Did You See That!?

Phew...I think I’m finally catching my breath from what can only be described as a weekend of incredible basketball. It was full of excitement, buzzer-beaters, major... nay, huge upsets and 16 teams advancing to the second weekend of the Big Dance. On a side note - How screwed is your bracket looking? Yeah, thought it might be.

What happened to the Big East? (More like the Big Easy, Little East, etc, etc.) Eight bids showed the strength and muscle of the conference...until they had to play teams outside the conference. Apparently Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pitt, Villanova and Louisville decided that they could finally take a breather now that they were out of the battle-hardened, bruiser Big East. So take it easy they did, and now they’ll have plenty of time to take it easy as they sit in their dorms and watch Syracuse and West Virginia try to bring some credibility back to the Big East. What happened to the one-bid Pac 10, the conference that should be in the play-in game if the Selection Committee had any stones? What the hell!

And how about the little guys, eh? I’ll start with Cornell. The first Ivy League team to win an NCAA game since 1998 and the first to advance to the Sweet 16 in 31 years. (I also want to note I picked them to advance to the Sweet 16 in my office bracket) Saint Mary’s beat down on Villa-NO-va and the invisible “Mr. Clutch” Scottie Reynolds.



I think that about covers it...

Wait you say! What about Northern Iowa??

I’ve been through Iowa, and I didn’t know there even was a northern part of it. I figured it was all just nameless cornfields...Except for “Worlds Largest Truckstop”. What a game. I was in the city and happened to walk into a bar during the last two minutes or so of this monumental game. It was just in time to see the ballsiest, most daring shot of the weekend. Ali Farokhmanesh pulling up on a breakaway to bury a three pointer and drive the stake into the Jayhawk’s heart. All I can say is “ONIONS!”



Now lets get to The Orange of Syracuse. The pundits were asking bundles of questions about the Orange, having entered the tournament riding a two game losing streak and playing a team they haven’t played since the infamous 2005 game. They were expected to beat those maple syrup lovers, but after that? Who knows.

Well the ‘Cuse flexed their muscles, especially their Andy Rautins and Wes Johnson muscles. People were scared, including myself, about how the team would play without Arinze Onuaku controlling the paint. To add to the anxiety, Rick Jackson picked up his third foul with 8 minutes left to play in the first half. I’m sure that’s not how Jimmy B drew it up.

Well apparently instead of being a death sentence the Orange went on a tear and never looked back, crushing those West Coast hippies (Gonzaga). Wes played like the Big East Player of the Year we all know and love, and Andy shot the lights out of the place. Now with Kansas out of the picture, people are looking at Syracuse as a legitimate contender for the title along with Kentucky. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. There are still plenty of games to go, and now they have to head out to Salt Lake, leaving the cozy confines of Buffalo. On the bright side, the weather in Utah is cold and snowy too, so maybe the players will wake up and think they never actually left Central New York.



We can now chalk up the first weekend of March Madness in the books. Some promise the second weekend will bring back sanity to the tournament, while others believe the chaos will continue. Others are dreaming of a Mid-Major Final Four...

God I hope not. I may be a college basketball fan, but I’m an Orange fan first.

I just hope all this possible continued chaos doesn’t involve my boys from Syracuse.