Friday, March 26, 2010

Top 8 Elite Eight Games of the Past Eight Years

We're just one set of games away from being down to the final eight, where teams are one win away from reaching their Final Four dreams. These Elite Eight duels have produced some heart wrenching, unforgettable outcomes. Here are my top eight of the past eight years:

1. 2005 Chicago Regional Final
#1 Illinois 90, #3 Arizona 89 OT
One of the greatest college basketball comebacks I can remember seeing with the most on the line. Down 15 with four minutes left, Deron Williams, Dee Brown and Luther Head will Illinois to OT and a Final Four berth. Along the way there are unbelievable shots, close calls and one of the best college basketball games you could ever ask to see.



2. 2009 East Regional Final
#3 Villanova 78, #1 Pittsburgh 76
Back-and-forth, back-and-forth between Big East powers. The final six minutes left you gasping for breath, waiting to see how it would unfold. 1-seed Pittsburgh with the senior Levance Fields and the stud sophomore DeJuan Blair trying to finally reach the Final Four. Villanova and its plethora of guards. Tied at 76, it was an unforgettable play with Scottie Reynolds emerging the hero.



3. 2006 Washington, D.C. Regional Final
#11 George Mason 86, #1 UConn 84 OT
It was one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history. The 11-seed Cinderella George Mason ran into 1-seed college basketball behemoth UConn in front of a hometown crowd in D.C.…and won. UConn led by future NBA first-round picks Rudy Gay, Marcus Williams and Josh Boone; George Mason by Will Thomas, Jai Lewis and Lamar Butler, guys the power conference schools passed up. Those three along with Tony Skinn and Folarin Campbell made up a starting five that was nearly all of the Patriots’ production.

They overcame a nine-point deficit and took the lead in the final minute. But poor free-throw shooting opened the door for Denham Brown’s reverse layup to propel the Huskies to five more minutes of play. Again in overtime it came down to the final possession but this time with UConn trailing, Brown missed from three. Michigan State, North Carolina, Connecticut all downed by Jim Larranaga’s CAA at-large bunch; the team that wasn’t supposed to win provided an unforgettable run to the final four.



4. 2004 East Rutherford Regional Final
#2 Oklahoma State 64, #1 St. Joe’s 62
As much as it was a game, this was also an ideological struggle…major vs. mid-major. Many thought that 31-3 Big XII champ Oklahoma State deserved a 1-seed over 30-2 A-10 champ St. Joseph’s. One of St. Joe’s most vocal critics, Billy Packer, was the game’s analyst on CBS.

Lucky for all of us, they got a chance to decide it on the court in the final of the East Rutherford region. The two teams did not let anyone down. Jameer Nelson and Delonte West carried the way for the Hawks, while John Lucas III and Joey Graham did the same for the Cowboys. But it was Lucas III who broke the little guys’ heart with a dagger game-winning three.



5. 2005 Austin Regional Final
#5 Michigan State 94, #2 Kentucky 88 20T
Patrick Sparks’ first try at a game-tying three was an airball; his next seemed to bounce endlessly on the rim before finally falling in. After reviewing the play and confirming that Sparks’ toes were just beyond the arc, it was time for overtime in Austin. It took two overtime periods before the fifth seeded Spartans assumed control and booked a ticket to St. Louis.



6. 2008 Midwest Regional Final
#1 Kansas 59, #10 Davidson 57
The figurative little guy Davidson led by the literal little guy Stephen Curry. The Wildcats were brought one game away from the Final Four by Curry’s shooting spectacles in the previous rounds. #10 Davidson stuck with #1 Kansas the whole way and had a chance on the final possession. But Curry couldn’t get free to take the final shot and Jason Richards missed a three at the buzzer, ending Davidson’s dream.



7. 2005 Albuquerque Regional Final
#4 Louisville 93, #7 West Virginia 85 OT
The first of a weekend of unbelievable Elite Eight action saw these future Big East rivals battle out west. 7-seed West Virginia led 38-18 and the hot shooting of Kevin Pittsnogle, Johannes Herber and Mike Gansey looked overwhelming. Though the Moutaineers hit 18 threes, Louisville changed its strategy coming out of the break and found its way back into the game. Larry O’Bannon tied it in regulation and led the Cardinals through OT with the help of Taquan Dean. Beilein’s sharp shooters could not overcome Pitino’s gritty Louisville squad to pull the upset.



8. 2007 East Regional Final
#2 Georgetown 96, #1 North Carolina 84, OT
There’s something about regional finals and East Rutherford (St. Joe's/Oklahoma State '04, Duke/Kentucky '92). Two tradition-laden programs came down to the final minute, when Jonathan Wallace evened it at 81 with a three and Wayne Ellington missed an open would-be game-winner. In overtime, Carolina continued a cold shooting spree that saw the Tarheels convert just one of 23 field goal attempts from 9:56 to go in regulation to :08 left in OT. 15-3 was the OT differential that spurred Georgetown to Atlanta.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Sounds of March


It's March, which means a lot of things but one of the most important....Gus Johnson and the NCAA Tournament. So far, we have not been lucky enough to hear Gus call a big upset or game that comes down to the wire. But we have tonight and Saturday still to look forward to.

While we wait for what Gus has next, today I was once again reminded of why the Internet is so great. Yes for research, yes for social networking but really for stuff like this.

It's like alphabet soup....with Gus!


Saturday, March 20, 2010

Bracketbusted

Northern Iowa v Kansas

The Midwest was supposed to be the bracket of death; it has turned into the bracket where high seeds go to die.

Georgetown: Out

Kansas: Out

Just shows how unpredictable college basketball is. On Selection Sunday, most keen observers of the game automatically pegged the Midwest as the “bracket of death,” the one that was completely stacked.

I was one of them. How could you not? You have Kansas, the #1 overall seed with 32 wins and 2 losses; An Ohio State team fresh off a Big Ten title; Georgetown, riding a hot streak falling a buzzer-beater short in the Big East Championship; Maryland, which has beaten Duke; Michigan State, which seems to always play better in March; And Tennessee, with wins against Kansas and Kentucky.

Quite a lineup for a region’s top six seeds.

Three days in, and two of the six are already out, and in shocking fashion. First, Georgetown falls to 14-seed Ohio in the first round in one that not even most Bobcat fans saw coming. Then today, maybe even more shockingly, Northern Iowa beats the vaunted Jayhawks, the team most had going to at least the Elite Eight in their bracket.

2-seed Ohio State hasn’t even played its round of 32 game yet. And 10-seed Georgia Tech is no slouch. They reached the ACC Championship game and played top seed Duke tough.

Parity is alive and well in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. The Midwest region that was supposed to be chalk now sounds more like fingernails on the chalkboard to millions of Americans crumpling up their brackets.

NCAA Tournament Articles

Ohio NCAA Tourney previews and recaps at VanDelaySports.com

Ohio v Georgetown

Ohio/Tennessee Second Round Preview

Ohio/Georgetown Recap

Ohio/Georgetown First Round Preview

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Big Dance Bobcats



Moments like tonight are why I love college basketball.

Seeing the pure excitement and happiness of a group of college players and their coach upon reaching their goal. This is all genuine.

It’s not the NBA. There are no million-dollar contracts or lazy superstars taking up salary cap space sitting on the bench.

There’s the walk-on who sits on the bench thirsting for his opportunity to get on the court, his hands on the ball. There are star players but also unsung heroes.

College basketball’s system inherently gives the underdog a chance. It’s not Major League Baseball where a Cinderella springs up once or twice a decade. It’s not college football where the pre-ordained few take their place on the top of a poll, while the Cinderellas do all they can but never get a shot at that dance with Prince Charming.

In college basketball, there are Cinderellas every year. Only one conference, the Ivy League, does not have a conference tournament. So, almost every team in Division I college basketball, has a chance to get to the postseason, to determine its outcome on the playing surface not at the hands of a bunch of writers or computers.

Ohio was the number nine seed going to the 2010 MAC Tournament. If you finish ninth in your conference in college football, your season is over. Same for NBA; same for NFL. The Bobcats' season would have been effectively meaningless after Sunday’s Senior Day win vs. Bowling Green in any other system.

But this is college basketball, where magical runs are possible. Four games in less than a week. One loss and it’s all over. It took two overtime games, an upset of the top seed and Armon Bassett scoring more points in a MAC Tournament than anyone before him.

Now, the little guys get to go up against the big guys. They may not win. But they get the chance. It’s a chance they gave themselves by winning.

And even if Ohio gets crushed by a 3 or 4 seed on Thursday or Friday, nothing can change the feeling in Athens tonight. A bar full of people cringing at Akron’s Steve McNees’ game-tying three in regulation, then going crazy with Armon Bassett’s Championship punctuating jam. A Facebook page full of people talking about going dancing. A whole college campus full of 18-24 year olds who have something to get excited about.

As much as I love a lot of other sports, nothing really matches March in college basketball. It’s one of the most real seasons in sport. Most games are do-or-die for at least one of the teams involved. Everything is at stake and it shows in these moments.

Seeing coach John Groce lift his young baby up while cutting the nets, Ohio’s only senior KVK lifting up the championship trophy, out-of-their mind performances like those of Armon Bassett and D.J. Cooper tonight; that’s why I love college basketball. Anything can happen. And it’s even better being on a mid-major NCAA Tournament team's college campus to witness it all. Let the madness begin!