Virginia vs. Michigan State Part III: The Spartans have become a tournament nemesis for Virginia.
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The bracket that leaked on Twitter while CBS was in the middle of unveiling the March Madness pairings turned out to be 100 percent accurate.
When Hampton University planned its viewing party for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show previous year, the Pirates waited for about all of a minute before they found out they’d face Manhattan for a shot at eventual Final Four squad Kentucky. Kansas has been a No. 1 or No. 2 seed for seven straight tournaments.
“To me, that’s very unprofessional”, St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said.
Regarding Syracuse, Castiglione clarified during the conference call that the selection committee views player availability and coach availability the same; it’s something the committee members take into consideration when evaluating a team’s full resume. However, the Gamecocks’ schedule was bad this season. But they were favored to do so the past two years, too, and were ousted by Stanford and Wichita State before they could even think about playing for a championship. Last year, it was road wins.
“Our fans love this time of year”, UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. Nineteen of 31 champs since 1985 have been No. 1 seeds. This time around, he has what could be his most impressive team yet, one led by senior Denzel Valentine.
Michigan State not a No. 1?
The field set Sunday may be the most wide open it has been in years, and the Jayhawks may have the best odds of making it to Houston for the Final Four. Iowa State and Baylor also lost their first games last season as No. 3 seeds. Not only did the loss come against an NCAA No. 1 seed, but the Cavaliers earned a No. 1 seed themselves. On Wednesday, No. 16s Holy Cross and Southern meet, followed by MI vs. Tulsa in another pairing of 11s.
That gave automatic spots to bubble teams (or less) such as Fresno State, Gonzaga and CT, while squeezing out a few bubble spots – even though there were two more available this season because Louisville (and Rick Pitino) and SMU (and Larry Brown) are both ineligible. In 124 meetings between No. 1 and No. 16 seeds, the No. 1s are 124-0.
That was the same year FGCU – aka “Dunk City” – captivated the nation with upsets of Georgetown and San Diego State en route to the Sweet 16. The Jayhawks have a three-hour drive from their campus in Lawrence, while blue-bloods Kentucky, UConn and in are joining them there. The four regional semifinalists will play in the Sweet 16 in Chicago.
Iowa State: The Cyclones are nearly a ideal matchup for Iona because they don’t have a bruising inside game and they play at about the same tempo. Guard Quinton Chievous, who played with Virginia sophomore guard Darius Thompson at Tennessee, scores 17 points per game and grabs a team-high 11 rebounds per contest. They are an fantastic team with a great defense. Losing in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament apparently was not. They played some of the best defense in the Pac-12 this season.
Kansas: Many people would agree that Kansas comes into the tournament as the favorite.
TOPSY-TURVY: Given the season, maybe the surprises aren’t so surprising.
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That’s when the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena will host its first top-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament – namely the surprising Pac-12 Conference champion Ducks, who are flying pretty high these days. Brian Darden, also a senior, is the one other player scoring in double figures (13.2) and ranks as the team’s most consistent perimeter threat, knocking down 8-of-14 3-pointers in the final two games of the conference tourney.ABOUT VIRGINIA (26-7): Brogdon averaged 21.7 points during the ACC tournament but was just 6-of-22 from the floor against the Tar Heels and likely has motivation to improve upon his past performances in NCAAs.
