Thoughts and opinions added throughout Friday’s first round action:
– I love Xavier. This is a program that deserves more credit than they have received. This is their ninth tournament berth in the last 10 years, and in the last six years they made the Sweet Sixteen twice and the Elite Eight once. No matter what changes – personnel, coaches and so on – the team just keeps pluggiing along and doing their business. Their second half against Minnesota today has been incredibly impressive. Jordan Crawford has been a killer, and they have played with confidence and effectiveness. I can’t say enough good things about this team. Look out Pittsburgh.
– I felt confident that Cornell was going to give Temple a very good challenge, and could quite likely win. What I really didn’t see coming, though, is that Cornell would take the lead from the start and never look back. That was as dominating as a performance can be without being a 1-16 blowout type of game. Very impressive.
-Morgan State’s game plan today was hilarious – get out and run around as fast as they could for as long as they could. It worked well at the start as they opened up a 10-0 lead. Unfortunately, they were totally burnt out after eight minutes and the game was a mess.
– This second set of games today just isn’t interesting. Purdue had their hands full with Siena in the first half, but have taken control since. Wisconsin has dominated Wofford from the start. Oakland lost their best player and all momentum and are getting rolled over by Pitt. Mizzou and Clemson are in a tight one, but neither team is particularly good, and the game isn’t as interesting as it should be. Here’s hoping that the next set is better. It can’t be much worse.
– I spoke too soon – Wofford has tied it up, and Siena is putting on a late charge. Obviously the teams heard my whining and decided to do something about it. Thanks, boys!
– What a totally different day than yesterday. Yesterday was thrilling – every game seemed to be a nail-biter. Today just isn’t the same. Since I last checked in Texas A&M totally rolled over Utah State in a joke of a game, and now Michigan State, Duke, and Gonzaga are rolling, and Oklahoma State is winning a game that hasn’t captured my attention in the first half. So far today the Xavier game was interesting but ultimately not close, and it was fascinating to watch Cornell dismantle Temple, and Wisconsin got a scare at the end, but we haven’t had a single classic game. Four more shots tonight – my fingers are crossed.
– Again, I complain about the games and they get good. It’s nice when the NCAA is so responsive. Things got scary for Gonzaga there for a while, but they kept their composure and held on. I didn’t get the Florida State hype heading into that one. The Georgia Tech second half was much better as well, and this Michigan State game – 61-59 New Mexico State with six minutes left as I write – has gone from non-competitive to great. This is, yet again, why the tournament is so good.
