March Madness

ROUND ONE

This year was one of the most unpredictable in the history of college hoops.  No team fully dominated and the season was riddled with upsets.  So as we are headed into the Sweet Sixteen I will give you a recap of the tournament.

In the first round 64 teams were included and upsets weren't rare.  In fact the Sports Illustrated bracket predicted that 11 of the teams who were knocked out would make it to the next round of 32 teams.  Here were some of the noteworthy upsets:

Oregon the 12 seed knocked off Oklahoma state, in a win due largely to the efforts of Damyean Dotson and Arsalan Kazemi.  Damyean picked up a game high 17 points while the latter put up a double double with 11 points and amazingly 17 rebounds.

The next was maybe the most surprising, Ole Miss took out the Wisconson Badgers in a game that I would have liked to say was close until the end.  The Badgers shot a measly 7/30 from behind the arc and although Ole Miss had a great game from Marshall Henderson Wisconson gave the game up without a fight.

The next major upset was one that was less expected but still significant.  La Salle was dominant from the start against Kansas and lead by 18 at the half.  But the Wildcats still had some fight in them and a late game rally left La Salle struggling for dominance.  But the coaches message was clear and Ramon Galloway played clutch and ended with 19 points in the Explorers win.

In our last unexpected victory of the first round #14 Harvard took down #3 New Mexico showing those kids aren't just smart.

ROUND TWO

Now we advance to the round of 32 teams.  There were only a couple unexpected upsets but the great play didn't diminish.

The Oregon Ducks continued their hot streak and blew out  the favored Saint Louis Billikens 74-57.  The Ducks held Saint Louis to just 19 points in the first half and ended the half on a 24-4 run.  In the second half they scored twice as many points but it wasn't enough.  Damyean Dotson was once again the main man for Oregon and ended up with 23 points.

The Wichita State Shockers are properly named as they knocked out 1 seed Gonzaga sunday night.  The Bulldogs were the first 1 seed to get knocked out this march and it took some good play to do it.  Three-pointer after three-pointer fell to come back from a comfortable Bulldog lead and it was enough. Wichita State finished the game on a 19-7 run and finished the game on top, 76-70.

As we head into the Sweet Sixteen: FGCU, La Salle, and Oregon are all seeded in double digits so if your team's playing them you might not have the hardest time.  But who knows it's March and anything can happen.