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Wednesday, 07 March 2007 |
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by Mike Ruggieri
Ok, so I am officially giddy.
Remember when Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson’s characters found out it was wedding season in Wedding Crashers?
That is me.
Right now.
As I am watching the Gonzaga and Santa Clara game, after I got done
watching the VCU and George Mason game, I am in complete and utter
happiness as I know this is the time I have been waiting for all year.
The World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, NHL Finals and even the Bowl
Championship Series (BCS) all do not even compare to what is happening
right now.
There is Gerald Henderson giving a questionable forearm to Tyler
Hansbrough’s nose in the final seconds of a great Duke vs. Carolina
classic that ended up breaking Hansbrough’s nose and getting Henderson
suspended for the first game of the Atlantic Coast Conference
tournament.
There is also Arizona outlasting a desperate Stanford team that
desperately needed a win to guarantee their spot in the NCAA
tournament.
Or what about surging Georgia Tech or even Maryland, a team that went
from the bubble about a month ago to a possible three or four seed.
Creighton?
Yeah, they beat Southern Illinois to prove they belonged all along,
even though everyone kept saying they were a borderline bubble team.
I just saw Rick Majerus draw out the flex offense Gonzaga was running
and I literally jumped out of my seat because I am so giddy right now.
The NCAA tournament is the premier sporting event in this country
because there isn’t a month and a half period in any other sport where
the players literally will fight to the death if they have to for a
victory.
Yes, players want it in other sports.
But this is college basketball. These guys may never see a basketball
court again, at least not in America. Every game could be their last.
How about this match-up: Clemson vs. Florida State playing in a game
that is virtually an elimination game for the loser. Both of those
teams are solid, especially Florida State considering they beat
Florida. But if FSU loses, they will basically be eliminated.
Does anyone really think that a six or seven seed would want to face a
ten or eleven seeded Florida State with Al Thornton coming off a
stellar 45 point performance? I really don’t think so.
Another thing to note: Clemson completely fell off an almost ruined
their chances of making the tournament, but can anyone honestly say
that they have seen a choke like Oklahoma State did this season?
Oklahoma beats Texas in what might have been the best game of the
season, and then takes an unbelievable turn for the worse. The last two
games they lost to Baylor and Nebraska, basically ending their chances
of making the tournament unless they come out of nowhere and win the
Big XII tournament. This team started 15-1 and ended the season 20-11.
That is right, 5-10 in the past fifteen games. Just simply unreal when
you consider their talent, centered around Mario Boggan and JamesOn
Curry.
The Horizon League finals are on Tuesday and feature Butler, a team
definitely in the tournament, and Wright State, a team that really
shouldn’t even be considered for the tournament if they lose. They
will be, but I am telling you they shouldn’t. (Wright State’s losses
include a 39-point blowout from Bradley and a 26 point defeat to
Louisiana State University, both teams wont be in the tournament.
Their only decent win came against Butler, but Butler also beat them by
31 earlier this year. (Side Note: Appalachian really should be in
compared to this team))
That is a game I simply will not miss, because it will be good to see
what kind of team Butler has going into the tournament, compared to the
team that won the preseason National Invitation Tournament earlier this
year. I personally don’t think they are as good as they used to be and
wont win a game in the tournament, but that is just my opinion.
Regardless of what is going on, I honestly cannot contain myself
anymore. These games are what gets me through the school day. I am
pretty excited about these smaller conference tournaments, and it only
increases ten-fold with the ACC, Big East, etc. tournaments and just so
much more for the real thing.
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