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: Creighton vs Oregon. The Ducks left it all on the court. After a great run to a Pac-12 tournament championship and a win over South Carolina in the first round, the Ducks did everything it could to reach the Sweet 16. Taking a tough Creighton team to double-overtime before finally running out of time. This was a game we love to see in the NCAA tournament. Clutch shots, great defensive plays and emotions swaying in the crowd and on the court. Great theater.
UPSET OF THE DAY: Gonzaga vs Kansas. There was just one seed upset on Saturday, and that wasn't much of one. 5-seed Gonzaga beat a depleted 4-seed Kansas. It was a fantastic first half of action with scoring, momentum swings and Jayhawks coach Bill Self saying they were going to tighten it up going into halftime. Then the second half happened and Kansas came out flat. The Zags outscored the Jayhawks 46-24 in the final 20 minutes and put the preseason No. 1 team out of their misery.
CONFERENCE OF THE DAY: ACC. Let me start by saying the SEC had a good day after being beat up nationally after a bad first round. But the ACC won two games today, top seed North Carolina turned a 12-point deficit into a 16 point win over a dangerous Michigan State squad and NC State keep their amazing run going by dispatching Cinderella darling Oakland. The ACC got off to a rough start with Virginia's awful showing in the First Four, but since then has gone 6-0. A league that was downplayed all season already has two teams in the Sweet 16 with Duke and Clemson set to play on Sunday.
CONFERENCE WITH A BAD DAY: Big 12. The Big 12 and Pac-12 both saw two teams get eliminated on Saturday, but at least the two Pac-12 teams went down fighting. Texas was down big before mounting a comeback that was just a little too late. Meanwhile, well, I mentioned Kansas' bad second half and unceremonious dismissal from the tournament after being the preseason No. 1 (seriously, does anyone want to be branded with that baggage anymore?). Texas will be off to the SEC next year while the Big 12 will be bringing in Sweet 16 ticket owner Arizona.
DUD OF THE DAY: Gonzaga vs Kansas. This is difficult to pin down and I don't want to pick on Kansas, but what was such a great game going into halftime turned ugly immediately in the second half. We all know Kansas was undermanned both figuratively and literally, but I didn't expect Gonzaga to turn this into a route like this.
DOMINANT PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: Illinois vs Duquesne. This game was also a candidate for Dud Of The Day but I don't think people had the expectations for this one like they did for Kansas-Gonzaga. Illinois just jumped all over Duquesne and crushed any hope for an upset. And Terrence Shannon Jr has been the best player of this tournament. Illinois is a lowkey dangerous team heading into next week and their showdown with Iowa State in Boston will be one of the top games to watch.
UPSET OF THE DAY: Gonzaga vs Kansas. There was just one seed upset on Saturday, and that wasn't much of one. 5-seed Gonzaga beat a depleted 4-seed Kansas. It was a fantastic first half of action with scoring, momentum swings and Jayhawks coach Bill Self saying they were going to tighten it up going into halftime. Then the second half happened and Kansas came out flat. The Zags outscored the Jayhawks 46-24 in the final 20 minutes and put the preseason No. 1 team out of their misery.
CONFERENCE OF THE DAY: ACC. Let me start by saying the SEC had a good day after being beat up nationally after a bad first round. But the ACC won two games today, top seed North Carolina turned a 12-point deficit into a 16 point win over a dangerous Michigan State squad and NC State keep their amazing run going by dispatching Cinderella darling Oakland. The ACC got off to a rough start with Virginia's awful showing in the First Four, but since then has gone 6-0. A league that was downplayed all season already has two teams in the Sweet 16 with Duke and Clemson set to play on Sunday.
CONFERENCE WITH A BAD DAY: Big 12. The Big 12 and Pac-12 both saw two teams get eliminated on Saturday, but at least the two Pac-12 teams went down fighting. Texas was down big before mounting a comeback that was just a little too late. Meanwhile, well, I mentioned Kansas' bad second half and unceremonious dismissal from the tournament after being the preseason No. 1 (seriously, does anyone want to be branded with that baggage anymore?). Texas will be off to the SEC next year while the Big 12 will be bringing in Sweet 16 ticket owner Arizona.
DUD OF THE DAY: Gonzaga vs Kansas. This is difficult to pin down and I don't want to pick on Kansas, but what was such a great game going into halftime turned ugly immediately in the second half. We all know Kansas was undermanned both figuratively and literally, but I didn't expect Gonzaga to turn this into a route like this.
DOMINANT PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: Illinois vs Duquesne. This game was also a candidate for Dud Of The Day but I don't think people had the expectations for this one like they did for Kansas-Gonzaga. Illinois just jumped all over Duquesne and crushed any hope for an upset. And Terrence Shannon Jr has been the best player of this tournament. Illinois is a lowkey dangerous team heading into next week and their showdown with Iowa State in Boston will be one of the top games to watch.
UNDERLYING STORYLINE OF THE DAY: Game times. I get that television runs things. I totally understand and actually enjoy the way the NCAA tournament schedules these games. I do have a gripe with which pods are playing which games and what times. I know there is some obliviousness for fans to watch these games and not care where they are played. But note that the Arizona-Dayton game was played at Salt Lake City at 12:45pm ET. That meant the game was played at 10:45am local time and 9:45am PT (aka, Arizona time). Why? Why are we having these teams play at 10:45am local? Meanwhile, the Creigton-Oregon game was played at Pittsburgh and was scheduled to begin at 9:45pm ET (which is local time). Because the NC State-Oregon game went to overtime, that game ended up starting around 10:20pm and didn't end until after midnight. So you asked Arizona and Dayton to play a game at 10:45am local time and Creighton-Oregon to finish a game after midnight the same day? Why couldn't this have been reversed? Why couldn't, say, the Pittsburgh pod begin at 12:45pm and the Salt Lake City pod be the late one? I mean, the caliber of games really wasn't better. Sure, Kansas-Gonzaga (which was in Salt Lake City) was deemed the most interesting game of the day, but the two Pittsburgh games went to overtime and much better to watch (I know, I know, how would the scheduling people know that). The NC State-Oakland game was buried among two other games while the Creighton-Oregon double overtime game was so late that many on the east coast were asleep. Does this hurt me or really anyone watching these games on our couch (or bed)? No. But for these kids and fans attending the arenas it is a bit ridiculous.
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