Sunday, March 22, 2009

Scares, but Nothing Doing


Top seeds given scare
Find way to make the big play
Upsets are extinct

(A Haggy Haiku)

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Try this for mind boggling.
The first two rounds of NCAA Tournament play have been like returning home after a day at the office and realizing everything is as you left it; as it's supposed to be.
Only one school seeded higher than fifth is still alive, and the top four seeds from two regions were unharmed.
Teams, after all, are ranked based on their talent and play during the season and respective conference tournaments. Surely the higher seeds should win.
Still, something seems amiss. Such as the feeling experienced when you think that you maybe left the garage door open.
To find when a similar scenario last played out, we must travel all the way back to the year in which the Cold War ended and Nintendo was re-launched: 1989.
Back then, No. 11 Minnesota represented the lone hope for upset-seekers across the country. Now, it's 12th-seeded Arizona (whose history is anything but surprising or Cinderella-like, having reached the Big Dance in 25 consecutive seasons and won the national title in 1997).
Teams like Louisville, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Duke, Gonzaga and Michigan State struggled this past weekend to pull away from lower seeded opponents.
In the end, they all came through.
By comparison, the 2008 tournament saw four teams seeded higher than fifth in the regional semifinals, including two 12-seeds (Villanova and Western Kentucky), a 10-seed (Davidson) and a 7-seed (West Virginia).
Even in a tamer 2007, where no double-figure seeds reached the Sweet Sixteen, only one region advanced all of the top four teams.
2009 could be an anomaly. It's one year. Hardly a trend.
But for this year, at least, the upset is dead.

Letter of Congratulations

Dear Mark Johnson,

Congratulations to you and the Wisconsin women's hockey team for winning yet another national championship. That makes three in the past four years and four straight appearances in the championship game. Wow.
Through hard work, dedication, leadership, unity, confidence and resilience -- personality traits you try to instill as a coach -- anything can be achieved. The Badgers certainly proved it.
It's fantastic to see that goaltender Jessie Vetter won the Patty Kazmaier award, given to the best NCAA Division I women's hockey player.
In four seasons at Wisconsin, Vetter became the new NCAA recordholder for career shutouts (38), single-season shutouts (13) and career victories (90). Amazing.
Enjoy the moment. And let's get another one next year.

Warm regards,

The Wisconsin Badger nation

Payback

This time the computer said no.
Wisconsin qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2008 on a computer-based tiebreaker (RPI, which calculates strength of schedule). The same program left the Badgers out of the 16 team field this year.
Ohio State had a higher RPI.
The Badgers wrapped up their season with a 4-1 win over North Dakota in the WCHA Tournament third-place game to finish 20-16-4
Last year, the team needed everything short of a miracle to reach the NCAA Tournament.
Notre Dame lost in its conference tournament, while Princeton won the ECAC's. And the Gophers beat up on Minnesota State to lower its RPI.
All that allowed UW to squeeze through and become the first team with a sub-.500 record to play in the NCAA Tournament.
No such fortune this year.
The focus now will be on grooming backup goaltender Scott Gudmandson to replace departing senior Shane Connelly, and retaining some of its many underclassmen with pro potential for next year.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Picks

March Madness is set to begin Thursday. Here are the champion picks of various people I've associated with over the years.

Mine: UNC

My mom's: UNC

Dave McGrath, sports editor of The Badger Herald before me: Duke

Michael Poppy, former roommate and sports editor of The Badger Herald: UNC

Kyle Turris, former No. 3 pick and Badger and current Phoenix Coyote: Syracuse

Bassey Etim, New York Times Web content assistant: Louisville

Friday, March 13, 2009

Bleacher Report

Florida State vs. Wisconsin

Big Ten Tournament: Badgers vs. Buckeyes


When There's Madness, you Know It's March

Instant classic
UConn and the Orange battle on
Into sixth OT

(A Haggy Haiku)

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Get out your garden hoe, March Madness is in full bloom.

Well, not quite.

But if the Big Dance resembles anything that happened in the conference tournaments Thursday, it should be exciting.

Baylor upset No. 1 seed Kansas 71-64 in the Big 12 Tournament and, at 2-14 in ACC play, the 12th-seeded Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech knocked off nationally ranked Clemson 86-81.

Later, Oklahoma State stuffed Blake Griffin and 6th-ranked Oklahoma 71-70 and West Virginia upended No. 2 Pittsburgh 74-60 before the stage was set for the six overtimes thriller at Madison Square between UConn and Syracuse.

Jonny Flynn scored a game-high 34 points and the Orange defeated the Huskies 127-117 in what was the second longest game in NCAA Division I history.

It was a matter of survival. Syracuse won.

UConn's top three scorers on the night -- A.J. Price, Hasheem Thabeet and Stanley Robinson -- all fouled out. Thabeet and Robinson picked up their fifth fouls midway through the fourth overtime.

Looking back on the other games ...

In a stacked Big 12 and sitting on the proverbial bubble of the field of 65, Baylor needed the victory more. The Bears came to play.

The Wildcats didn't.

They hit just 40.3 percent from the floor and could do nothing to stop the shooting of LaceDarius Dunn who hit six threes and scored 24 points.

...

The Clemson Tigers as a program have risen from the the once unfertile soil into becoming a NCAA regular (this year will make three straight appearances). Gritty, hard-nosed basketball has allowed the Tigers to exceed expectations. Immaturity from a history of failure, and horrendous free throw shooting have found a way to catch the team's success and buck it like Bones does potential riders.

It happened again today. Georgia Tech dropped an anvil on Clemson's chest Thursday and left the once solidified four or five seed (in the NCAA Tournament) Tigers doubting themselves once more.

...

Pittsburgh, like Kansas, didn't show up.

That's what happens when its team's best rebounder and second leading scorer (DeJuan Blair) fouls out after playing just 18 minutes and the rest of his teammates can't find the mark.

In a 16-team field such as the Big East has, it's tough for even the nation's best to pull through every night.

...

The same can be said about top teams in a jam-packed Big 12.

It's always tough to beat a team three times in the same season, especially when placed back-to-back; that's what the Sooners faced. And if not for a wishy-washy foul on Griffin in the game's closing seconds that sent James Anderson to the line for the winning free throws, Oklahoma would likely still be vying for a No. 1 seed in the round fo 65.

All that's left is to see what craziness will present itself tomorrow.



Wednesday, March 11, 2009