March Madness Wrap Up

ESPN has put together a great little slide show on the madness if you want to look at it.

I feel like I could talk about each and every one of the 65 games but I want to keep this short. Plus I still need to reply to that RIDICULOUS previous post about Portland big men.

So I just want to list key events from the tourney this year:

Early on:
- How could you not love Curry and Davidson?
- W. Kentucky/Drake game was awesome. I watched it on campus on the big screen in the midst of about a 100 guys cheering for their brackets. What a finish. Best early game.
- Disappointed Trevor thinks the family pool is where you can throw a junk team like BYU to win it all, when they haven't gotten out the 1st round in years.
- Dissappointments for me: USC, Vandy, Clemson, BYU and UConn

Mid-Tourney (from 32 down to 4):
- UNC had a cake walk to the final four
- I now dislike Duke & NC even more than a month ago, media give it a rest
- Again Davidson, upset G-town who I feel was one of the best teams in the dance
- Pitt huge disappointment
- Xavier and Texas A&M were great, both should have beaten the Bruins
- Louisville impressed me against Tenn, but not against UNC

Final Four:
- All one seeds, wow, but semi-predictable
- UNC easiest trip to San Antonio
- Kansas battle against a very hot Davidson team, not just Curry either
- UCLA, I don't know if I will ever be able to watch another UCLA game again. SO boring. Collison is bad, Westbrook can't dribble, and Shipp can't shoot.
- Memphis, wow they looked good coming in
- When KU went up 28 in the 1st half against UNC, I was so happy, but at the same time I knew it wasn't over. Great win for the KU program, sorry Tyler and Roy, maybe next year.
- Memphis/UCLA felt like a blow out, even though it was fairly close.
Memphis is so athletic.

Finals:
- I felt pretty good about our chances, and we had a small lead basically for the first 35 minutes of the game.
- Still confident with 2:32 to go and Whit said, "Ev...you still think Kansas will win?" I responded quickly and boldly, "Yes!"
- Sure enough the free throws came back to haunt Memphis, Chalmers hit the big three to send it to OT, and everyone knew then Kansas would win the OT period.

Overall:
Sure is nice to see your team win it all. Especially when you have bandwagon friends and family picking UNC, UCLA, and the Duke's of the country in the finals. The happiest third place I have ever won. (Refering to the family pool). I must also congratulate my wife, she picked better than anyone this year, I just made the champion point value so high it was too much for her to overcome (she picked Memphis).