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| Florida Gulf Coast is the first 15-seed to get to the Sweet 16 |
GAME OF THE DAY: Ohio State vs Iowa State. There were several good games that could fit in here. But this one finished with both controversy (the charge call) and a buzzer beating shot.
UPSET OF THE DAY: Florida Gulf Coast over San Diego State. Sure, it isn't like a #7 seed losing in the Round of 32 is that big of an upset ... except that this is the one time that it is. Florida Gulf Coast has become the very first #15 seed to make it to the Sweet 16 (making them the lowest seed to ever get this far). Yeah, FGCU is vastly underseeded, but that is besides the point. They are in the Sweet 16 while programs like Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA are not.
CONFERENCE OF THE DAY: ACC. Hard to call one league that had the best day today, but I'll go ACC. Both the ACC and Big Ten sent two teams to the Sweet 16 on Sunday. Both leagues had teams knocked out (ACC had North Carolina; Big Ten had Illinois and Minnesota). Both Duke and Miami grinded out wins over their opponents, whereas Ohio State had a clutch three (and that controversial call) to eek out a win and Indiana used a 10-0 run to finish out their game and win against Temple. Splitting hairs. Still, the maligned ACC has .
CONFERENCE WITH A BAD DAY: Mountain West. The MWC were the top RPI conference, but none of their members will be in the Sweet 16. The A-10 has someone there; So does the Atlantic Sun and the Missouri Valley Conference. San Diego State was the last man standing after UNLV, New Mexico and Boise State lost their first games and Colorado State lost yesterday. They not only didn't get it done, but they lost to Florida Gulf Coast.
DUD OF THE DAY: Kansas vs North Carolina. It was the sexy game of the day with two of the blue bloods going after it. However, neither team really played that well. Neither could hit anything in the first half, both turned the ball over way too much. Kansas imposed their will in the 2nd half and quickly turned what looked like an upset ready Tar Heels bunch into a rout over the last 10 minutes.
DOMINANT PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: Florida. On a day where pretty much everyone was tested, Florida cruised by Minnesota with minimal challenge. Though Kansas did look pretty good outscoring UNC by 21 in the second half.
UNDERLYING STORYLINE OF THE DAY: Block/charge call. It already has been debated on Twitter, ESPN and among friends. The Aaron Craft block/charge call. It looked like a blocking foul by the rule book but was ruled a charge by the officials. It changed the game as it turned a would-be four point lead away from Iowa State into a charge call. I will be debated in Ames, IA for many years.
There was also a bad call at the end of the Miami/Illinois game which game the ball to Miami after it was clearly out of bounds off a Hurricanes player. Illinois was down just 2 points with just under a minute left when that happened.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
*Florida has three schools in the Sweet 16 for the first time ever. Miami, Florida and Florida Gulf Coast will all be playing next week. In fact, Florida and FGCU will battle for a spot in the Elite Eight.
*Conference call: Here is the myriad of leagues left in this tournament
Big Ten (4 - Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan St, Michigan)
Big East (3 - Louisville, Marquette, Syracuse)
ACC (2 - Miami, Duke)
Pac 12 (2 - Arizona, Oregon)
Big 12 (1 - Kansas)
SEC (1 - Florida)
Missouri Valley (1 - Wichita State)
Atlantic 10 (1 - LaSalle)
Atlantic Sun (1 - Florida Gulf Coast)
*I've been all about the bird mascots this tournament. Well, Florida Gulf Coast and Kansas won ... but Temple and Creighton lost. Now the bird mascots are 12-2 in this dance.
*While you were watching the tournament, UCLA fired Ben Howland. Howland did take UCLA to three straight Final Fours in 2006, 2007 and 2008. However, UCLA has struggled in the last few years and their recruits haven't always panned out. There was that Sports Illustrated cover story which put the program on blast and just a basic malaise about the team as a whole.
*Also while you were busy, George Mason is heading to the Atlantic 10. The conference has to replace Butler and Xavier (who are leaving for the New Big East), Temple (the old Big East) and Charlotte (Conference USA).
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