Sweet 16 Day 1 Update
Hoopheads:
A crazy late night of hoops (thanks Arkansas and Texas Tech) left us with another lead change at the top of Jabin’s March Madness Charity Pool.
Simon Cat rode the Texas Tech OT win in the nightcap to take the lead with 65 points, two ahead of NoNova at 63. Four players – Lynn’s Bracket, Abigail Cat, Wineguys, and MamaBruce – are tied at 62, and another four – Winner winner chicken dinner, MEGLESS, Net Prophet, and Otto B Bedder – are tied at 61. Friday’s games, like Thursday’s, are worth 3 points each, so lots of movement is still possible. Head to the site for complete standings after Day 1 of the Sweet 16.
NCAA SEC Tournament?
It’s looking like an SEC world, and we’re just living in it.
It’s not breaking news that the SEC was the best conference in college basketball this year, and that was acknowledged with a record 14 teams getting their tickets punched for the Big Dance. Maybe it’s a numbers game, but they are looking like they deserved all those bids. Both early games in Thursday night’s Sweet 16 were won by SEC teams (Florida and Alabama), and it took an incredible comeback by Texas Tech to get past the SEC’s Arkansas Razorbacks in OT in a late game, the second-biggest comeback in Sweet 16 history and an instant classic. Texas Tech was down 13 points with 4 minutes left, but stormed back to force overtime.
We’re guaranteed to lose another SEC team on Friday as Tennessee and Kentucky play each other in the Sweet 16, but also on Friday Auburn plays Michigan, and Ole Miss faces Michigan State. Will the Big Ten Conference, and the state of Michigan, have something to say about the SEC’s dominance? The possibility of an “all SEC” Final Four is still in play.
In case you’re wondering, that has NEVER happened. The closest we’ve come was 1985, when the Big East sent 3 teams – Villanova, Georgetown, and St. John’s – to Rupp Arena in Kentucky along with Memphis State (now just Memphis). Ironically, Memphis State’s ’85 FF appearance was later “vacated” for ineligible players, so technically there were only Big East Teams in that Final Four. Man, sports can be weird.
Alabama from downtown!
The Crimson Tide know they’re allowed to shoot from within the 3-point circle, right? It sure didn’t look like it on Thursday. They made a tournament record 25 3-pointers to get past BYU, and also recorded a tournament record for 3-point attempts (51, and that’s not a typo). The previous record for makes was 21 by Loyola-Marymount in 1990, but no team had made more than 17 since 2019. Just incredible. And no truth to the rumor that their team manager is a guy named Trey.
Gators chomp on some crab (sorry Jack)
Top-seeded Florida used a balanced attack and turned on the jets in the second half to get past Maryland and into the Elite 8. Derik Queen, who hit the big shot to on Sunday to get the Terps past Colorado State, scored 27 points, but didn’t get much help. The Gators led by just 2 at the half, but were just too much in the second half and won by 16. Maryland’s starters (aka, the “Crab Five”) scored 68 of the team’s 71 points, so not much help from the bench. Sadly, this could be the last game in College Park for Maryland coach Kevin Willard, who is rumored to be the top candidate for the opening at Villanova. The Terp students were none too happy about this, as well as a weird press conference where he talked smack about the AD, and let him know it as the team left for the Sweet 16. Ouch!
Commercials
As veterans of the pool know, I usually opine on the commercials during March Madness, but I have to admit I’m a little underwhelmed by the slate this year (is it just me?). Most years the Capitol One spots with Sir Charles, Spike, Samuel L and the gang offer some good entertainment, but enough with the blimp stuff, amiright? The addition of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (aka, Ice Kareem) is ok, but not up to their usually stellar work (looking at you, In the Annapolis). Hey, they can’t all be first-round draft picks.
Thank goodness for the Progressive “Turning into your parents” commercials. I can’t get enough of them. Some things are just funny and true at the same time – and that’s all I have to say about that.
Correction file
A few intrepid readers pointed out a pretty egregious error on my part during last weekend’s updates, as I had Rick Pitino as the Coach of Arkansas, when in fact he’s the coach at St. John’s, which last time I checked was nowhere near Arkansas. Not proud of this, but I’ve always confused Pitino with the *actual* head coach of Arkansas, one John Calipari. The makers of Jabin’s March Madness Charity Pool apologize for the error, as well as to the Pitino family (I’m sure that is the most important thing on their mind right now). 😉
OK, Friday brings some more great games in the Sweet 16, and again with 3 points for each correct pick, lots of potential for movement in the standings. I’ll be back to you late Friday night with an update heading into the Elite 8.
Yours in hoops,
Jabin