0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/23/2016
In the latter half of the 1970s and the early 1980s, few cities crackled with more basketball-based electricity than Philadelphia. The 76ers made four NBA Finals from 1977 through 1983, powered by Dr. J — Julius Erving — after the death of the ABA and the exodus of the league’s high-end talent to the NBA. […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/22/2016
Before Billy Tubbs took Oklahoma to the Final Four, he took the Lamar Cardinals to the Sweet 16 (above) back in 1980. Lamar is a member of the Southland Conference. Stephen F. Austin very nearly carried the Southland into the Sweet 16 this past weekend, but a last-second putback enabled Notre Dame to nudge the […]
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The Sweet 16 starts Thursday, initiating the second of three NCAA tournament weekends. Last week, we dug into the history of NCAA tournament bids and wins — that’s the concern of the first weekend. This second weekend reveals the programs that might not stand on the mountaintop, but have certainly been able to climb a […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/21/2016
Mark Few has always been a good coach at Gonzaga, but at a program which clearly spent a lot to build itself into a national, name-brand operation, good isn’t necessarily good enough. It’s a statement which not only sounds harsh; it is harsh. The key question: Is such a statement out of touch with expectations […]
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Tom Crean has been a complicated coach to measure in moments of defeat and humiliation. This week, he’s a complicated coach to measure in a moment of shining triumph. Crean’s Indiana Hoosiers knocked out John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday in the NCAA tournament. Crean didn’t merely avenge a loss to Calipari in the 2012 […]
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So much more will be said about the 2016 NCAA Tournament today and in the coming days before the Sweet 16, but as we empty out the notebook after the first of three weekends, let’s start with a word about Syracuse. The 2016 Orange are to this tournament what UCLA was to the 2015 edition […]
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Xavier fan Bill Murray knows all too well that real life and art converge frequently — sometimes in moments of unrestrained pleasure, sometimes in moments of limitless pain. Sunday night in St. Louis — a city which has lifted Chicago sports fans’ hearts in hockey but broken them so many times in baseball over the […]
Utah guard Lorenzo Bonam, front, reacts as Gonzaga guard Eric McClellan, forward Kyle Wiltjer and Gonzaga guard Kyle Dranginis celebrate late in the second half of a second-round men’s college basketball game Saturday, March 19, 2016, in the NCAA Tournament in Denver. Gonzaga won 82-59. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/20/2016
When the Utah Utes got absolutely annihilated by the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday night, it became official: At least one double-digit seed will make the Elite Eight this year. What also became apparent: America needs to learn a new term at the NCAA tournament — call it a piece of tournament terminology, or “tournamology.” That […]
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We’ll have more to say on the victorious Indiana Hoosiers on Monday, as we look ahead to the Sweet 16 and North Carolina, but let’s first deal with the Kentucky Wildcats, out of the NCAA tournament earlier than most expected. The Wildcats fell to Indiana on Saturday in Des Moines, failing to make the second […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/19/2016
The Big 12 is struggling in March again… and Big 12 fans are already sick and tired of commentators pointing it out. The fatigue (like the disappointment at the source of it) is more than understandable from fans. Moreover, plenty of commentators can’t stand it when other commentators bring up the conference-strength debate in basketball […]
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Kermit Davis and Middle Tennessee certainly attained college basketball immortality on Friday afternoon in St. Louis. Yet, we all know that for the likes of the Blue Raiders and their coach, their immortality belongs to one season, one special point in time, one frozen moment unlikely to be reduplicated. Yes, other 15 seeds will beat […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/18/2016
We all love to dissect our bracket when we get it on Selection Sunday, and then as results pour in on Thursday in the round of 64. We saw Wichita State pulverize Arizona Thursday night in Providence with a typically ruthless and focused defensive effort, the kind of masterpiece we’re accustomed to seeing from a […]
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No conference received more love from the NCAA tournament’s Selection Committee than the Pac-12. Seven teams were all placed in the higher end of the bracket, meaning that all seven teams were a higher seed in the round of 64. Only the Big 12 joined the Pac in that regard. The lowest seed in both […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/17/2016
Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio, the Michigan Wolverines did what all human beings have to do at some point in life: They managed. When life is difficult and when the course of events just isn’t flowing our way, there are days and weeks when we just have to manage. We have to live to fight […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/16/2016
The 2016 NCAA Tournament is a time to remember the life and career of Ralph Miller. One of college basketball’s quietly great coaches — a Hall of Famer without a Final Four appearance — no longer walks the earth. Miller died in 2001 at the age of 82. However, if there is a heaven, you […]
