The two number 1 seeds, Villanova and Kansas, each clinched their respective trips to San Antonio by defeating Texas Tech and Duke, respectively. Villanova won relatively easy, but Kansas won in an overtime thriller that saw one of the greatest overtime performances ever by redshirt-sophomore guard Malik Newman, who scored all of Kansas's 13 overtime points, and guarded Duke's Grayson Allen, who must have been trippin' if he thought he was going to win that battle. Villanova and Kansas will make a fantastic semifinal game in San Antonio.
Speaking of San Antonio, today's basketball history is about location, location, location. San Antonio has hosted the Final Four three previous times: 1998, 2004, 2008. Let's take a look back at those Final Fours.
In 1998, the best of these years, a very game Utah team behind its triumverate of point guard Andre Miller, forward Keith van Horn and center Michael Doleac, defeated a North Carolina team that featured Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison 65-59. In that semifinal, Andre Miller's 15 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists controlled the game, and more importantly the temp of the game, to keep the high flying Tar Heels out of the finals, despite 21 points from Vince Carter, In the other matchup, the Kentucky Wildcats behind Jeff Sheppard's 27 points, outlasted the Stanford Cardinal 86-85 despite 26 points from Arthur Lee and 16 rebounds from Mark Madsen. This marks Kentucky's third straight final appearance, having defeated Syracuse in 1996 and losing in overtime to Arizona in 1997. In the final game, Kentucky coasted to a 78-69 victory behind a balanced scoring attack led by Scott Padgett's 17. Jeff Shepherd was named Most Oustanding Player, and in part because of making it to three straight finals games, Kentucky's point guard Wayne Turner sets an NCAA record of 151 games played (which has since been surpassed).
In 2004, we saw a classic semifinal game between Connecticut and Duke, as the Huskies trailed the Blue Devils by 8 with three minutes remaining in the game. UConn's All-American center Emeka Okafor, although limited to only 22 minutes of playing time due to early foul trouble, scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds, all the while fouling out all 3 of Duke's centers, including Sheldon Williams. Connecticut's defense held Duke scoreless for the final 4 1/2 minutes, excluding a buzzer-beater by Chris Duhon that secured the final score of 81-79. In the other semifinal game, Georgia Tech defeated Oklahoma State 67-65 behind Will Bynum's last second layup after the Cowboys' John Lucas tied the game with a three-pointer with 26 seconds left. The final game was one of the worst finals of recent memory, so I will ignore it other than to say Emeka Okafor, scored 24 points and was named Most Outstanding Player as Connecticut won 82-73.
Kansas fans are hoping for a repeat as they emerged victorious at the last Final Four played in San Antonio in 2008. This Final Four is interesting because it matched up all four number 1 seeds in the tournament. This is the first, and only time, this has happened since seeding originated. In the first game, Kansas thumped North Carolina 84-66 behind Brandon Rush's 24 points. North Carolina, led by Wayne Ellington's 18 points, and Tyler Hansbrough's 9 rebounds and 1,431 ugly faces, couldn't compete. In the other semi-final game Memphis defeated UCLA 78-63 behind 27 points from Chris Douglas-Roberts, who bested Russell Westrbook's 22 in perhaps some foreshadowing of Westbrook's NBA career (lots of production/no titles). Since the semifinals were lopsided, it makes sense that the finals match was outstanding. Douglas-Roberts again led the scoring for Memphis with 22, but it wasn't enough as Darrel Arthur went 20/10 for Kansas, who also got a game-tying three pointer from Mario Chalmers to send the game to overtime, where Kansas won easily 75-68. The Jayhawks strategy of fouling Memphis down the stretch paid off, as Memphis missed four of its last five free throws in regulation.
As for the pool,
Day Yi 2 of New York City has remains in first place, and increased his lead as he had both Villanova AND Kansas in the final four. Hus was one of 15 entrants to earn the full 16 points yesterday. All of those that did gained significant ground on the field. Because so many people had both, no "Pick of the Day" today.
The "Worst Pick of the Day", or really the "Most Heartbreaking Pick of the Day" goes to
Steven Usma 3 of Miami, Florida, and
Traci Sheehan of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, who both selected Texas Tech into the Final Four. Not that it was a bad pick, but almost everyone had Villanova, so you lost ground with what turned out to be a solid-looking upset choice.
Three of the original thirteen different champions remain, with Duke bowing out to Kansas. The Kansas - Villanova winner will largely determine the final standings. Who will win? We will have to wait and see. But for now, the remaining champions are:
Arizona
, Cincinnati,
Duke, Florida
, Gonzaga
, Kansas, Kentucky,
Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina
, Villanova, Virginia
and Xavier
.
Remember to check my math, and let me know if you have any questions regarding your bracket.
On to the standings ...
1. Day Yi 2 - 93 - Villanova
2. Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 85 - Villanova
3. Dan Barsky - 85 - Virginia
4. Thomas Bean 1 - 83 - Villanova
5. Rich Samuels 2 - 82 - Villanova
Joshua Zdrowak - 82 -
Kansas
7. Jessica Samuels - 81 - Villanova
8. Anthony LaPira - 80 - Michigan State
9. Chris Kroesen - 79 - Xavier
Rich Samuels 1 - 79 - Kansas
11. Barkley Sosa - 78 - Kentucky
12. Sasha Moon - 77 - Villanova
Steven Usma 2 - 77 - Villanova
George Walks 3 - 77 - Virginia
15. George Walks 6 - 76 - Michigan State
16. Greg Kummerlen - 74 - North Carolina
Jane Reynolds - 74 - Michigan State
18. Adam Jorgensen 2 - 72 - Michigan State
Dan Laishley - 72 - Virginia
Ty Leatherman - 72 - Virginia
Max Macon 3 - 72 -
Villanova
Max Macon 4 - 72 - Virginia
Biscuit Zdrowak - 72 - Michigan State
24. Carolyn Fowler 71 -
Kansas
Arlene Amo Hopps - 71 - Villanova
Jacey Fowler 1 - 71 - North Carolina
Debbie Igdaloff Nieman - 71 - Virginia
Bryan van Gorder - 71 - North Carolina
29. Kyle Sheehan - 70 -
Duke
Day Yi 1 - 70 - Virginia
31. Jen Armstrong - 69 - Michigan State
Thomas Bean 2 - 69 - Michigan State
Jim Coleman - 69 - Gonzaga
Brittany Sosa - 69 - Duke
35. Alvaro Gonzalez - 68 - Michigan State
Allison Parker - 68 - Virginia
Cheryl Spuhler - 68 - Duke
Josh and Katie Zdrowak - 68 -
Villanova
39. Adam Jorgensen 1 - 67 - Duke
Katie Kollmeyer - 67 - Villanova
Steven Usma 3 - 67 - Michigan
Wes Wiggins 1 - 67 - Arizona
43. Albert Harper III - 66 - Michigan State
Mango Merchant - 66 - Michigan State
45. Katie Zdrowak - 65 Villanova
46. Noel Martinez 2 - 64 - Villanova
Abigail Sosa - 64 - Michigan State
Jeremy Spuhler - 64 - Duke
49. Steffan Alexander - 63 - Florida
Bill Ganoe 2 - 63 - Virginia
Measha Williams 2 "Upset City"- 63 -
Duke
52. James Garvin - 62 - Villanova
Steven Usma 1 - 62 - Kansas
Steven Usma 5 - 62 - Villanova
55. Cathy Donahue - 61 - Duke
Steve Jorgensen - 61 - Arizona
Max Macon 2 - 61 - Michigan State
Pepe Sosa - 61 - Villanova
Justin Yung - 61 - North Carolina
60. Hannah Sosa - 60 - Florida
George Walks 2 - 60 -
Kansas
62. Paul Cummings - 59 - Villanova
Bill Ganoe 1 - 59 - North Carolina
Max Macon 1 - 59 -
Kansas
Noel Martinez 1 - 59 - Duke
Jeff Plamodon - 59 - Virginia
Traci Sheehan - 59 - Duke
George Walks 4 - 59 - North Carolina
Measha Williams 3 "Spread" - 59 - Virginia
70. Kent Armstrong - 58 -
Villanova
Jenna Finkelstein - 58 - North Carolina
Matt Hopps - 58 - Virginia
George Walks 1 - 58 - Kansas
Keith Zdrowak - 58 - Duke
75. Duncan Merchant - 57 - Virginia
76. Glen Merchant - 56 - Villanova
Kingfish Rod Parham - 56 - Kentucky
78. Brent Bellinger - 55 - Virginia
Colleen Hamilton 1 - 55 - Virginia
Edy Pecan - 55 -
Michigan
Measha Williams 1 - "Gut" - 55 - Virginia
82.
Joe Carter - 54 - Virginia
Martha Kroesen - 54 -
Villanova
Jonathan Wasserman - 54 - Duke
85. Silas Nichols - 53 - Arizona
Wes Wiggins 2 - 53 - Michigan State
87. Colleen Hamilton 2 - 52 -
Villanova
Samantha Sheehan - 52 - Duke
Steven Usma 4 - 52 - Duke
90. Bill Danner - 51 - Virginia
David Peterson - 51 - Virginia
92. Col. Kareem Montague - 50 -
Villanova
93. Michael Litsey - 49 -
Villanova
94.
Bill Foman - 48 - North Carolina
Jacey Fowler 2 - 48 - Cincinnati
Mac Kroesen - 47 - Gonzaga
97. Carter Alexander - 46 - Florida
Amy Zdrowak - 46 - Michigan State
99. Colleen Hamilton 3 - 45 - North Carolina
Karen Katz - 45 - Virginia
101. George Walks 5 - 44 - Arizona
102. Eric Inge - 42 - Virginia
103. Doug Tuttle - 36 - Florida
104. Griffey Parker - 31 - Xavier
105. Ashley Poer - 30 - Virginia
Unknown - Matt Nieman - I still need to talk to you about my bracket question! - YES STILL!!!
