Just a quick recap of what I saw in my Sportz Room -- filled with TVs that I can watch all games going on at the same time.
GAME OF THE DAY: Colorado vs Florida. First off, the final score of this was 102-100. You don't usually get that kind of high scoring game in regulation in the tournament. The Buffaloes seemed to have this game in control late, but the Gators hit key shots late -- especially from Walter Clayton Jr. But with the game tied, KJ Simpson hit the game winner with less than two seconds. A thrilling end to a great game -- both teams held double digit leads at some point, the Buffs shot a ridiculous 63% from the field, both teams combined to go 47-of-55 from the FT line and Simpson's shot banged on every part of the rim before finally falling.
UPSET OF THE DAY: Yale vs Auburn. There were three big upsets on the day, but Yale beating the SEC tournament champion tops them all. Yale tried hard to give the Tigers the game, but Auburn missed shots and free throws to take control of the game.
CONFERENCE OF THE DAY: Big East. I'm giving today to the Big East. UConn and Marquette wiped the floor with their opponents and, while that really wasn't that impressive a feat, when added with Creighton's win on Thursday and the Big East is 3-0 in the tournament. The league felt slighted with St. John's, Providence and Seton Hall didn't get in and now has some fuel to that fire. By the way, the Pac-12 is 5-0.
CONFERENCE WITH A BAD DAY: SEC. The SEC had an uneven day. Alabama and Texas A&M spent the night beating the brakes off of very good opponents, but before that Auburn and Florida took tough losses. Auburn became the third SEC team to lose to a double digit seed in the first round ... joining Kentucky and South Carolina. SEC commissioner was vocal about looking at expanding the NCAA tournament to let more of his teams in, which was clapped back at him after the SEC's 3-5 record from their eight schools.
DUD OF THE DAY: Texas A&M vs Nebraska. This was supposed to be the year Nebraska finally won an NCAA tournament game. But they were quickly down big to the Aggies and really were never in the game. Usually those 8/9 games are better than this.
DOMINANT PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: UConn vs Stetson. UConn did what they've done pretty much all season long -- dominate their opponent. Any question of a 16-seed possibly pulling off another upset was squashed in the first five minutes.
UPSET OF THE DAY: Yale vs Auburn. There were three big upsets on the day, but Yale beating the SEC tournament champion tops them all. Yale tried hard to give the Tigers the game, but Auburn missed shots and free throws to take control of the game.
CONFERENCE OF THE DAY: Big East. I'm giving today to the Big East. UConn and Marquette wiped the floor with their opponents and, while that really wasn't that impressive a feat, when added with Creighton's win on Thursday and the Big East is 3-0 in the tournament. The league felt slighted with St. John's, Providence and Seton Hall didn't get in and now has some fuel to that fire. By the way, the Pac-12 is 5-0.
CONFERENCE WITH A BAD DAY: SEC. The SEC had an uneven day. Alabama and Texas A&M spent the night beating the brakes off of very good opponents, but before that Auburn and Florida took tough losses. Auburn became the third SEC team to lose to a double digit seed in the first round ... joining Kentucky and South Carolina. SEC commissioner was vocal about looking at expanding the NCAA tournament to let more of his teams in, which was clapped back at him after the SEC's 3-5 record from their eight schools.
DUD OF THE DAY: Texas A&M vs Nebraska. This was supposed to be the year Nebraska finally won an NCAA tournament game. But they were quickly down big to the Aggies and really were never in the game. Usually those 8/9 games are better than this.
DOMINANT PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: UConn vs Stetson. UConn did what they've done pretty much all season long -- dominate their opponent. Any question of a 16-seed possibly pulling off another upset was squashed in the first five minutes.
UNDERLYING STORYLINE OF THE DAY: The need for tournament expansion. Tournament expansion has been a topic since before Selection Sunday and got even louder once teams from the power conference felt snubbed. Then the tournament happened and we've seen mid-majors San Diego State, Yale, Duquesne, Grand Canyon, Dayton, James Madison, Oakland, Utah State and, technically, Gonzaga win first round games. Why do we need more power schools in this tournament? They have every opportunity to win their way into the tournament by having a parade of power teams to play in conference and a conference tournament to win. They may be "better" than some of these mid-majors, but they had their shot to get in. Let these mid-majors that no one wants to schedule get in and have at it against the big boys.
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