So for everyone to keep up, this post is just an analysis of Round 2/Day 1, which was Sunday's games. No standings will be included at the bottom, as I have tabulated all of the games through yesterday, and as such, the standings will be current through the following post, which I will also be making today. So, as far as Sunday goes ....
"Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!" Both figuratively and literally. In game 1 of the day we lose our first number 1 seed, Illinois, including its starting guard - who is a local kid (well, local to me) - Trent Frazier. Loyola jumped out to an early lead, and Illinois never challenged after that. Loyola has done this recently, as they made the Final Four in 2018, and did have the number 1 ranked defense in the NCAA. So, some people saw this coming, particularly Brian Hinaman of Parrish, Florida, Ashley Poer 2, of Lake Worth Beach, Florida, and Steven Usma 4 of Miami, Florida. If you don't see your name listed here and you selected Loyola, don't worry, you will get your mention.
Illinois was not our only champion to have been defeated on Sunday, as the late preacher Oral Roberts gave an important enough a homily that his eponymous university defeated the University of Florida Gators late Sunday. Seriously, Oral Roberts and Loyola of Chicago both get Sunday games? How is that fair. At least Oklahoma State spared us from having to see Liberty play on Sunday also.
As a reminder, we had 13 separate champions selected, and now five have been defeated in the opening weekend. The champions in our pool (remaining teams in bold) are: Alabama, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Virginia.
In addition to the 2 aforementioned upsets, we had 2 additional upsets on Sunday, with Oregon State defeating Oklahoma State and Syracuse beating West Virginia. Syracuse had its share of fans in our pool, including Silas Nichols 2 of Washington, D.C., Kingfish Parham of Atlanta, Georgia, William Pujals of Charlotte, North Carolina, George Walks 2 of West Palm Beach, Florida, and Day Yi 1 of Forest Hills, New York. Oregon State's support was even sparser, having been picked by Dave Marzouca 1 of Boynton Beach, Florida.
We did have a few other entrants receive bonus points for picking upsets, and they deserve special mention here as Javier Rodriguez of Coral Gables, Florida guaranteed his selection of Syracuse. Justin Yung of Chapel Hill, North Carolina earned multiple bonuses by selecting Loyola and Syracuse and Colleen Hamilton of the Greater West Palm Beach, Florida area likewise garnered multiple bonuses by picking Syracuse and Oregon State.
However, none of those entries could keep up with the juggernaut that is first-time entrant Nancy McInerney of Atlantic Beach, Florida. Nancy selected Loyola, Oregon State AND Syracuse. For that, Nancy receives the "Pick of the Day" Award. What was wrong Nancy, you didn't have Oral Roberts? (Hint: She didn't. Nobody had Oral Roberts.)
It would be too easy for me to want to give a historical perspective about Loyola of Chicago in the NCAA Tournament, but I already did that back after day 1 round 1 in 2018, spotlighting Loyola great Alfredrick Hughes. You can read about that here.
So, for today's history lesson, we will take a look back to legendary Houston Cougar coach Guy Lewis, to honor Houston's run to the Sweet Sixteen. Guy Lewis played collegiately at Houston from 1945-1947, after serving in the army in World War II. He came back to Houston as an assistant coach in 1953, becoming head coach in 1956. At Houston, he was one of the first white, Southern coaches to actively recruit African-American players, convincing Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney to attend Houston as its first African-American players in 1964. Hayes and Chaney led Houston to 2 Final Fours in 1967 and 1968. In 1968 Houston, behind Hayes and Chaney defeated undefeated and top-ranked UCLA Bruins at the Houston Astrodome in the first nationally televised regular season game and one of the best games in NCAA History.
Under Lewis, Houston had 27 consecutive winning seasons, and 14 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including 3 straight trips to the Final Four from 1982 - 1984, with teams led by Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Houston finished second in 1983, losing to North Carolina State on a last-second rebound/lay-up by Lorenzo Charles on a missed shot by Derek Whittenburg. In 1984 Houston lost 84-75 to a Georgetown Hoyas team led by Patrick Ewing and coached by legendary John Thompson.
Lewis, who coached through 1986, was a two-time coach of the year (1968, 1983) and entered the College Basketbal Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. He died in 2015 at the age of 93.
Stat of the Day
1. The Illinois-Loyola game is only the third time two teams from the State of Illinois have played each other in the NCAA Tournament. The1 first was Loyola-Chicago defeating Illinois in 1963, and the second was DePaul beating Illinois State in 1984.
Players of the Day
6. Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse. For the second consecutive round the coach's son makes an appearance, scoring 25 points on 6-13 shooting from three point range.
5. Justin Smith, Arkansas. Smith scored 20, with 6 rebounds in the Razorbacks victory over Texas Tech.
4. Quinten Groves, Houston. Houston coasted past Rutgers in large part thanks to Groves scoring 22 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.
3. Ethan Thompson, Oregon State. Oregon State needed to win their conference tournament just to make the NCAA's, and Thompson is taking advantage of that opportunity scoring 26 points with 7 rebounds.
2. Cameron Krutwig, Loyola. Krutwig scored 19 points, grabbed 12 rebounds had 5 assists and 4 steals, including 6 points and 1 assist as Loyola went up 9-2 at the start of the game.
1. Kevin Obanor, Oral Roberts. Roberts had a monster game, scoring 28 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and 4 steals, while playing all 40 minutes in Oral Roberts' victory over Florida.
Best Social Media Post
From both RedditCFB and Rapid Replays:
"Oral Roberts has officially ended Ohio State and Florida's runs, a feat last accomplished by Urban Meyer's health problems"
Standings coming in the next post.
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