Friday, March 20, 2009

Day 1 Recap, Day 2 Preview

This will be the format during the tourney weekends....let's get it...first? Some thoughts on Thursday (in semi-chronological order)....
  • CS Northridge was the early story of the day....hanging with (and even leading) Memphis for stretches only to fall by 11...a valiant effort by them, but without the random 35 point outburst for Robert Sallie (who averages under 5 ppg for the year) Memphis goes down...let's just say I wasn't impressed....
  • Texas A&M was one of those teams I just couldn't pick...and their performance actually didn't change that opinion...they are the classic hit-or-miss team and they were hitting today....
  • UConn 103, Chattanooga 47.... What a ludicrous score ESPECIALLY when you factor this game was 16-15 early....that's 87-32 the rest of the way....and our thoughts are with Jim Calhoun...
  • Washington....plugs along...under the radar...I like it...
  • American takes Nova's best shot.... American (whom I discussed as a sleeper pick in my preview column) took a 10 point lead to halftime only to get outlasted by a game Nova squad late....the 13 point spread was a laughable indication of how close this game was....
  • Game of the night? UCLA over VCU..... Great game....Classic big-school/little-school matchup that ended with the small-school hero Eric Maynor coming up a bit short....I was impressed with UCLA's resolve and they are still dangerous b/c of their style of play...
  • Upset of the day: W. Kentucky over Illinois....Well, I picked this one....but it should've been obvious to more people...Chester Frazier out for the Illinois....5 guys who played to the Sweet 16 for WKU last year....They were actually winning convincingly pretty much throughout....
  • And of course....THE VICTORS VALIANT! Yes, Michigan is back....and they won too...I'm fired up as you can imagine....even though they almost blew a big lead against Clemson...the fact that they are still playing is enough for me
  • 14-2 in picks for the bracket, 3-2 in "Picks" vs. the Spread.... Satisfying....but I swear to you, if American +16.5 didn't hold b/c of the ridiculous fouling....I was gonna lose it...
An eventful day, but only one true upset in the 12/5 game...It'll get better...Now to Friday...First the "lines"...YTD 3-2
  • Arizona State -5.5 over Temple
  • Ohio State -3 over Siena
  • Oklahoma State +2 over Tennessee
  • N.D. State +10 over Kansas
  • Utah State +4.5 over Marquette
  • Portland State +10.5 over Xavier
The picks for the Bracket are up in the original (Scroll down!)...and let's get this going....Here are the games I'd watch at each slot
  • Approx 12:30 Utah State and Marquette...I love USU here....and I like this game even more than the 8/9 Tennessee/OK State matchup that I think will be close but boring....
  • Approx 2:50 Temple and Arizona State...I think the Sun Devils roll honestly...but this is the most watchable matchup
  • Approx 7:00 Arizona and Utah....Love, Love, Love this game.....but a close runner-up to BC and USC which is under-ratedly close....
  • Approx 9:45 Wisconsin and Florida State....contrasting styles....Should be very competitive...
Let's do it all again....It's a great time of the year...

No comments: