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: Houston vs Texas A&M. This wasn't the back and forth brawl some of us may have been expecting (well, okay, six players fouled out), but the Aggies did give the Cougars everything they wanted before falling in overtime, 100-95. Yes, these two teams put up 195 points. Houston's Emmanuel Sharp and A&M's Tyrese Radford had huge games and Andersson Garcia's three at the buzzer to put the game into overtime was electric.
UPSET OF THE DAY: Clemson vs Baylor. Just like Saturday, there was only one real upset today as 6-seed Clemson toppled 3-seed Baylor. The Tigers got up early on Baylor and pretty much kept a comfortable lead most of the day. RayJ Dennis tried to keep the Bears in it but Clemson seemingly had an answer for every Baylor run.
CONFERENCE OF THE DAY: ACC and Big East. I'm giving this to both conferences. Both believed they were short-changed in the bid department -- the ACC thinks Pitt deserved to get in while the Big East is mad they got just three teams in. Yet when the tournament goes on there are four ACC teams and three Big East teams in the Sweet 16. The two leagues are a combined 14-1 with Virginia's horrible showing in the First Four being the only blemish. These two leagues have won six of the last eight national championships and 10 of the last 14 (that doesn't include UConn's 2014 title when they were in their first season in The American). These two leagues have run March and April over the last two decades or so and deserve more respect than they have been given.
CONFERENCE WITH A BAD DAY: Mid-majors. All of them. The NCAA tournament is a fluid thing. In 2022 we had a Final Four of blue bloods -- Kansas, North Carolina, Duke and Villanova. In 2023, we had UConn and three first timers (San Diego State, Florida Atlantic, Miami). This year we are back to more of a chalk bracket (more on that in a bit). The mid-majors did their damage in the first round but have only two of the Sweet 16. Those two are the top mid-majors of the era in Gonzaga and San Diego State. Everyone else not only failed to advance but James Madison, Yale and Grand Canyon looked rather embarrassing out there today. Grand Canyon fought but they continued to put up rushed shots and seemed to have butterfingers on loose balls. Add in the Mountain West's inability to get anyone else but San Diego State to the second weekend with Utah State getting absolutely rolled by Purdue. Make no mistake -- the mid majors are tougher now than ever but they had a bad Sunday.
DUD OF THE DAY: Duke vs James Madison. James Madison had that buzz as a mid-major who could make a surprised tournament run this year. They had that FAU quality about them all season long. Even though Duke is ... well ... Duke there was a feeling that the Blue Devils were going to have to work for a win. Duke dominated the Dukes and the game was over pretty quickly.
DOMINANT PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: San Diego State vs Yale. I mentioned the mid-majors having a rough day ... well, San Diego State didn't. They looked like a team that is poised to get back to the Final Four by destroying a confident Yale team. The Aztecs jumped all over Yale and held a 24 point halftime lead. Jaedon Ledee has really turned into an impressive performer.
UPSET OF THE DAY: Clemson vs Baylor. Just like Saturday, there was only one real upset today as 6-seed Clemson toppled 3-seed Baylor. The Tigers got up early on Baylor and pretty much kept a comfortable lead most of the day. RayJ Dennis tried to keep the Bears in it but Clemson seemingly had an answer for every Baylor run.
CONFERENCE OF THE DAY: ACC and Big East. I'm giving this to both conferences. Both believed they were short-changed in the bid department -- the ACC thinks Pitt deserved to get in while the Big East is mad they got just three teams in. Yet when the tournament goes on there are four ACC teams and three Big East teams in the Sweet 16. The two leagues are a combined 14-1 with Virginia's horrible showing in the First Four being the only blemish. These two leagues have won six of the last eight national championships and 10 of the last 14 (that doesn't include UConn's 2014 title when they were in their first season in The American). These two leagues have run March and April over the last two decades or so and deserve more respect than they have been given.
CONFERENCE WITH A BAD DAY: Mid-majors. All of them. The NCAA tournament is a fluid thing. In 2022 we had a Final Four of blue bloods -- Kansas, North Carolina, Duke and Villanova. In 2023, we had UConn and three first timers (San Diego State, Florida Atlantic, Miami). This year we are back to more of a chalk bracket (more on that in a bit). The mid-majors did their damage in the first round but have only two of the Sweet 16. Those two are the top mid-majors of the era in Gonzaga and San Diego State. Everyone else not only failed to advance but James Madison, Yale and Grand Canyon looked rather embarrassing out there today. Grand Canyon fought but they continued to put up rushed shots and seemed to have butterfingers on loose balls. Add in the Mountain West's inability to get anyone else but San Diego State to the second weekend with Utah State getting absolutely rolled by Purdue. Make no mistake -- the mid majors are tougher now than ever but they had a bad Sunday.
DUD OF THE DAY: Duke vs James Madison. James Madison had that buzz as a mid-major who could make a surprised tournament run this year. They had that FAU quality about them all season long. Even though Duke is ... well ... Duke there was a feeling that the Blue Devils were going to have to work for a win. Duke dominated the Dukes and the game was over pretty quickly.
DOMINANT PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: San Diego State vs Yale. I mentioned the mid-majors having a rough day ... well, San Diego State didn't. They looked like a team that is poised to get back to the Final Four by destroying a confident Yale team. The Aztecs jumped all over Yale and held a 24 point halftime lead. Jaedon Ledee has really turned into an impressive performer.
UNDERLYING STORYLINE OF THE DAY: What you want from a tournament. The NCAA tournament is a variety of things to a lot of people. We all live for the first weekend of the tournament to see what Cinderella shows up to knock off what big dog. However, people tend to want order restored in the later rounds and prefer to see those big names playing in the Final Four and for championships. We have that this year. We got Oakland, James Madison and Yale pulling off some great first round upsets. We really didn't get that in the second round, but that means that our big teams will be duking it out in the regionals. The East and Midwest Regions have the 1, 2, 3 and 5 seeds. The South has the 1, 2, 4 and 6. The only crazy seed left is NC State at No. 10 ... and they are a power conference team who has two national title trophies on their campus. There's a lot of chalk which doesn't mean the tournament is boring. We got some great upsets and now we are about to have the top teams in the nation have to earn it by beating each other and crowning a champion.
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