NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, Round 3: Things get whomped badly
First off, I forgot the CAA also sent Old Dominion: the number from the first round was corrected to 3-1, which is still good. Second, my bracket looks bad, except that I still have my Final Four and six of my Elite Eight. Now, then, by conference:
Big (L)East: 2-5 this round, 9-9 overall, and the two wins were matchups between Big East teams. FAIL.
Big Ten: 2-3 this round, 7-5 overall. The worst they can do now is even, which, along with their overall play, justifies their bids. Seeding might be an issue; the Team Up North may have deserved a touch better than an 8, given their close play against Duke and their first round squishing of Tennessee. Purdue...well...they squished St. Peter, but then they ran into Angry CAA Team, and that would be their brains decorating the backboards. ._.;;
SEC: 2-0 this round, 4-3 overall. Kentucky and Florida did what Florida and Kentucky do.
ACC: 3-0 this round, 7-1 overall. Their bids are all justified, and it seems the seeds are too. You'd think they'd have a fifth team in their conference that could play ball, but they don't.
Big XII:1-2 this round, 4-4 overall. Kansas State and Texas fall in close 4-5 games. That leaves #1 seed Kansas in a region with seeds #10, #11, and #12. The Great Plains are wet with Jayhawk drool.
PAC-10:1-1 this round, 4-2 overall. Arizona wins a close one, UCLA not so much. Arizona's reward? Duke. If they win that, they get the winner of San Diego State and UConn. Have fun! :-D
Atlantic 10:1-1 this round, 3-2 overall. San Diego State is a woodchipper, while Richmond found itself playing Morehead State, blinked, and put themselves in the Sweet 16. Say hello to Kansas!
Mountain West:2-0 this round, 4-1 overall. They'll be finishing over .500. I pity their entire conference for having had to play BYU and San Diego State twice.
CAA:1-1 this round, 4-2 overall. They'll be over .500, because VCU is on a mission. Neither game this conference played this round was close. *cleans Purdue and George Mason off courts with bleach*
Yeah, it's the Big Least again. You have to win games against opponents *outside* your conference. It's not just that they're losing, but they're losing to lower seeds. #1 Pitt loses to #8 Butler, #2 Notre Dame falls to #10 Florida State, #6 St. John's falls to #11 Gonzaga, #6 Georgetown goes out to #11 VCU (which is looking more like a misseed and less like a team that didn't belong here), #3 Louisville drops to instate #14 Morehead State...the only team showing up is Marquette. Apparently, they do not think it a right to be in the Big Dance, but a privlege to guard.
So, VCU can rest now. Three games in one week, and I think they could have played one more with the amount of rest the starters were getting halfway through the second half each game.
Upsets in the first two rounds: 11/48, just under 25%. Two of the brackets are largely intact; what the committee was smoking when they worked on the Southwest Region may be officially called into question. I think they were fine otherwise, and the big overachievers had one team extra in that simply did not perform. In the case of the CAA, it was the conference champion, so maybe we look at Hofstra, and the Horizon was a one-bid, but...yeah, I think they got the teams right. We'll see what happens next round and judge seeding; I can see that being a potential problem.
Four rounds to go...Go Bucks! Beat Kentucky!
Big (L)East: 2-5 this round, 9-9 overall, and the two wins were matchups between Big East teams. FAIL.
Big Ten: 2-3 this round, 7-5 overall. The worst they can do now is even, which, along with their overall play, justifies their bids. Seeding might be an issue; the Team Up North may have deserved a touch better than an 8, given their close play against Duke and their first round squishing of Tennessee. Purdue...well...they squished St. Peter, but then they ran into Angry CAA Team, and that would be their brains decorating the backboards. ._.;;
SEC: 2-0 this round, 4-3 overall. Kentucky and Florida did what Florida and Kentucky do.
ACC: 3-0 this round, 7-1 overall. Their bids are all justified, and it seems the seeds are too. You'd think they'd have a fifth team in their conference that could play ball, but they don't.
Big XII:1-2 this round, 4-4 overall. Kansas State and Texas fall in close 4-5 games. That leaves #1 seed Kansas in a region with seeds #10, #11, and #12. The Great Plains are wet with Jayhawk drool.
PAC-10:1-1 this round, 4-2 overall. Arizona wins a close one, UCLA not so much. Arizona's reward? Duke. If they win that, they get the winner of San Diego State and UConn. Have fun! :-D
Atlantic 10:1-1 this round, 3-2 overall. San Diego State is a woodchipper, while Richmond found itself playing Morehead State, blinked, and put themselves in the Sweet 16. Say hello to Kansas!
Mountain West:2-0 this round, 4-1 overall. They'll be finishing over .500. I pity their entire conference for having had to play BYU and San Diego State twice.
CAA:1-1 this round, 4-2 overall. They'll be over .500, because VCU is on a mission. Neither game this conference played this round was close. *cleans Purdue and George Mason off courts with bleach*
Yeah, it's the Big Least again. You have to win games against opponents *outside* your conference. It's not just that they're losing, but they're losing to lower seeds. #1 Pitt loses to #8 Butler, #2 Notre Dame falls to #10 Florida State, #6 St. John's falls to #11 Gonzaga, #6 Georgetown goes out to #11 VCU (which is looking more like a misseed and less like a team that didn't belong here), #3 Louisville drops to instate #14 Morehead State...the only team showing up is Marquette. Apparently, they do not think it a right to be in the Big Dance, but a privlege to guard.
So, VCU can rest now. Three games in one week, and I think they could have played one more with the amount of rest the starters were getting halfway through the second half each game.
Upsets in the first two rounds: 11/48, just under 25%. Two of the brackets are largely intact; what the committee was smoking when they worked on the Southwest Region may be officially called into question. I think they were fine otherwise, and the big overachievers had one team extra in that simply did not perform. In the case of the CAA, it was the conference champion, so maybe we look at Hofstra, and the Horizon was a one-bid, but...yeah, I think they got the teams right. We'll see what happens next round and judge seeding; I can see that being a potential problem.
Four rounds to go...Go Bucks! Beat Kentucky!