In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s March.
And that means more than ‘Spring is coming’. It means the Madness is upon us. This past Sunday (aka yesterday), four teams officially stamped their names in the bracket of 68:
Radford
Lipscomb
Loyola-Chicago
Michigan
One of these things is not like the other. Michigan, representing the Big Ten, is the first major conference to send their conference champion to the big dance. Now, they wait….
Radford
Unless you were overly concerned with the outcome of the Big South Conference Championship, you’ve probably never heard of Radford University. Radford is a small school located in Radford, Virginia. This will be their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2009, when they promptly got their butts kicked by UNC (101-58).
To advance to the dance, Radford took down Liberty University. Man, was this game ugly!! But then the television tells you this game ended in “thrilling” fashion. Yes, Carlik Jones hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The result of play, exciting. The execution of the play, awful.
Watch the play here. Because nothing screams preparation like dribbling around, 30-feet from the basket, and hoisting an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer. Did I mention the game was tied, with 13 seconds to play, and they were coming out of a timeout?!
Lipscomb
The Lipscomb Bisons scored 108 points on Sunday. Insanity!! After scoring 60 points in the first half, and leading by as many as 32 points over FGCU, Lipscomb nearly choked this game away. With 7:05 to play, Lipscomb led by just 5 points. FGCU was able to storm back thanks to a 24-point half by senior guard, Brandon Goodwin. However, it was too little too late, as Lipscomb held on 108-96. Lipscomb will represent the Atlantic Sun Conference in their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
Loyola-Chicago
The Loyola-Chicago Ramblers are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1964. They earned their tournament birth by beating up the Illinois State Redbirds Sunday, 65-49. This game was never close, so I don’t have to much to say here….
Michigan
After losing by a combined five points to Purdue (over two losses) during the regular season, Michigan was seeking revenge Sunday evening. Thanks to big-time performances from Moritz Wagner and Jon Teske, Michigan defeated Purdue 75-66. Wagner dropped 17, and Teske dropped 14. For those (degenerates) who bet the over of 141.5, all I have to say is; OUCH!!
And now, Michigan and company will have to wait an extra week for the REAL tournament. Hooray scheduling!!
By the way, Purdue will NOT go far in the NCAA Tournament. They rely on one player, Isaac Haas. Granted that player is 7’2″ and virtually unstoppable, but it’s a hard tournament to win playing one-on-five.
**Murray State also clinched a birth to the NCAA Tournament, defeating Belmont 68-51 on Saturday.
Did you watch any of these games?? If so, please post your thoughts, comments, questions, and concerns in the comment section below.
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