Every Single Damn Thing You Need To Know About Today's Round Of 32 NCAA Tournament Games
I know people like to make fun of Gus Johnson these days, especially during football season, but there was a time where he was unmatched. There was no one better than him during the NCAA Tournament. He also gave us some of the most memorable lines, perhaps none better than 'the slipper still fits' for Gonzaga. If you saw Gus on your screen in those late 90s-mid 2000s you knew that you were going to get a great game. It was the Gus Factor. We need that. The Tournament picked up a bit yesterday with better games, a couple looks late to force OT, but we still need that moment. We haven't had that moment to point at yet. We need that moment. The moment can't be a free throw contest or refs at the monitor looking at a dude getting hit in the nuts. Someone's gotta step up. Let's get into it.
Schedule
Bracket
This is the day where the marathon ends, you take a breath and miss it all. There's nothing better than the first two days where it's just nonstop basketball for 12+ hours a day. Now it's standalone games and the bracket is filling out. Mostly chalk so far, see what happens the rest of the way.
3 Best Games Today
1. Oregon vs Arizona
2. Iowa State vs Ole Miss
3. Kentucky vs Illinois
Five Most Electric Players
This isn't about the best player out there. We all know Cooper Flagg. Ever March there are guys you just want to watch no matter what. They are the names you bring up sitting around with your pal 15 years down the road and can picture everything about them. They could go for 40, might launch shots, they could pull a Kemba, whatever it might be. These are the guys you should enjoy watching play basketball today.
1. Kyan Evans (Colorado State)
2. Rob Wright (Baylor)
3. Will Riley (Illinois)
4. Coen Carr (Michigan State)
5. Milan Momcilovic (Iowa State)
Five Storylines/Game Previews
1. Danny Hurley magic - We know UConn has won back-to-back titles and are on a roll in this thing. But now they are playing Florida, arguably the best team in the country. It's the perfect spot for Hurley to use the no one believes in us underdog card that he tried using as a heavy favorite. It's not like UConn is bad either. I love Solo Ball's game, you have top end talent. It's just can you keep it for 40 minutes against a Florida team that can attack you from about 8 different spots. People have fallen into either they love or hate Dan Hurley. This is a game that people who hate Dan Hurley will be screaming about if they lose.
2. Last chance at Cinderella - It's been talked about for the last day or two. We have a chalky bracket, we have big names all over the place, but people are looking for a Cinderella. We don't have one. Colorado State or New Mexico is the last shot here and they don't even really feel like Cinderella. Both teams have been in the Tournament plenty, both have stars in Nique Clifford and Donovan Dent. Both have coaches who should be at bigger jobs in Niko Medved and Richard Pitino. But if you want this non-power conference team in the Sweet 16 we have two chances left.
3. What Illinois shows up - Illinois looked like a Final Four team in the first round against Xavier. Will Riley has the ability to turn it on and just open up a game. Now I have to deal with them in Milwaukee. I have to deal with them while Kentucky's Amari Williams is now hurt. Everyone is hurt which is something I do not care for one bit. Illinois at one point this season was a top-10 team in the country. However, they can go cold. We've seen them shoot themselves out of a game and then have to figure out a way to play at the rim. We'll know fairly early on what Illinois team shows up, preferably one where Riley and Ivisic don't hit 42 threes.
4. Is Mark Sears going to save Alabama - Mark Sears entered this year as a preseason favorite to win NPOY, All-American and basically everything else. He hasn't been close to living up to the hype, he's been good don't get me wrong, but he isn't sniffing the preseason award stuff. We saw Alabama nearly shit the bed against Robert Morris until they had to bring Grant Nelson in with 9 minutes to go while trying to let him rest from injury. Sears needs to figure out whatever has been going on. Hasn't shot the ball well since March 1. He's looked out of sorts. They've had enough talent to save them, but in a game with limited possessions and if they move forward, you need Mark Sears here.
5. The Kevin Willard saga - Lost in all this Crab Five talk from Maryland is the fact Kevin Willard might be leaving. At the very least he opened up how much of a shitshow Maryland is apparently:
This is a man who is rumored to be interested in the Nova job as well. So now you have Maryland with a chance to make just its 3rd Sweet 16 since it won a title in 2002 dealing with an AD leaving for SMU and a head coach saying they are too poor to stay in New York for an extra night. I have no idea if it impacts anything going on in the locker room, but Willard is pretty publicly either negotiating for a new job or changes in his current one. I find that side of it all fascinating, for as much as we talk about transfer portal and player movement, this is still very much a thing.
Picks
13-6 so far in the NCAA Tournament, +7.84 units
Iowa State -5
Florida/UConn over 150.5
Illinois/Kentucky under 169.5
Maryland/Colorado State over 144.5
Oregon +3.5
