NCAA Tournament Evening thoughts

In the evening session, hats off to Belmont, it would have been great to see Duke go down. This is a team that appears to be exhausted, playing on fumes. They gutted out win; however can they possibly come back on short notice against West Virginia on less than 48 hours notice? The Mountaineers played a very good game in committing only eight turnovers versus over-rated Arizona. The nodding heads from Tempe, AR were saying we would have played better than the there neighbors to the south.

Have to say was surprised USC didn’t play with more determination in loss to Kansas State. Coach Frank Martin did a masterful job in having his Wildcat team prepared, changing defenses and running baseline cuts for easy baskets. His intelligence in protecting Michael Beasley was notable, as was the 6’10 freshman’s play in staying out of further foul trouble.

Bobby Knight had suggested raising the field to 128 teams, which in theory at least makes sense to eliminate minor squabbling about who belongs in tournament. After seeing the efforts of Mississippi Valley State, Winthrop, George Mason and for the most part Cal-State Fullerton, the idea seems pointless.

Numbers to chew on:
*Favorites were 14-2 and 13-3 ATS

*The higher seeds were 13-3 and 12-4 ATS.

*The numbers vary from place to place; however here I have the OVER 9-7 and have seen it listed as 10-6 in other locales. Hats off to the oddmakers, who were within two points on seven of the games played.