Just a typical day in the NCAA tournament’s first round
A GRIP ON SPORTS • A half-court buzzer-beater. A dunk that comes just after the horn goes off. A putback preceded by a handy shove. Upsets seemingly galore. An occasional chalk decision. Yep, a typical Friday in the NCAA tournament’s first round. Read on.
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• The first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is unmatched in sporting drama. It’s as simple as that. No matter who you root for, there is always an ending that causing concern and an ending that leads to unmitigated joy. That’s because every game gives you someone to cheer for. Watching California play Hawaii yesterday, my first inclination was to cheer for the Rainbow Warriors. Like most Americans, I lean toward the underdog. But then I realized Hawaii had knocked my beloved Anteaters out of the tournament. Well, UCI had lost to Long Beach State in their conference tournament, but Hawaii was in the NCAAs as the Big West’s lone representative. And a former Saint Mary’s guy was coaching them. But California? OK, the Bears are in the Pac-12 and my tendency is to root for a Pac-12 team. But California? The snooty Bears? How could I root for them? However, they were without their two best players, turning the higher seeded team into an underdog in minutes. So I came up with a plan. I would root for whoever was behind. Bingo. I had no such problem when I watched Stephen F. Austin play West Virginia. The main motivation was personal. On the radio this week, when asked if I expected a 1, 2 or 3 seed to be upset in the first round, I quickly answered yes. Asked to pick a game, I didn’t hesitate either. I picked the Lumberjacks. And that was before I saw Thomas Walkup’s beard. Or his game. Mainly I was picking against West Virginia and Bob Huggins. Not my favorite guy. Which is another great aspect of the first round. There are heroes – Tom Izzo crying after his Michigan State teams loses because he won’t get to coach Denzel Valentine anymore – and villains – Izzo berating a reporter for a stupid question. It’s up to you to decide.
• Here are the double digit seeds that won in the first round: Hawaii (13), Wichita State (11), Yale (12), Northern Iowa (11), VCU (10), Stephen F. Austin (14), Arkansas Little Rock (12), Gonzaga (11), Syracuse (10) and Middle Tennessee State (15). It seemed like more.
• Now comes the day of reckoning for those teams who posted an upset Thursday. It’s always tough to follow through with another one. Of the double-digit winners two days ago – Wichita State, Yale, Little Rock and Gonzaga – which ones have the best shot to move into the Sweet Sixteen and which ones have the toughest test today? The Shockers – an apt name, huh? – and the Bulldogs would seem to be in the former category. Wichita State gets an up-and-down Miami team this morning while GU matches up well with this evening’s opponent, Utah. Yale, facing Duke (let’s call this one the Entitlement Bowl and move on), and Little Rock, with Iowa State, seem to have the tougher assignments. So, the way the NCAA usually goes, expect the Bulldogs and Trojans to win and advance.
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• Gonzaga: Speaking of the Zags, they face one of only two Pac-12 first-round survivors. (If USC could only hit an occasional free throw or defend an inbounds play, there would be three.) As we said yesterday, it seems to be a good matchup for the Bulldogs and the Utes. Jim Meehan has the preview of tonight’s game while John Blanchette's column focuses upon the battle we all will be watching: Domantas Sabonis vs. Jakob Poeltl. ... That matchup is front and center – pardon the pun – for almost everyone looking at the game. These two teams are similar in nature though there is a great contrast between the coaches. ... The Gonzaga women will host Utah on Monday night in the WNIT, and it looks as if Shaniqua Nilles is OK and may even play. Jim Allen has the story. ... BYU defeated Virginia Tech and moved on in the NIT.
• WSU: It’s Saturday so I can pass along the weekly mailbag from ESPN.com’s Pac-12 blog.
• Idaho: The Idaho women had too big a mountain to climb in their first-round NCAA matchup at Baylor. They lost, 89-59. ... Over at the Arena, where the Vandals are performing the host duties, it was a long day Friday. It began with Hawaii defeating California – Jacob Thorpe has that story – and ended with a last-millisecond dunk being waved off as Saint Joseph’s defeated Cincinnati – Greg Lee has that coverage. In between there was a rout by Oregon – Tom Clouse was the man for that one – and Maryland held off South Dakota State – Jim Allen was there and has this piece. And all day there were things going on, covered in Sean Kramer’s notebook. Kramer also elicited the most interesting by-play of the day from Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli. ... Colin Mulvany and Tyler Tjomsland combined for this photo report from the Arena. ... The Big Sky's lone NCAA representative went out in the first round.
• Whitworth: The Pirates’ KC McConnell was named a first-team Division III All-American.
• Chiefs: Spokane won in overtime in Portland, 5-4, and, by just getting to OT, clinched a playoff spot. ... The overtime session eliminated Tri-City, despite the Americans’ win last night.
• Seahawks: Should Russell Okung, the player, fire Russell Okung, the agent? After a closer examination of the contract he agreed to with the Broncos, it seems as if he was snookered a bit. And that the Hawks could have afforded the same sort of deal, though why they passed is unknown. It looks as if the Hawks will have a star-less offensive line again.
• Mariners: Nathan Karns (pictured at left in his first outing of the spring) is seemingly fighting lefty James Paxton for the final spot in the rotation. Karns, a righthander, helped himself yesterday with a strong outing against the Rangers as the M’s won 7-1. ... The M’s optioned three players to Tacoma including catcher Mike Zunino and Gonzaga product Cody Martin.
• Sounders: Clint Dempsey is still feeling his way without Obafemi Martins in the lineup. ... He and the Sounders need a win today against Vancouver. ... Real Salt Lake is at Portland today.
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• More basketball today. And it starts soon. So we are done here. And we’re done watching truTV until next year. Until later ...
