Day Two NCAA Thoughts

If you had spent all day and all night in Ybor City among the local bars and restaurants and came home to turn on SportsCenter, you couldn’t have imagined that FOUR double digit seeds would have pulled four outright upsets in nearby St. Pete’s. Western Kentucky couldn’t miss and Drake didn’t get back on defense for the first 27 minutes. Drake’s furious rally spoke to there courage, however Lady Luck was fickle to the Bulldogs when Ty Rogers drained about a 30-footer in rhythm for the win. Next was Connecticut as 12-point favorite, who played genuinely uninspired basketball against San Diego, who just wanted it more and got. That was coach Jim Calhoun’s first, first round exit as a Huskies coach.

Vanderbilt played just like UConn, deciding defense was something for others to do. The Commodores reputation as strictly a home court team is richly deserved. Still haven’t figured out what happened to Clemson in loss to Villanova. They played the last 20 minutes like they were having panic attacks. For those that believe Memphis can overcome its free throwing shooting to win six games in the tournament, the Tigers of Clemson proved how difficult that can be.

During the tournament, the best officials are supposed to be used. What is disturbing is they like to be noticed on TV. The rash of charging calls over the first two days was mind-boggling. Maybe it is no different than any other game or possibly with so many games to watch and choose from, it just seems this way. But tighter officiating does not mean its better. College basketball has to go to NBA half circle in the lane. WAY too many players in the college game run up under players, under the basket and collapse on contact. A player can’t get a running start towards the hoop without somebody running underneath, forcing officials to make calls. Another solution is old-school basketball, if a player undercuts the player taking it to the rim, fall right on top of him with full body weight. Then see if he tries it again.

Do you think every ACC coach and recruiter is kicking themselves again after seeing Stephen Curry torch Gonzaga for 40? Indiana went away like dropped call after Sampson phone-gate. The university, as reported by Jim Nantz and Billy Packer, had announced they were starting a search committee to find a new coach. That is shear brilliance as your team starts playing in the NCAA Tournament. The school literally was saying they are writing off interim (very interim) head coach Dan Dakich and looking to put this year’s team behind them. The Hoosiers played just like what the school thought of them.

Betting numbers update:
On Friday, favorites were 10-6 and 8-8 ATS. Higher seeds were also 8-8 against the spread, with the Over 10-6. This brings the tournament total to favorites 22-11 ATS, higher seeds 20-12 ATS and the OVER 20-13.