Friday, March 26, 2010

Syracuse Shocked Amidst Tourney Course Correction

Photo courtesy of OregonLive.com/AP.

The NCAA Tournament resumed last night and for the most part, was pretty predictable, amid a few surprises. The twelfth-seeded Cornell Big Red sprang burst onto the scene with big upset wins over Temple and Wisconsin, winning in convincing style. Their average margin of victory in the first and second round was 15.5 points. Unfortunately for them, they faced the steamroller known as the Kentucky Wildcats and lost 62-45 to the top-seeded favorites from the Bluegrass State. Despite the lop-sided defeat, Cornell's squad has just finished the best season in school history. As for Kentucky, the pre-season expectations were a national title, and they're one step closer.

Photo courtesy the Idaho Statesman/AP.

Eleventh-seed Washington Huskies have been dogged by the national media this tournament in regards to the current state of West Coast basketball. They surprised Big East stalwart Marquette and defeated third-seed New Mexico, but couldn't defeat the West Virginia Mountaineers, who won 69-56. The Huskies lead by two at halftime, but the Mountaineers exploded for 42 points in the second half. West Virginia will move on to face Kentucky Saturday night in a battle of top-seeds in the East region. The winner moves on to Indianapolis and the Final Four.

Despite being a small school, Xavier has been a known college basketball destination for years. The Musketeers took on the Wildcats of Kansas State in a thriller that went to double-overtime. The highlights speak for themselves (video courtesy CBS):



While Xavier fans will no doubt take a while to forget this loss, fans of the Kansas Jayhawks must be fuming. To have your team, the number one overall seed, lose to a little-known school in the second round, then have your biggest rival head to at least the Elite Eight and possibly a national title, that's gotta be embarrassing.

But the biggest surprise of the night was the West region's top seed, Syracuse, falling to unheralded five-seed Butler. Butler has been a factor in several past tournaments, but this year was favored to be knocked out in the first round by the prognosticators, mainly because of their designation as a five-seed. (Seems like every March Madness, a 12 seed knocks out a 5, so this year, people had Butler pegged as a first-round loss. This year, only one 5 seed lost in the opening round, Temple lost to Cornell). Here are the highlights (courtesy CBS):



Butler, a liberal arts school in Indianapolis with a student population of about 4500, will face Kansas State in the West Regional Final Saturday night in Salt Lake City. The winner goes on to the Final Four, which happens to be in Indianapolis this year. As for Syracuse, this game cannot be labeled a disappointment, since they were without center Arinze Onuaku, the team's glue. Had Onuaku been on the floor, the game would have likely been very different.

Tonight's games include Tennessee vs. Ohio State, Duke vs. Purdue, Northern Iowa vs. Michigan State, and Baylor vs. St. Mary's. Some great storylines continue tonight as UNI and St. Mary's try to continue their improbable runs, Purdue tries to get to a home-state Final Four, and one of the top players of the country, Ohio State's Evan Turner, laces up against Bruce Pearl's talented Vols.

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