March Madness - Thursday Thoughts

Note: I'll update this throughout the day with thoughts, newest on top.

A pretty tame day, and I'm sure a lot of people will complain about the lack of exciting games and upsets. This was a mild start, as the one upset (Western Kentucky over Illinois) was fairly obvious to a lot of people.
Here's hoping for a better day tomorrow starting with a Syracuse win.

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So UCLA holds off VCU in what has to be the game of the day. A lot of people were looking for the upset here but UCLA did enough to win.

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Blake Griffin does a pretty good tuck and roll. How the hell did he allow himself to be lifted off the ground like that.

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When underdogs pull of huge upsets they got nuts from 3-point range. That's what American did in the first half. But Villanova turned it on and outscored them 49-26.

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Similar thrust from Gonzaga, 31-6 run to bury Akron and turn a double-digit deficit into a double-digit lead.

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Texas's AJ Abrams went off. Over a span of 5 minutes in the second half Texas went on a 15-5 run, all 15 points were Abrams' 3s, on 5 attempts.

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Big win for Michigan. Remember when they used to be an elite basketball program? Clutch 3-point play by Manny Harris ended Clemson's comeback bid.

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There's a guy on Akron Humpty Hitchens, so named because he loved the "Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground. They played the song and Tim Brando said "reminds me of my wedding night." I hope he was kidding.

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I have no idea why so many people were picking Mississippi State over Washington. When they made the pick they said Mississippi State was a hot team because they won the SEC. Now the announcers just said they were worn out from their run in the SEC Tournament. They'll say the same thing about Syracuse when they lose.

Washington is a really good team though. I actually have them beating Connecticut. A 1 seed usually loses and I love the other 3 with their matchups.

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UNC and UConn looked great. I guess they don't need Calhoun and Lawson as much as everyone said.

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I lost my first upset pick. Northern Iowa kept getting to within 6 but Purdue kept fighting them off. Still not impressed with the Big 10.

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If Hasheem Thabeet were a baseball player, a switch-hitter, when they brought in a lefty to face him, Tim McCarver would say they are "turning Thabeet around."

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Everyone's upset special is starting - Northern Iowa vs. Purdue.

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Jim Calhoun is sick and in the hospital. He will not coach today and who knows about future UConn games. He's had cancer so many times, who knows what's wrong.

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Good slate of opening games:
LSU 75 Butler 71 - LSU jumped out to an early lead and Butler came back but could never get over the hump. I love this kid Matt Howard, and he has 2 years left.

Memphis 81 Cal-State Northridge 70 - Much closer than the final score indicates. They really put a scare in Memphis, but Memphis turned it on when they got really scared. This has to raise questions about them as a final 4 team though.

Texas A&M 79 BYU 66 - ATM got up early and never let go.

60 games, left, 13 more today, and so far I got all three right.

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Ok, we can all relax now, Memphis finally took this game over with superior size adn speed. And they started hitting shots. There will be no monumental upset.

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62-59 Northridge, 8:33 to go. When it was 55-55 I was going to write that Memphis would still win by 10. Then Northridge scored 6 in a row. This can happen. Memphis is not playing defense on the dribbler and they are chucking up too many threes. If they don't change their gameplan they could destroy every office pool in the country.

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March Madness on Demand is awesome. For years I've been frustrated when CBS sticks with a game just because they decided to show it first. I have no rooting interest in LSU-Butler, even though it's close I'd much rather watch Memphis-Cal State Northridge.
If Northridge pulls it off it would be the 2nd biggest first round upset in history. When Arizona, South Carolina and Iowa State lost as #2s they weren't real contenders. Memphis is, and Syracuse was back in 1991, that was bigger because it was the first time.