Daily Tourney Talk (Saturday)

You know your team is going to have a tough and highly contested NCAA game, not when the brackets are announced, but when the announcement teams are announced. Gus Johnson has a way of attracting (or inducing?) instant classics! Gus Johnson is the only play-by-play guy that never takes a possession off, and sometimes plays harder than some of the players on the court!


Recap of the second block of games

The two most exciting games had a total of three overtimes and heartbreaks as Vandy had game-momentum and rode that wave to the Sweet 16 (a popular destination for Kevin Stallings), while VCU almost, almost, almost managed to beat Pitt despite Pitt having a 19-point lead.

A valiant Izzo State gave North Carolina all they could handle in Winstom-Salem. If only Izzo had two each of Pistol Pete Neitzel and Raymar Morgan. But unlike #6 seed Louisville at Rupp, Carolina earned the right to play near home in the regular season and received a #1 seed. The other good news for Carolina is that Hansbrough had a 33 point game without the mask.

Fire Ben Howland and Kelvin Sampson. What a horrible slugfest! And to think these are two of the top six programs in the NCAA. I can assure you they didn't win all those national championships with the kind of slugfest exhibited in the first half.

(Master of the Obvious) Tourney Observation: Right after a team loses in the NCAA tourney, there seems to be an increase in the internet recruiting interest as it relates to that team. Fans are starting to look towards the 2007-2008 season in larger and larger numbers...

NCAA-related installment of "Costas Now" on HBO. The latest installment of (Bob) Costas Now on HBO is dealing with college athletics. It includes a panel discussing whether student-athletes should get paid featuring Big Brother himself (Myles Brand) and the best-ever Ferengi basketball player. It also features a one-on-one interview with Coach Dirty-K, where he whines about 100 Duke professors criticizing Duke athletics at the time of the lacrosse incident. I have not watched it yet (NCAA games get in the way), but expect a very long review on that episode after Monday...

Recap of the first block of games

Two highly contested games (watch them online on repeat if you missed them, or when CSTV does its tourney repeat-a-thon) as Ohio State had an almost miraculous comeback against Xavier while Texas A&M managed to beat Louisville at Rupp. Great games, sad that there had to be a losing team, but that's the nature of the game... Great news for the mid-majors as Butler is carrying the mid-major flag in the Sweet 16 for yet another year. Butler is a tough out because you have to beat them, they are not going to fumble the game. This game probably made Gary Williams long for the days of having a space-eater in the middle like Lonny Baxter...

New Nike Uniform Record: 3-1 (Arizona the loss, Ohio State (2) and Florida the wins).


CBS Schedule on Saturday March 17, 2007
*** all times pacific ***

9am: Road to the Final Four (1 hour)

10am: Xavier vs Ohio State

1220pm Butler vs Maryland or 1240pm Louisville vs Texas A&M

240pm Vandy vs Washington State or 245pm BC vs Georgetown or 250pm VCU vs Pitt

510pm Indiana vs UCLA or 515pm Michigan State vs North Carolina
On CSTV

4pm Full Court Press (press conference highlights)

Official highlights repeat throughout the night (March Madness Highlights)