Daily Show Chases NCAA

((HT: Comedy Central))

As well they should...

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Why would they ever do such a thing...???

ICYMI: UConn vs. Kentucky Is Your NCAA Tournament Finals Matchup

So, outside of the UConn and Kentucky fans reading this, who actually picked these two teams to face off for the NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship?

Be honest.

Yeah, thought so.

Semi-Final Saturday provided some good drama and some pretty good (for the most part) basketball in the largest venue ever to host the tournament.

The first game was a slugfest.

Connecticut outslugged the top seeded team in the tournament, Florida 63-53. The game featured two teams known for their defense and that was a reason the game was so low scoring.

Four Huskies, lead by DeAndre Daniels with 20, scored in double figures as UConn led a good portion of the game. The Gators couldn't get closer than 6 points down the stretch and in the end, the Huskies pulled away.

Oddly enough, UConn a #7 seed, was seeded higher than the team they'll face Monday night in Jerry World, the Kentucky Wildcats.

Your Connecticut/Florida Highlights from CBSSports.com:



And your other finalist, Kentucky.

Nobody is sure why the Wildcats were a #8 seed with all the talent on the court other than the fact they underachieved during the regular season.

But when it counted in March, they were good. Very good.

UK got all they wanted and more against a game Wisconsin team but in the end, it was a Harrison twin that was the difference.

The most clutch guy on the team did what he's done all month long, hit game winning 3-pointers.

This time, with 5.7 seconds left and a hand squarely in his face, Aaron Harrison got a swing pass from brother Andrew and drilled a 3-pointer giving Kentucky a 74-73 win.

All we will say from here is Monday night should be quite the spectacle as two unlikely teams square off for College Basketball's biggest title.

Your Kentucky/Wisconsin highlights from CBSSports.com:

Saul Phillips Personifies What This Tourney Is All About...

((HT: NDSU Athletics))

Some of us had North Dakota State in our picks for the early part of the tournament...

A lot of you did not...

But it's "teams" that do well early on if they get the chance to hang around against higher seeds, and the Bison did that beating Oklahoma.

Along with teams like Mercer, Dayton, and Stephen F. Austin, it has reminded us what makes this month one of the best 30-day stretches in the calendar year (see Brother Phil's ode hyah to reinforce the theory)

But, no, the Bison didn't make it past their match-up with San Diego State to go further. But we will remember the Basketball Bison for a lot of reasons- head coach Saul Phillips' exultation after the first win is only a part of it. It's his remembrance i=of this first weekend that's a big part of it...

Here's his presser... and the moment the HQ is talking about is just short of the 11-minute mark...

Why March Madness is Better Than The College Football Playoffs

How awesome is March Madness...or what's more commonly known as the NCAA Basketball Tournament?

Tiny Mercer University from the Atlantic Sun Conference beats the legendary Duke Blue Devils of the ACC. North Dakota State of the Summit League beats Oklahoma from the Big 12. Wichita State of the Missouri Valley Conference is a #1 seed and Dayton from the Mid-American Conference beats Ohio State from the Big 10.

None of this could ever happen in College Football.

EVER...

No, these aren't marquee teams, they aren't household names and they don't draw viewers like an Alabama or Oregon in Football, but they draw pretty darn well in their own right.

That's why March Madness is more fun. Much more fun.

You know who is going to be in the College Football playoff. At least one, if not two SEC teams, a team from the Pac 10 and a team from the Big 10. And they haven't even played yet.

None of the teams mentioned in the second paragraph could EVER win College Football's national title. But they could in basketball.

Don't think for a minute Wichita State can't compete with a Kentucky or Florida or any ACC team in Basketball. They can. And they can win.

Remember the Shockers? Yeah, they were in last years Final Four.

Think Mercer could beat Duke in Football? Not a chance. But put the Senior laden Bears on the court with a Duke team chock full of Freshman. When the pressure is on, the seniors pulled away and won.

In basketball, experience usually wins. In basketball a good team beats good individual players. You don't have to have five 5-Star recruits to be successful in basketball.

College Football is all about size and depth. You want to know why the Alabama's and Oregon's of the world win year in and year out? Their 2nd and 3rd team players are better than your starters. They roll out 3 teams of 6-5, 300 lb linemen and three waves of 230 lb running backs who run a 4.4 40 yard dash.

That matters.

March Madness is more fun because it's more random. If you get in, you, in theory have a chance. If you get in, chances are, if you shoot lights out and your opponent doesn't, you could win.

Not in Football. No team from the Sun Belt could beat a top level SEC team. (Yes, we know Lousiana-Monroe beat Auburn a couple years ago and Ga. Southern beat Florida last year.) Your Sun Belt champ will NEVER be in the College Football playoff.

But the Sun Belt champ could win March Madness. Or at least win a couple of games. That will never happen in the College Football Playoff.

I submit to you this: Sure, College Football has bigger names and gets more publicity, but what is more fun to watch? An SEC team vs. the Pac 12 for the College Football championship or an NCAA Championship game featuring an underdog like a Butler, a school that doesn't even play football?

Seriously. How often will the football game be more dramatic? How likely is the football game to have an upset?

If you watch March Madness, it could happen in any game....

Here's a breakdown of Friday's Tournament in Raleigh, NC  from CBSSports.com:

More from Spokane, Washington:

NCAA Upset: Mercer Beats Duke, No Really, They Did (Update at bottom)

God bless the NCAA Basketball tournament, in College Football, games and upsets like this would never happen.

The Mercer Bears from Macon, Georgia made tons of casual College Basketball fans happy and sad at the same time after they beat the mighty Duke Blue Devils 78-71 in their NCAA Tournament opener.

The Atlantic Sun champs kept the game close all the way through and actually began to pull away from a very cold shooting Duke team as the game progressed.

We should note that as happy as many fans who hate Duke are, there are now tons of NCAA Tournament Bracket challenges that can be thrown away because quite honestly, how many people picked a #14 seed to beat a #3 seed.

The Bears were led by Jakob Gollon with 20 points and the team shot 56 percent on the game. By contrast, Duke shot 35 percent.

Here's the ending...
((HT: NCAA March Madness/SnappyTV))

Check out Mercer's Kevin Canevari's celebration dance:



CBSSports.com gives us reaction from Mercer coach Bob Hoffman and others:


***UPDATE***---We feel like this should be mentioned: We give Duke grief for being the New York Yankees of College Basketball, but it should be noted that coach Mike Krzyzewski took time after the game to go to the Mercer locker room, congratulate them and say "If we got beaten, at least we got beaten by a hell of a basketball team". Nice...

The Art Of The Zinger: Dayton Daily News

Here's their headline...

And it's well-played...

How 'bout that...???

Bison And Flyers Help Thursday Be Thursday

((HT: ValleyNewsLive))

Just so you see what it as like in these two towns after the fact...

Here's the late live shot from Fargo/Spokane
Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

And Dayton
((HT: WDTN-TV))


So let Friday be Friday...

How About Another 5-12 Upset...??? NDSU Wins For Fargo...

((HT: NCAA March Madness/Snappy TV))

An absolutely electric shooting performance in the first three-quarters of the game kept Summit League champ North Dakota State at bay against Oklahoma. But the Sooners came back and took the lead before NDSU scored on a three late in regulation from Lawrence Alexander...

That meant only one thing involving the best shooting team in the country...

The third overtime game on the opening day of the tournament...

Freshman Carlin Dupree was the key in overtime for NDSU and it was good enough for the team's first win ever in the tournament, 80-75. NDSU shot almost 53-percent from the field for the game. Oklahoma shot 35-percent including 12-for-30 from three point range.

Here's the ending...


Which allowed for celebrating in the Bison locker room...
((HT: NCAA Courtside))

Seton Hall With The Big East Tourney Buzzer Beater Win

We love March Madness.

If you like basketball at all, how could you not?

Check out action on Thursday afternoon as Seton Hall pulls off the HUGE upset of Villanova, who was making a push for a #1 seed in next weeks NCAA Tourney.

The Hall with the inbounds pass, the ball ends up in Sterling Gibbs's hands and Gibbs drills the pop-back jumper giving the Pirates a 64-63 win in the 1st round of the Big East Tourney.

Check out the video:



"In the end, it was supposed to get in my hands and I was supposed to create a shot for my teammates or create a shot for myself, and I just stepped back and hit the jumper."  Gibbs said.

Not only did Gibbs' buzzer beater bury Villanova but so did poor shooting.  The Wildcats only shot 38 percent from the field and was 4-19 from three point range.

Villanova head coach Jay Wright gave Seton Hall their due.

"Seton Hall played better than us. They made the plays at the end." Wright said.

The Politics Of Dancing: Wofford Says It All...

((HT: Ashley Rowe/Wofford IMG Sports Network))

This is what the month and a half of college hoops post-season is all about...

Wofford senior Aerris Smith was asked what it meant to get to the tourney...

Here's the response...
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Wichita State Keeps on Rolling, Now 32-0

((ht: espn.com))

So, how do you feel about the idea of running the table? Going undefeated heading into the NCAA Tournament.

That's what Wichita State may very well be doing after winning their first game in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament Friday night raising their record to 32-0.

The Shockers cruised past Evansville 80-58 behind 17 points apiece by Cleanthony Early and Ron Baker.

Granted, the win only moves them to the conference tourney semi-finals, but it doesn't appear anyone in the MVC is going to give Wichita State much of a challenge.

Which raises the question we asked at the beginning....

If you are the superstitious sort, do you want to be undefeated at this point? Do you believe the law of averages is going to bite you? Can you REALLY run the table?

All good questions. And surprisingly, there's still some debate as to whether the Shockers are a "#1 Seed" heading into the "Big Dance". If for some reason they lose in the conference tourney, then yes, the question is legit...but if they win, then no, you have no argument.

Anyway, enough soap box, here's your highlights from ESPN.com:

Blue at the Buzzer: Marquette Beats Davidson in Tourney

So, we've got our first sort-of buzzer beater in this years NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Third Seeded Marquette topped off a furious finish beating 14th Seed Davidson 59-58 on a last second layup by guard Vander Blue (yes, that's his name)

The Golden Eagles trailed Davidson most of the game and were down by 6 with less than 6 minutes to go. Blue and Jamil Wilson got Marquette within one with 5 seconds left. Davidson followed with a turnover.

That's when Blue went to work, driving to his left, he swept by his defender, laying the ball high over the rim for the game winner as the buzzer went off.

Marquette moves on in the East Region, they'll play Butler on Saturday.

Your game winner (at least until its pulled)