Tournament Thoughts: Early Friday

#2 Villanova vs. #15 UNC-Asheville

Villanova playing like the top seed the purport to be. Asheville actually made some 3s and kept it close but then Nova buried them.

#7 Oregon State vs. #10 VCU

I've been waiting for this game. Because Oregon State has Gary Payton II and Stevie Thompson Jr.
And Stephen Thompson Sr., the former Syracuse star, is an assistant coach for the Beavers.

Gary Payton keeps a watchful eye from further away though, as a proud father and alumnus.

It looked like VCU was going to run away with this but then Oregon went on a 10-0 run in about two minutes to actually take the lead.

But then VCU forced some turnovers and made some 3s to put the game away.

Mo Allie-Cox is a monster. 6-foot-6, 260 el bees. If he were 3 or 4 inches taller he'd be a great NBA power forward in the Charles Oakley mold.

The Little Glove does look like a heck of a player though.

#4 California vs. #13 Hawaii

Crazy story about Cal assistant Yann Hufnagel who was fired this week for allegedly sexually harassing a reporter. She claims he wanted her to fuck him in exchange for access to the program and accurate information. She says he even gave her false stories as retribution once she rebuffed his advances. He basically admits he wanted to sleep with her but thought she was into him to and didn't harass her or retaliate.

California also has the son of a former NBA player.

Kameron Rooks in the son of former Dallas Mavericks center, Sean Rooks. I had so many of his Upper Deck rookie card.

Cal made a run but Hawaii would not go away. They kept forcing turnovers and Cal couldn't make shots.

The first real upset of the tournament so far.

#2 Michigan State vs. #15 Middle Tennessee

15-2 Middle Tennessee lead! What? Never would have predicted that. And even after Michigan State gathered themselves and got some baskets, the Blue Raiders kept playing.

Michigan State just incredibly sloppy with the ball and lazy on defense. They undermined their own runs with bad defense.

Every time Michigan State cut the lead Middle Tennessee came right back. Tremendous poise not rushing to shoot, but also not getting bad shots.

Amazing! This has to be the biggest upset in tournament history. All the other #2s that lost (Syracuse, Arizona, Iowa State, South Carolina, Georgetown) were not as big a favorite to make the Final Four and win it all than this Michigan State team was.

Tom Izzo is still a great coach, but this is a major blemish on his record.

How do you allow 90 points to a #15 seed? Wow!

This is great for Syracuse, increases their chances to win by about 100% or more, but this is really bad for my brackets. I don't think I had any without Michigan State in the Final Four and in most of them I had State winning it all.

#7 Iowa vs. #10 Temple

Definitely the right call on that controversial out of bounds play, went off the Temple player's leg.

Terrible late game execution by Iowa. They had so many empty possessions, missed free throws and then the dumbest foul in the history of the world. I wouldn't mind fouling a guy with the ball on the floor in a 3-point game, but once he shoots you get out of the way.

I love that play for a last-second shot. Drive hard to the basket get a shot up and crash for the rebound. Definitely got the shot off in the time but Woodbury definitely could have been called for a push in the back.

What a way to end a classic matchup of coaches named Fran.

#2 Oklahoma vs. #15 Cal State Bakersfield

There can't be two 15 over 2 seed upsets can there?

Oklahoma shut that down with a big run midway through the second half.

#5 Maryland vs. #12 South Dakota State

Maryland didn't want to be another a 5-12 victim.

Maryland is just one of those teams, lots of talent, don't always play well, but could be dangerous.

Great comeback by the Jackrabbits, but unfortunate that they couldn't even get a shot off with a chance to tie the game.