Thank you for your patience, as I had to return to work today after a full weekend of basketball, and World Baseball Classic!!!
Our leader, Rich Samuels 1 of Palm Beach Gardens, FL lengthened his lead over still second place Silas Nichols of Washington, DC, and they are joined on the podium by Rich Samuels 2 of Palm Beach Gardens, FL. All three of those entries have both of their finalists remaining. This reminds me that this week I will update the standings with Final picks of each entry, so that we can all see where we stand in relation to other teams that have the same champions or finalists.
We also have a clear leader for a return of her money - Lily Spuhler of Acworth, Georgia, but her champion is still alive, as well as 3 of her Final Four, so there is a good chance that she can rise up the rankings a bit, so as not to finish last.
And speaking of finalists, we lost two more champions in games that matched up champions against each other: Indiana lost to Miami, and Marquette lost to Michigan State. Our champions are: Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Duke, Florida Atlantic, Gonzaga, Houston, Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Marquette, Miami, Michigan State, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA. That means that of the 16 teams remaining in the tournament, entrants have chosen 11 of them to win the tournament outright. That means a whole lot of movement in the standings!
The interesting one for me is Michigan State. Of course, Florida Atlantic is the answer, but they got through by winning the 8-9 matchup, which is supposed to be close, and then playing the 16 seeded Fairleigh Dickinson. Michigan State was supposed to lose their last game to the 2 seed Marquette, but Tom Izzo always does this. His teams always win 1 or 2 games more than they should. In fact, this is one of our interesting stats of the day!
Interesting Stats of the Day
4. St. Mary's lost their second round game to Connecticut in large part because they had no double digit scorer in the game.
3. Creighton shot 22-22 from the free throw line.
2. Xavier led the NCAA in assists averaging 19.2 per game. They had 22 assists in victory over Pittsburgh.
1. Tom Izzo passed Jim Boeheim of Syracuse for most tournament wins ever by a lower-seeded team.
Michigan State's win also earned bonus points for several brackets that had them beating Marquette - all 17 of you. For the few that had Michigan State over Vermont - no bonus points. The other stunning Sweet Sixteen team - Florida Atlantic University - won the battle of FU schools (FAU over FDU) - 9 total. Eight of those - Guy Hughes of Lexington, KY, Shane Jernigan 1 of Denver, Co, Jonathan Cox of Palm Beach Gardens, FL, Bennie Merchant of Asheville, NC, Duncan Merchant of Asheville, NC, Savannah Grace Pressly of Boca Raton, FL (and our current FAU student), Hannah Sosa of Riviera Beach, FL and Day Yi 1 of Forest Hills, NY all deserve mention. But, their picking prowess pales in comparison (at least for one day) to Arlene Amo Hopps of Quincy, MA, who not only has selected FAU into the Sweet Sixteen, but also received bonus points for choosing Michigan State over Marquette, the only person to do so. For that - Arlene receives the Pick of the Day!
Arlene Amo Hopps had some serious competition for best penmanship this year, with Drew Foster of Lake Worth Beach, Florida and Max Macon of Jupiter, Florida making it really easy for me to see which teams they picked. Thank you you three!!!
One of the intriguing matchups from yesterday was Pittsburgh playing against Xavier, coached by Pittsburgh basketball star and alumnus Sean Miller. Sean Miller started at point guard his freshman year, with powerhouse forwards Charles Smith and Jerome Lane. Smith would go on to win Big East Player of the year in 1988, win a bronze medal in the Olympics for Team USA in 1988 (the impetus for the "Dream Team,") and then play 10 years in the NBA for the Los Angeles Clippers, the New York Knicks, and San Antonio Spurs. Jerome Lane led the Big East in rebounding in 1988, then went pro where he was drafte d by the Denver Nuggets. He played 5 seasons in the NBA, and twelve professional seasons on various teams in various leagues. Miller finished his collegiate career starting all four years of college, averaging 10 points a game. 102 total steals, and 5.8 assists per game. None of his steals and assists were better than THIS PLAY!!!
And I know that this play did not occur in the tournament - but boy was it amazing. I remember fondly. Since it isn't exactly tournament history, I will tell you that Pittsburgh entered the 1988 tournament as a 2 seed in the midwest, where they defeated Eastern Michigan 108-90 with CHarles Smith scoring 31 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, Jerome Lane adding 22 points and 17 rebounds, Demetreus Gore adding 24 points, and Sean Miller scoring 3 points, but dishing out 9 assists compared to only 1 turnover. They then lost 80-74 in overtime to Vanderbilt in the second round as Barry Goheen (from my dad's hometown in Kentucky) led the Commodores with 22 points, and the future NBA'er Will Perdue contributing 15 points and 5 rebounds. For Pittsburgh, Charles Smith scored 21 with 10 rebounds, Jerome Lane scored 8 points but had 20 rebounds, and Sean Miller played all 45 minutes and had 7 points, 7 assists with only 3 turnovers. But despite losing to Vanderbilt, Sean Miller and Jerome Lane had the play of the season. Go back and watch it again!
Social Media Post of the Day!
1. Although this had to do with Saturday's game and not yesterday's, I saw it yesterday, so here it is. Credit to Silas Nichols of Washington, DC for the find.
Players of the Day
Honorable Mention: Norchad Omier - Miami - 7 points/17 boards
10. Oscar Tshiebwe - Kentucky - 25 points/18 rebounds
9. Mike Miles - TCU - 24 points/1 rebound/4 assists/2steals/1 block
8. LJ Cryer - Baylor - 20 points/2 rebounds/1 assist
7. Tyson Walker - Michigan State - 23 points/2 rebounds/ 2 assists/1 steal
6. Adama Sanogo - Connecticut - 24 points/8 rebounds
5. Drew Timme - Gonzaga - 28 points/8 rebounds/3 assits/1 block
4. Isaiah Wong - Miami - 27 points/8 rebounds
3. Ryan Nembhard - Creighton - 30 points/2 rebounds/2 assists/2 steals
2. Markquis Nowell - Kansas State - 27 points/2 rebounds/9 assists/3 steals - and, he scored 7 points, and assisted on 2 3-pointers during a 13-2 Kansas State run late in the second half in their victory over Kentucky.
1. Johnell Davis - FAU - 29 points/12 rebounds/5 assists/5 steals - only person with this state line in the history of the NCAA tournament.
Now, on to our players. Feel free to double check my scores, and let me know if you think that i need to change something.
STANDINGS
1. Rich Samuels 1 - 65
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