 9 miles 4 days later with only a little stiffness. But then 3 days later tried to do 4 miles and had to stop b/c of the pain. Couldn't put weight on the leg and had to use crutches for 2 days! But after a week was pain free, so tried again -- ran 4 miles with only a few twinges, but after walking 100 meters of cool down suddenly could barely walk again and by the time I got home could only hop on one leg into the house (thank heavens I had a broom in the car!) Back on crutches to get around, but nearly pain free again by the next evening. This is so odd, because it feels like spasms in the soft tissue around the joints, not in the joint. At this rate, though, I won't be doing the half marathon on 4/27 -- not even half walking. Extra bummed because that goal has been my motivator. Somehow the other workouts that I have done for decades aren't appealing anymore!
In spite of that, it is spring! The hyacinth and daffodils are blooming, the tulips have all been eaten by the deer, and it is 70F today!
SusieB, I hope you are feeling well and come back to post soon. I am going to send you a private message via facebook.
Wow Rae, that really sucks about your knee! I can't even make a guess as to what's wrong...can't be too serious or it wouldn't go away like it does (that's my professional opinion...ha ha!) Soft tissue injuries are the worst...they just take SO LONG to totally heal (if ever). I agree the ortho is the way to go...at least get REAL professional opinion of what's going on. Life is too short to be injured and not doing what you want. Funny I should talk tho...I waited like a month to FINALLY go see a Dr. on my shoulder last year, and another month or so on my lower back/hip that was really painful (finally saw a chiropractor for that, he made that go away almost over night!) Right now (fingers crossed!) I'm pain free! Well, except for my neck on long bike days (like 6 to 8 hour rides)...but that's been an intermittent problem since I was 20 (got hurt playing softball in the Navy) and likely will be w/ me the rest of my life. Anyway, at least you are watching SOME cycling...I've seen zero as usual. But I do check in w/ Velo News on Mondays to read about the weekend races. That's about the extent of me following it right now. I do hope to take at least 1 day off during the Tour of CA this year when they are in my area...but the timing is SO BAD...we are in mission preps right now (just started last week) for our June mission...so I'll just play it by ear if I can get a week-day off that close to the start of our mission (we do the aircraft on-load on Memorial Day). Busy busy busy...hope your knee gets better fast and you can enjoy the spring and summer outside.
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