 | Vermont Celebrates |
There are certain things we can expect out of this unpredictable existence. We can expect snow in late March in Ohio. We can expect college professors to be left-wingers. We can expect Rich Eisen of the NFL Network to be the most embarrasingly obsequious ass-licker on the planet. And we can expect the NCAA Tournament to be three weeks of drama without peer, of sky-highs and valley-lows, of furious comebacks and fantastic finishes. And sure enough, the 2005 Tournament has delivered the goods- big time.
Some of the highlights, round-by-round:
First Round
- Delaware State and Farleigh Dickinson, a couple of 16-seeds, doing themselves proud in tough, competitive games against #1-seeded Duke and Illinois, respectively. No 16-seed has ever beaten a 1-seed, and it didn't happen this year. But not for lack of effort from the DSU Hornets and the FDU Knights.
- Vermont's overtime victory over Syracuse. The Catamounts were losing their coach and the senior class that brought them their first three NCAA Tournament bids in school history. This was probably their last chance to win a tourney game for a long time, if ever. And they won it, thanks in no small part to a game-icing three-pointer that T.J. Sorrentine hit from approximately 65 feet out. I had Syracuse going a long way in this tournament, so Vermont's win put some highway salt on my bracket. But I still felt pretty damn warm watching the Catamounts celebrate a win that was supremely deserved.
- Bucknell's 64-63 win over Kansas, the first time a 14-seed had beaten a 3-seed since Weber State and Harold "The Show" Arceneaux upset North Carolina in 1999. This game did even more damage to my bracket than the Vermont game- I had the Jayhawks going all the way to the title game. But there's nothing wrong with a 14-3 upset, because it takes me back to 1986, when Clinton Smith, Ken "Mouse" McFadden and Cleveland State topped Bobby Knight's "Season on the Brink" Indiana team to become the first 14-seed to win a tournament game. That's the tournament- a tapestry that covers years.
- Ohio University, the MAC's only representitive, falling behind by 20 with 11:38 to play, and coming all the way back to tie Florida in the final two minutes of their first-round game, before falling 67-62. Maybe if we ask real, real nicely, or blow the entire selection committee, next year we can get multiple bids out of the Mid-America Conference, which is only the most balanced, top-to-bottom-toughest league in America.
- Iowa counterfeiting their way into the Dance with a 7-9 Big Ten record, and getting their just desserts- a first-round bouncing at the hands of Cincinnati. Serves them right. Buffalo should have had that slot anyway. If you can't go .500 in your own league, you don't deserve to go the NCAA Tournament. Period.
- Wisconsin-Milwaukee burying Alabama in a 12-5 round-one "upset" that brought back warm memories of Kent State serving the Crimson Tide the same way in the second round back in '02. My instincts were screaming at me to pick UWM in this game. I picked Alabama because, like Peter Gibbons, I'm a big pussy.
- West Virginia beating Creighton by two on a last-second breakaway dunk, in what was maybe the best of all the first-round games.
Second Round
- West Virginia going to double-OT to shock Wake Forest. A few years ago, West V. was one of the sorriest programs in the country, losing 20+ games in 2001-02 and getting dissed by Bowling Green coach Dan Dakich after he had committed to the Mountaineer job. They covered themselves in glory this year. It's nice to see West Virginia, the butt of so many jokes (some of them warranted), get a chance to strut their stuff with pride. And special kudos to Mike Gansey, the kid from Olmsted Falls, Ohio, lighting it up in Cleveland in front of the home folks.
- Wisconsin-Milwaukee bouncing back from an 11-0 deficit to beat Boston College and reach the Sweet Sixteen. Score yet another one for the so-called mid-majors.
 | Ohio Boy Mike Gansey |
Sweet Sixteen
- Arizona and Oklahoma State. Lute Olsen vs. Eddie Sutton in a battle of 100-year old coaches. Salim Stoudamire waves off a screen ("Screen? We don't need your stinkin' screen!") and nails the game-winner with two seconds left. This was touted as a matchup worthy of the Final Four. The two teams delivered.
- Villanova, supposedly overmatched by North Carolina, taking the Tarheels to the wire and losing only because of a VERY questionable traveling call on 'Nova's Allan Ray. The Wilcats were down by ten with less than five minutes left to maybe the most talented team in the nation, but they never quit.
- Michigan State falling behind Duke early, then overpowering the Blue Devils in the second half. Maurice Ager's second-half, out-of-the-rafters dunk over J.J. Redick was maybe the most spectacular play of the tournament.
And all of this was just an appetizer.
The Elite Eight
Some decent games here, huh?
- The Louisville-West Virginia West Regional Final, the first game I've ever seen in which a team lost a 20-point lead and didn't choke. West Virginia was 10-of-14 from three-point range in building a 40-27 halftime lead. Kevin Pittsnogle, the Mountaineer's illustrated man in the middle, was bombing from all over, like Jack Sikma without the 'do. In the second half and overtime, West V. shot 8-of-13 from long distance, still torrid, yet they lost in OT. Like I said, the Mountaineers didn't choke. They were simply run down from behind by a Louisville team that played tremendous basketball in the second half and in overtime. As badly as West V. and their fans probably felt after this game, they have nothing to be ashamed of. They were beaten by a better team. I'm sure that makes them feel a lot better.
- Illinois's comeback against Arizona. Did it really happen? Was it really 75-60 Arizona with four minutes left? 77-63 Wildcats with 3:33 left? 80-72 with a minute left? Did Illinois really tie the game without even having to foul? How could this have happened? It's the Tournament. That's how.
- And last, but not least, Michigan State's double-OT triumph over Kentucky. Patrick Sparks, who had missed the front end of a one-and-one that would have tied the game with 26 seconds left, hit the shot of the tournament to tie it at the end of regulation, a double-clutch line-drive three-pointer that bounced twice on the rim before going in. I felt horrible for the kid when he missed the free throw, and I'm glad he got a chance to redeem himself (even though he plays for UK, and I hate UK). That's the tournament- you almost always get a second chance. It was the best of both worlds: the kid got a shot at redemption and came through, and Ashley Judd will go back to Hollywood with a frown on her pretty face anyway.
 | The Shot of the Tournament |
The Final Four
Oh, yeah... we still have three more games in this tournament. F--kin'-A! Whew!
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