Elite 8 Day 1 Update

People of the Pool:

Top seeds Florida and Duke punched their tickets to the Final Four in very different fashion on Saturday, and we have a new leader in Jabin’s March Madness Charity Pool.

Wineguys correctly picked both the Blue Devils and Gators to move into sole possession of first place with 82 points. Winner winner chicken dinner is 1 back at 81, followed by three players – Drift, AndThenThereWasOne, and Thomas Cat two back at 80. Seven players (Twisted Slinky, Lynn’s Bracket, Net Prophet, Otto B Bedder, Abigail Cat, Cinnagator, and Jim Fynes) are all just 4 back at 78 points. Head to the site for complete standings after Day 1 of the Elite 8.

Gators rise from the dead

Florida trailed by 9 points with less than three minutes left, and the Gators looked cooked. But someone forgot to tell Walter Clayton Jr. He hit two clutch 3-pointers down the stretch, and the Gators finished the game with an 18-4 run to make their first Final Four since 2014, and sixth in school history. Florida has lost a grand total of 2 games over the past two months, including the championship of the loaded SEC Tournament. So yea, they are rolling. Florida gets the winner of Sunday’s Auburn-Michigan State game in next weekend’s Final Four.

Dookies advance

In the nightcap, Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils were just too much for Alabama, a high-scoring team (usually) that could only manage 65 points, their second lowest of the season.  Duke led the entire game, and to be honest it never looked that close. So that gives us two No. 1 seeds in the Final Four, with two more top seeds, Houston and Auburn, in action on Sunday. An “all 1 seed” Final Four is still in the cards.

Cinderalla, we hardly knew ya

I don’t know about you, but it’s kind of weird that we have literally had NO good Cinderella stories in this year’s March Madness. I gave proper credit to the seeding committee in Friday night’s update, but the more I think about it, I’m not sure it’s a good thing. On the one hand, it’s cool that we have the “best” teams playing each other, and it’s certainly exciting to have matchups between the “Elites” of college basketball. I don’t mind it at all. But I have to admit that I miss some of the upsets, and we’re so used to them that this year seems a bit weird. If this was the “David and Goliath” story, at this point Goliath would not only have taken David’s lunch money, but would also be living in his house. And with NIL, etc., and so much player movement, this might be the new normal. Again, I’m not saying it’s good or bad (leaning towards  bad), but just different. “March Expected” just doesn’t have the same ring as “March Madness,” does it?

That being said, we have two great games on tap for Sunday, both 1 vs. 2 matchups. Houston-Tennessee up first, followed by Auburn-Michigan State. Should be fun.

Enjoy the hoops,

Jabin