It was already a wild NCAA Tournament. It lived up to its hype as March Madness. And it was a basket away from being a huge upset. Duke has won its fourth national title by beating the underdog Butler Bulldogs 61-59. For highlights, go here.
The Final Four wittled down to two over the weekend, setting the stage for a David vs. Goliath battle between the powerhouse Duke Blue Devils and the hometown Butler Bulldogs. The Bulldogs dispatched banged-up Michigan State 52-50 in their hometown of Indianapolis.
But the heart-breaking moment happened in the West Virginia-Duke game. West Virginia's Da'Sean Butler, a four-year senior, tore his ACL while driving to the basket, trying to get the Mountaineers back into the game, down 63-48. What followed can't be said as anything but sad and touching (video courtesy CBS)...
While the Mountaineers went on to lose the game, West Virginia showed teamwork at its finest, helping its best player off the court. Butler's NBA career is in serious jeopardy and could have been a first-round talent, but now, it's anyone's guess if or where he'll go in June's NBA Draft. For Bob Huggins' (West Virginia coach) part, he has a reputation for being a crusty type but his players' biggest supporter, so his display of affection on the court is very out-of-character for Huggins compared to how he usually is on the sideline. Anyway you slice it, it was the saddest moment in the tourney.
The Elite Eight continued this past weekend, and it didn't disappoint. Another 1 seed fell, two legendary coaches return to the final four, and an underdog returns home playing for the national championship. On Saturday, it was upset central with two major surprises: 5-seed Butler defeated heavily-favored 2-seed Kansas State 63-56 and West Virginia, a 2-seed defeated 1-seed Kentucky, considered by many to be a national title contender, 73-66. On Sunday, it was Michigan State over Tennessee and Duke defeating Baylor, 78-71.
The Butler Bulldogs have had an impressive run in the tourney. First, many considered them ripe for a first-round exit against 12-seed UTEP, but Butler smashed the Miners 77-59. Next, they survived Murray State then pulled off the double upset against the Syracuse Orange and K-State Wildcats. Syracuse was a banged-up 1-seed, so one can make the argument that it was inevitable the Orange would lose, but the K-State win was more of a surprise given the Wildcats' guard tandem of Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. The duo only shot 11 for 30 combined against the Bulldogs after lighting up Xavier for 53 combined points. Now, the Bulldogs head home to Indianapolis and are set to play powerhouse Michigan State in the Final Four. Butler, led by sophomore stud Gordon Hayward, isn't a surprise to anyone anymore and could give the depleted Spartans of MSU a run for their money. Then again, Tom Izzo isn't a Final Four novice, and he knows hot to motivate his team, even when their best player is injured on the bench. This is Butler's first-ever trip to the Final Four, quite the achievement to have your first be the one on your home court. Here is the recap from the West Regional Final (courtesy CBS):
On a side note, CBS commentator Gus Johnson is a favorite's worst nightmare. He called most of the West Regional for CBS this year, which had a multitude of upsets (Xavier beat Pitt, Butler's upsets). He's called tons of other upsets and his signature calls of "Bam!" and "Oh my goodness!" have earned him some notoriety amongst fans. The website Gus Johnson Gets Buckets provides a fun soundboard of some of Gus' famous calls.
The team that Butler plays in the Final Four, Michigan State, had a thrilling game against the Tennessee Volunteers on Sunday that came down to the last shot. Both the Spartans and the Vols have fought through lots of adversity during the season to reach this point, so kudos to both teams, but they don't call it the Final Four for nothing. Here was the recap of the Midwest Regional Final, courtesy of the Eye Network:
The Kentucky-West Virginia game was intense from start to finish. West Virginia couldn't get a 2-point basket to save its life for most of the first half. 3-point shooting is what saved the Mountaineers, and what killed the Wildcats, as WVU was 10-23 while UK was only 4-32 from behind the arc. West Virginia's Joe Mazzulla and Da'Sean Butler led the team with crucial shots when it counted and the Mountaineers overall had a balanced effort while Kentucky's John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins were the only real offensive options for UK. WVU had four starters with 12 points or more, while UK only had two. This is West Virginia's first Final Four trip since '59, back when they had a player named Jerry West. Here are the highlights, courtesy CBS:
The Duke Blue Devils never seem to have a down season, especially with Coach K at the helm. In recent years, they've been tourney busts, but this year, they're in the Final Four. Baylor gave Duke a hard time for most of the game, but with three minutes to go, the Blue Devils pulled ahead for good. Despite not being in the Final Four, Baylor has had a year of tremendous accomplishment under coach Scott Drew, considering how broken the Baylor basketball program was just a few years ago. The game itself was simply a matter of who would outlast whom and Baylor's shots didn't fall when it counted. Here are the highlights, once again courtesy CBS:
So the Final Four looks like this:
5 Butler vs. 5 Michigan State, Saturday April 3, 6:07pm ET on CBS 1 Duke vs. 2 West Virginia, Saturday April 3, 8:47 ET on CBS
The Big Dance known as March Madness rolled on Friday night, but the clock has struck midnight for several Cinderellas. 10-seed St. Mary's, the little school that surprised Villanova, was steamrolled by 3-seed Baylor, 72-49. It wasn't even close at halftime when the Gaels only scored 17 to the Bears' 46 points. St. Mary's has completed its deepest run in the modern tournament era while Baylor is going to its first Elite Eight. Baylor is a compelling story in this tournament and one of the few underdogs remaining. Seven years ago, the Baylor basketball program was a shambles after Carlton Dotson murdered teammate Patrick Dennehy and the coach at the time was caught in a scandal of his own. Quite the mess for a university that is backed by the Baptist church. The current coach, Scott Drew, has led this team to the regional final when they were the preseason pick for 10th place in their conference. Instead, they'll be one of two teams representing the Big 12 Conference (the other is Kansas State) in the Elite Eight.
The other Cinderella sent packing was Northern Iowa. After having beaten the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks, Northern Iowa gave perennial power Michigan State a run for its money, but in the end, the banged-up Spartans prevailed, 59-52. The difference-makers were point guard Korie Lucious and head coach Tom Izzo. Lucious hit a key turnaround jumper with 91 seconds left and Izzo proved why he's one of the game's best coaches. Working with a depleted lineup, Izzo is making his seventh Elite Eight appearance, fifth most amongst active coaches. Northern Iowa's Ali Farokhmanesh, whose clutch 3-pointers were key in UNI's tournament wins over UNLV and Kansas, shot 1 for 6 from 3 point range. He also missed some key free throws at the end of the game, but his Panthers will be remembered for stunning Kansas. Here are the highlights (courtesy CBS):
While Izzo's team was battling Northern Iowa in St. Louis, college basketball coaching icon Mike Krzyzewski led his Duke Blue Devils over the injured Purdue Boilermakers, 70-57 in Houston. Purdue kept the game close at halftime, but Duke pulled away in the second half. One can say it wasn't a fair fight as Purdue was without star Robbie Hummel, who tore his ACL in February. Duke's trio of Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, and Nolan Smith was too hot to handle in the second half. Highlights below (courtesy CBS):
But the game of the night was in St. Louis, as the sixth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers upset the second-seed Ohio State Buckeyes. The game was close to the very end, but Bruce Pearl and the Volunteers will finally go to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history and got payback after OSU knocked Tennessee out of the tournament in 2007. Ohio State stud Evan Turner scored 31 points, which was as many points as OSU put up in the entire second half. For the Buckeyes to have won, it needed somebody other than Turner to step up. Tennessee had four players with 10+ points compared to Ohio State's two. Tennessee has had a rocky season, rife with academic and legal issues, but as ESPN analyst Steve Lavin put it, "Bruce Pearl is a crisis-management expert". Tennessee has been a "giant killer" of sorts this season, beating Kansas and Kentucky during the regular season, then Ohio State last night. Highlights a plenty below (courtesy CBS):
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Today's games should be excellent. First, the Butler Bulldogs try to make the Final Four a homecoming but they have to beat a very good Kansas State Wildcats team (4:30 ET, CBS). This game is the West Regional Final in Salt Lake City, so crowd advantage is slightly favoring K-State. Then, what may be the game of the tournament, the Kentucky Wildcats take on the West Virginia Mountaineers in the East Regional Final in Syracuse (7:05 ET, CBS). The Mountaineers were viewed by many as 1-seeds, even though they were slotted as a 2-seed while Kentucky has dominated during its tournament run while other 1-seeds have fallen.
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.
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.
The second round of March Madness ended Sunday with several thrillers in what has easily been one of the best NCAA tournaments in recent memory. The remaining number 1 seeds cruised (Duke past Cal, 68-53, and Syracuse knocked out Gonzaga, 87-65) and 2 seed Ohio State defeated 10 seed Georgia Tech 75-66 after having a sluggish first half. Fellow 2 seed West Virginia defeated 10 seed Missouri, 68-59 in a game that was competitive until the Mountaineers' Da'Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks made timely baskets for the victory.
If there's been a theme during this second round, it's beware the small schools. Northern Iowa stunned Kansas, St. Mary's shocked Villanova, and Butler barely squeaked by Murray State on Saturday. On Sunday, it was Cornell and Xavier's turn. Cornell, a 12 seed, surprised 4 seed Wisconsin, 87-69. Cornell, better known for its Ivy League education rather than its basketball, beat a Wisconsin team that's one of the best defensive clubs in the country. Cornell will be making the trip to nearby Syracuse for the East Regional part of the tournament. Xavier, a small Jesuit school in Cincinnati, beat Pitt 71-68, the team that knocked Xavier out of the tournament last year. While the final score was close, Xavier was up by as much as 15 before the Panthers started a furious rally that ultimately fell short.
Spokane, Washington hosted the two best games on Sunday. The first one was Michigan State vs. Maryland, a matchup of powerhouse schools and legendary coaches. This was how it ended (video courtesy CBS):
In the second game, a nail-biter between Texas A&M and Purdue that was sent into overtime, Purdue barely surives (video courtesy CBS):
And so ends the second round of March Madness. And if next weekend's games are anything like this weekend's, then "hang on to them hats and glasses", it'll be a wild finish. As far as the brackets go, there's no way a perfect bracket is left, unless you're Nostradamus or picked based on team name/colors. (Even if that were the case, Cornell should have been out of it in the first round. Big Red what?) That being said, one of my brackets has a 93% rating on ESPN.com, and I'm within the top 350,000 with that bracket (tied with President Obama).
Here are highights from the weekend (video courtesy CBS):
EDIT (3/23/10): Replaced one of the videos with another due to CBS copyright claim.
Shocking news out of the NCAA Tournament today. The Kansas Jayhawks, the #1 overall seed and heavy favorite to win the tournament, lost to the Northern Iowa Panthers 69-67 in the second round of March Madness. To give you an idea of just how big of an upset this was, consider that of the near 4.8 million people that made brackets on ESPN.com, only 42,500 (0.9%) had UNI advancing to the Sweet 16 and only 1,546 (0.003%) had them winning the national championship. Compare that to 98% having Kansas advance to the Sweet 16 and 42% winning the national title. President Obama's bracket took an absolute beating this weekend, with three of his Elite Eight teams gone.
The University of Northern Iowa has a current student population of about 15,000, 92% of which are Iowa residents. UNI is in the town of Cedar Falls, Iowa, population 39,145. Prior to tonight's stunner, UNI was most well-known for being the college NFL quarterback Kurt Warner attended. This was Northern Iowa's first trip into the second round since 1990 and first-ever trip to the Sweet 16. The game itself was the classic case of Northern Iowa having nothing to lose and everything to gain. The Panthers were on top for most of the game then the Jayhawks slowly came back into the picture but not before UNI's Ali Farokhmanesh buried a timely 3-pointer with seconds to go.
But Kansas wasn't the only major team upended by a small school. The 2-seed Villanova Wildcats lost to the 10-seed St. Mary's Gaels 75-68. Villanova is yet another Big East team that's going home earlier than expected, leaving Syracuse, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh as the only Big East representatives left in the tournament. But Villanova was playing with fire, having nearly been beaten by Robert Morris on Thursday. And when you play with fire, you get burned. Scottie Reynolds had a terrible tournament while St. Mary's Omar Samhan had a career game, scoring 32 against the Wildcats.
St. Mary's is located in Moraga, California, about 10 miles east of Oakland, and has a school population of less than 5,000. So what is a Gael? According to Answers.com, a Gael is "A Gaelic-speaking Celt of Scotland, Ireland, or the Isle of Man. A Scottish Highlander." While Villanova isn't a big school either, with a student population of just under 10,000, it is in the Philadelphia metro area, so there's naturally more attention paid to it, especially given its basketball history. This game went similar to the Kansas-Northern Iowa game in that St. Mary's took an early lead, then the game tightened up in the second half.
Other tournament scores were: 6 Tennessee def. 14 Ohio, 83-68 5 Butler def. 13 Murray State, 54-52 (Butler was nearly upset, but held on) 11 Washington def. 3 New Mexico, 82-64 3 Baylor def. 11 Old Dominion, 76-68 2 Kansas State def. 7 BYU, 84-72 1 Kentucky def. 9 Wake Forest 90-60
I generally don't post on the weekends, but March Madness is in full swing. With the first round complete, Friday's games went about as expected. If Thursday was a day of chaos, Friday was mostly a snoozer. Top seeds Syracuse and Duke were on cruise control and Ohio State and West Virginia dominated in their second halves to beat UCSB and Morgan State, respectively. The expected upset of Cornell over Temple happened, while the popular picks of Siena over Purdue and Utah State over Texas A&M didn't. As for the Big East/ACC clash, the Big East went 1-1 (West Virginia won, Louisville lost) while the ACC went 3-2 Friday.
6 Xavier def. 11 Minnesota, 65-54 After a first half tie at 26, Xavier's Jordan Crawford took over, scoring 17 of his 28 points in the second half to lead the Musketeers to victory.
10 Missouri def. 7 Clemson, 86-78 This was a popular upset pick, so not terribly unexpected. The teams were tied at 39 at the half, but Mizzou went on a 47-point surge in the second, which proved to be the difference. Simply put, the Missouri Tigers had a balanced offense (four players with 10 or more points) and an aggressive defense, forcing 20 turnovers.
8 Gonzaga def. 9 Florida State, 67-60 At halftime, this game looked like a Bulldogs blowout, but the FSU Seminoles came storming back, scoring 41 second-half points, mostly on the back of Deividas Dulkys, who was money from beyond the arc. However, the Gonzaga trio of Robert Sacre, Steven Gray, and Matt Bouldin proved too much for Florida State.
8 California def. 9 Louisville, 77-62 The Pac-10's second team to beat a Big East team in as many days (Washington surprised Marquette Friday), and Cal dominated for the bulk of the game. Louisville, known for being above average defensively, was down early 22-4. Not a good day to be Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who earned himself a technical that helped kill any chance of a Louisville comeback late in the second half.
4 Maryland def. 13 Houston, 89-77 Probably the most entertaining game of the night with two up-tempo offenses going at it and CBS' Tim Brando making ridiculous calls (After a 3-pointer by Houston star Aubrey Coleman: "The bank is open late!") Maryland's Greivis Vasquez had a great second half, but it was Maryland's freshman forward Jordan Williams who had the career game. The Terrapins simply wore down Houston in the second half and made enough defensive stops to win.
10 Georgia Tech def. 7 Oklahoma State, 64-59 This was a predicted upset, but it was a tight game the whole way through. The Yellow Jackets were down 36-31 at the half, but held OK State's James Anderson, the nation's third-leading scorer, to only 11 points. Considering the seesaw season Georgia Tech had in the ACC, the win could be considered a mild surprise.
5 Michigan State def. 12 New Mexico State, 70-67 The game of the night. New Mexico State was down big at halftime, but rallied back in the second until two controversial calls effectively decided the game. The first was a lane violation that was called correctly, according to NCAA officials postgame. That led to a 70-67 score, in favor of the MSU Spartans. The second call was atrociously bad, and where New Mexico State fans have a legitimate beef. The ball went out of bounds at 0.9 seconds, but it didn't register with the officials until 0.3 seconds, shaving off precious time and forcing a desperation three-point shot that didn't go in for NMSU. The officials should have been keeping an eye on the clock when the ball went out of bounds. Michigan State got out of a close one.
The Big East Conference holds many of college basketball's powerhouse teams. Syracuse, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Louisville, Marquette, and West Virginia were all selected to this year's NCAA tournament. Literally, half of the conference is in the tournament, and that's without traditional power UConn. There's been debate the last few years on whether or not the Big East or the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) is the better conference. After day one of March Madness, the ACC is looking good while three Big East teams made an early exit, and a fourth nearly joined them.
The biggest surprise of the day was third-seeded Georgetown losing to fourteenth-seeded Ohio, 97-83. The pundits who like to call upsets never saw this one coming. For Georgetown to lose to a team that had a losing conference record and by 14 points is the very definition of March Madness. Ohio led by as much as 19 and face sixth-seeded Tennessee Saturday afternoon.
In college basketball the last few years, there's been an inherent East Coast bias, partially because there weren't as many teams out West that had the "quality" of the Eastern clubs. So it was a pleasant surprise to see the Washington Huskies beat the Marquette Golden Eagles narrowly on a Quincy Pondexter jumper. Few basketball pundits were calling for the upset here. Not bad for the 11th-seeded Pac-10 tournament champs. They'll face the third-seeded New Mexico Lobos Saturday evening.
Villanova was a Final Four candidate for some going into the tournament. No one gave 15th-seeded Robert Morris a chance. While Villanova did go on to win 73-70, it was in overtime. Robert Morris players played the game of their lives to bring a tournament power to the brink of elimination. As for 'Nova, it was a close call in part due to the disciplining of Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher and this narrow win could serve as a catalyst for a deep run in the tournament.
The third Big East team to fall was Notre Dame to Old Dominion, 51-50. The fact that the Irish lost wasn't the surprise, many pundits had this game pegged for an upset, but rather that Notre Dame's star senior forward Luke Harangody only scored four points in 23 minutes. Certainly not the way Harangody wanted his last game in an Irish uniform to go. Old Dominion next takes on Baylor Saturday evening in a game that could be even more of an uphill battle for Dominion, since Baylor is a three-seed.
As for the ACC, their turn to dance is today. Wake Forest won their matchup yesterday against Texas in an overtime upset but fellow ACC teams Duke, Maryland, Florida State, Clemson, and Georgia Tech play their first-round games today.
Other notable scores on Day 1 of March Madness:
6 Tennessee def. 11 San Diego State, 62-59 5 Butler def. 12 UTEP, 77-59 (many had this game pegged for an upset) 13 Murray St. def. 4 Vanderbilt, 66-65 (buzzer-beater upset special) 10 St. Mary's def. 7 Richmond, 80-71 7 BYU def. 10 Florida, 99-92 (Billy Donovan shown the door)
March Madness (aka the NCAA Tournament) begins tomorrow and it seems like everyone's got a bracket. President Obama filled his out today. Last year, he correctly predicted the North Carolina Tar Heels to win, but then again, so did most people, myself included. This year, most people are picking the Kansas Jayhawks, and with good reason. The Jayhawks' guard tandem of Sherron Collins and Xavier Henry is one of the best in the country. Add in center Cole Aldrich as the defensive stopper in the middle plus the tournament's number 1 overall seed, and Kansas has the makings of a championship run.
So who else could take the title, if not Kansas? Kentucky is the runner-up in most people's brackets. The Wildcats, led by freshmen sensations John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, have been near the top of the polls all season, but will the lack of tournament experience hurt Wall, Cousins, and Co.? Of the other number 1 seeds, Syracuse, and Duke, I'd give the edge to Duke, due to the experience of guard duo Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith.
Here are the teams I'm watching for in this year's tournament:
West Virginia (No. 2 East seed): WV probably should have been the number 1 seed in place of Syracuse, but they're the 2 seed instead. The Mountaineers won their first Big East title this season and are riding the clutch shooting of Da'Sean Butler. Second, West Virginia is not a traditional power like Duke, Syracuse, Kansas, and Kentucky are, so it'd be nice to see a team win the national title for the first time, and WV has the tools to do it. For more on WV, here's a good article by ESPN's Dana O'Neil.
Florida (No. 10 West seed): Gators coach Billy Donovan returns to the tournament after a 2-year absence. Donovan was previously covered here on FTRS. While I doubt the Gators will get by BYU in the first round, it's interesting to see Donovan return to March Madness.
Tennessee (No. 6 Midwest seed): Coach Bruce Pearl is one of the best in the country, but the Volunteers haven't been able to put together a deep run. Full disclosure: a good friend of mine is from Tennessee.
San Diego State (No. 11 Midwest seed): The Aztecs are looking for their first-ever tournament win. SDSU is one of the few bright spots in what was an atrocious year for West Coast basketball. They'll play Tennessee in the first round. It doesn't hurt that a few friends have or are currently attending SDSU.
To see my bracket, click here. My Final Four are: Kansas, West Virginia, Baylor, and Kansas State.
Back in June, I wrote on University of Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan's flip-flop on coaching the Orlando Magic professional team (for the series of entries, go here, here, and here) and the Florida Gators were expected to have a down season this year because of said flip-flop and the loss of three starters on the roster. But a look at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) standings shows Florida virtually tied with Tennessee atop the SEC East standings (Tennessee has a 3-1 conference record and is 16-2 overall; Florida has the same conference record and is 16-3 overall). All this despite a lot of new faces on the roster and being unranked in the national polls, while rivals like Tennessee are ranked as high as No. 3 in the polls.
So why no love from the pollsters? It's because Florida has beaten teams it should beat and the hardest part of its schedule is yet to come. Because of this, they're listed as a "bubble" team for March Madness. Florida still has to play Tennessee twice, Vanderbilt twice, Georgia twice, and Mississippi State. There's a lot of season left to make a move into the polls before March Madness and it will be interesting to see if the Gators can make it to the "dance".
Photo courtesy the NY Daily News.
Photo courtesy the Bleacher Report.
Photo courtesy the Bradenton Herald/Associated Press.
Photo courtesy of OregonLive.com/AP.
Photo courtesy the Idaho Statesman/AP.
Photo courtesy the NY Daily News.
UCSB's Justin Joyner and Ohio State's Evan Turner. Photo courtesy the NY Daily News.
Xavier's Dante Jackson. Photo courtesy the NY Daily News.
Gonzaga's Robert Sacre blocks Florida State's Derwin Kitchen. Photo courtesy the Merced Sun-Star / Associated Press.
Maryland's Greivis Vasquez blocks Houston's Aubrey Coleman. Photo courtesy the Annapolis Capital Gazette / Associated Press.
From left to right, Michigan State's Kalin Lucas, Chris Allen, and Delvon Roe. Photo courtesy ESPN.
Georgetown's Chris Wright. Photo courtesy the Washington Post.
Photo courtesy of The State (S.C.).
The notorious Cameron Crazies at Duke University basketball games. Photo courtesy the LA Times / Getty Images.
The Mountaineers' DaSean Butler holding the Big East trophy. Photo courtesy of NY Daily News.
Tennessee senior Wayne Chism. Photo courtesy of "The House that Bandy Built" blog.
