Well we have made it this far. The who’s who of this tournament has come into full affect as the first 2 rounds have gone before us. Lets see if the rest of the games lived up to the hype?
Sweet 16
Midwest: Jim Boeheim, Meet the Cougars! A team that will stifle your offensive attack and burn you from deep throughout the game. Despite the Orangemen holding Houston to a season low 62 points, Syracuse was very sloppy from start to finish as they turned the ball over on almost every possession that involved cutting into that huge early game hole. Well I once again have to give these guys credit for going this far when everyone was calling them mediocre. PAUSE. Ah Loyola this time will be different! You have a cakewalk schedule to advance to the Final 4. Only to choke against a team that was way below their talent level. There is humiliation and then is what Oregon State did to them! A team that has some of the finest talent throughout the land stumbled and were exiled thanks to inability to gain control of the game. Even though it was a rough ending you can at least hold your heads high.
South: Oh No! Villanova is losing a game in the tournament by more than 10 points. How HORRIBLE! Don’t be shocked to hear this headline. This isn’t because of anything they’re doing, it’s just because they have the issue of having to play a real team. Nova the age of paper soft opponents is over. Baylor has made sure of it, they weren’t ready for their speed and potent 3 point attack. Even if Jay Wright tried to make the Bears beat them from the painted area they still got scorched by the longball. I will give them props for going as far as they did without Collin Gillespie. Any time a team goes this far without their best player shall always be a problem in the future. Especially with how well a team like the Wildcats does at recruiting talent. PAUSE. You have got to be kidding me! Oral Roberts has a chance to do what no 15 seed has ever done. Make it to the Elite 8! Arkansas is sure to be panicking. At least until they come back and tie this bad boy up with a minute to spare. This game is truly a classic and overtime is soon to be upon us. (NOPE the Razorbacks won.) HEART, DAGGER! Who knew that the Golden Eagles overachieving could be so horrifically painful.
East: Oh do we have a good one brewing here! UCLA and Alabama are trading blows in a match in which one team just has to lose. The Crimson Tide have at the moment shot themselves in the foot by means of missed free throws and complementary REFBALL but still have a chance because the offense suddenly woke up in the final 5 minutes. It’s a laugher and a half for the rest of the SEC as UCLA is about to pull off the upset and (Alabama pulls off a last second Hail Mary shot to force OT) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS AWESOME! PAUSE. Bonus Drama Everyone! Despite Bamas late game heroics, the Bruins went on a 9-0 run to begin OT as the Tide couldn’t answer back. The rest of the SEC is laughing at their demise from the tournament. (The last thing that conference wanted to see was Bama winning another championship. NOT!) What is it with UCLA pulling deep playoff runs out of their magic hats almost every year? Its fun isn’t it! PAUSE. Florida State is desperate to get back at Fab 5 City for ruining their Cinderella run in 2018. With wins against Greensburo and Colorado they have truly imposed their might. However the Wolverines stifled their attack as Michigan lorded over them thanks to the powers of offensive execution and oh yes they had a Block Party since the Seminoles couldn’t get anything past their frontcourt. In other news all optimism in Tallahassee is dead! Good work Michigan you are looking solid once again!
West: Gonzaga may have had their most challenging test from their region from Creighton since most of the powerhouses were out after the 2nd Round. They took advantage of the softball schedule and crushed the Blue Jays right from the word GO. The offense put up a season high for 3 pointers and forced turnovers at will. The streak is ALIVE! PAUSE Well the USC machine has shifted at the moment from football to basketball. The Mobley Bros were at it again as they crushed their PAC12 rivals in the Ducks and got their revenge for a football game which shall not be mentioned. (They weren’t losing to Oregon after what happened in the PAC12 Championship in December) The PAC12 leaderboard in the tournament is still going strong!
Elite 8
Midwest: So Oregon State has the chance to become the first 12 seed to make the Final 4 in almost 20 years. A team that was expected to get crushed right out of the Round of 64 went on a Cinderella run that would make Oral Roberts look like Choir Boys! That is until the Elite 8 when they ran into the machine known as Houston. This was a really good game where one team just had to lose. Unfortunately the Basketball Gods claimed that all of the good karma that the Beavers had was used up. At least you allowed the Gods to laugh at Sister Jean and Rocky Top.
South: Despite Arkansas’ early statement against Baylor they got stomped in the 2nd Half as they weren’t able to stop the offensive firepower of the Bears as the defense looked exhausted. I’m surprised the Razorbacks went ice cold in the final 5 minutes of the game after how they made everything at will against Oral Roberts. I think that they must have gone to the postgame buffet at halftime with all of the 3s they were hitting in the 1st Half. At least Baylor has a clear path to the Title Game.
East: Daybreak, Ann Arbor. The entire university and its diehard basketball fans have taken Ohio State and Illinois arrogance. Their arch rivals from the BIG10 were humiliated, with the second coming of the Fab 5 leading the charge the National Championship is all but theirs for the taking. At least until the Basketball Gods led them into a Booby Trap. They were being nice to them in the 1st 2 Rounds but now they must suffer an agonizing defeat to the industrious locomotive that is the Bruins of UCLA. The rest of the BIG10 is relieved that Michigan didn’t win the trophy. This is karma for all of the memes you putting out there when Ohio State lost in Round 1.
West: It is another glorious day for the Bulldog machine of Gonzaga as they cut down the feel good story of USC. The Mobley Dynasty may have had a good run but now it is time for the Curse of Bobby Knight to have the chance of being broken. My Lords, the National Championship will soon be yours ZagNation! Choose your Destiny!
Final 4
Game 1: Houston well done my friends! You are this close to reaching the finals and winning your first ever National Championship. You have some nice pieces and an outstanding defense to help you out considering the talent that opposes you. However your head coach and offense failed to realize that Baylor was going to play full-court press the entire game. This time it wasn’t to be as the Bears torched them from the outside as well as stopping their offense. At least I picked these guys to go this far I guess.
Game 2: Oh boy UCLA you couldn’t have had a better script than this. Going toe to toe against the undefeated power of Gonzaga in a game that you were supposed to get crushed in. The Bulldogs are sure to be panicking despite having a huge lead early on only for the Bruins to take the lead with under 5 minutes left. That is until the final stretch of regulation as they tied it up in the final minutes despite UCLA shooting 60% from 3. Thank goodness this game went into overtime because it was too good to end in regulation. UCLA has tied it up in the final seconds as Gonzaga’s outstanding defense has mostly run out of gas. It will take a miracle for this to end now! “They get into Suggs, he dribbles it past halfcourt with 1 second. He puts it up at the buzzer, BANKS IT IN! OOOH! HE BANKS IN THE HALF COURT HEAVE! AND GONZAGA IS GOING TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!” Agony thy name is Jalen Suggs! Marylander: J-Sizzle BABY! Narrator: Where the heck did you come from?
National Championship: The legend of NCAA undefeated teams falling short and Baylor’s misfortunes in the tournament in years past are slowly dying and vanishing quickly. Whoever wins this game will shed their choker label and win the Title that has eluded them for years. Learning nothing from Super Bowl LV the media has all but handed Gonzaga the National Championship since they were claiming that this was the greatest team ever and Jalen Suggs should be the #1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. This was another mistake by the ESPN workers because not only would they be proven wrong, they would be wrong miserably. A 16-4 run by the Bears to start the game proved to be the difference as Baylor ended Gonzaga’s undefeated season and gave them HelmetCatchitis since the Bulldogs couldn’t stop the speed and 3 point attack of Baylor. You know what this means? A Texas team has won the National Championship for the 1st Time in what seems like an eternity. PAUSE.
Well this tournament was awesome in more ways than one. Almost every game was exciting and there were several epic moments that gave everyone oohs and ahs. I think that even if this took place in an Indiana bubble. March Madness was a success as usual. I will see you in the NHL 2nd Half Preview, and Goodnight everyone!
Bragging Rights Sports 