Kyle O'Quinn certainly made a name for himself in the first round of this year's tournament. |
Like every first weekend in NCAA Tournament history, this one was wild, interesting and boring all in the same juncture.
Thursday was far from special. The higher seeds were a dominating 13-3 and only a few games came down to the wire.
However, we cannot forget the game of the week, or as it played out, the "shame of the week." Even with Syracuse's star big man, Fab Melo out, they were still supposed to run UNC-Asheville out of the building, the state and the country. That was far from the case. Asheville dominated the first half behind some solid defense and reckless three point shooting. 'Cuse looked as if they were supposed to be handed this game by the small North Carolina state school. While they did come out of the halftime break with some energy, the Orangemen had to get some help from the refs. On back-to-back questionable calls with under two minutes to play, Syracuse was saved from what would have been the biggest NCAA Tournament disaster in history. Instead the refs came to their rescue, making calls that not a single person in America wanted to be made, except for the contingency of 'Cuse fans that grip our nation worse than the Yankees.
VCU followed up its magical run to the Final Four last year, with another upset victory, though after the game ended I'm not sure anyone was calling it an upset. Coming in as a #12 seed they had the exciting opportunity to play a highly overrated Wichita State team. VCU's head coach Shaka Smart surely sealed a major coaching job after showing that his mid-major empire was once again, for real.
Day 2, brought the Cinderella magic everyone was salivating for. The lower seeds pulled off 7 upsets and if you want to include #9 Saint Louis over #8 Memphis, than make that 8.
The magic stretched no further than two #15 seeds who decided it was their cue to mangle brackets and dash Duke super fans hopes. Our first major league upset came from Norfolk State, ironically led by a guy named Kyle O'Quinn a day before St. Paddy's Day. By the end of the game it seemed as if O'Quinn was grabbing every rebound, making every bucket and hustling harder than Rick Ross. But what made it memorable was the raw emotion on this kid's face as he put every ounce of effort he had into this game; he was rewarded ten fold. Missouri was a four guard squad and got beaten in one way it could, by a hardworking big man. Duke on the other hand was just outgunned and outrunned by a Lehigh squad and its star guard C.J. McCollum. McCollum turned in a 30 point performance he will never forget and once again Duke was sent home in the first round, just like old times. #13 Ohio and #12 USF also added to the madness, making Friday the day we all wanted.
The First Day Of The Round Of 32 was complete and utter chalk. Everyone higher seed won, and won pretty convincingly. The only game that had any true pulse was the VCU, Indiana game, and somehow the Hoosiers had enough in them to shut down Shaka Smart's Rams and keep them out of their second straight Sweet Sixteen appearance.
Sunday, left dark horses Georgetown and Florida State wondering what hit them in the face. Georgetown lost to a North Carolina State team that is seemingly playing with a chip on their shoulder since they stepped into the ACC tournament last week. FSU, fresh off an ACC title themselves, fell victim to Cincinnati who had itself a nice Big East run all the way to the championship game. #13 seed Ohio got lucky having to only beat #12 USF to get a Sweet Sixteen bid. Other than those story lines, the round of 32 was a major league bust.
Looking forward at next week's match ups, North Carolina, despite Kendall Marshall's absence will run over an Ohio team that luckily wandered into the Sweet Sixteen after their first round upset. I also like Marquette to manhandle a Florida team that lives and dies by the three. Kentucky and Indiana, a rivalry from way back in the day is shaping up to be the Sweet Sixteen's premier matchup, especially with Kentucky looking for revenge after Christian Watford's epic buzzer beater earlier in the year. My favorite matchup has to be red hot NC State, clearly looking for Cinderella status if they can defeat Kansas, who had their hands full with Purdue last week.
Predictions:
Kentucky over Indiana
Baylor over Xavier
Wisconsin over Syracuse
Cincinnati over Ohio State
UNC over Ohio
NC State over Kansas
Michigan State over Louisville
Marquette over Florida
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