If dreams came true, oh, wouldn't that be nice,
But this ain't no dream we're living through tonight,
You want it, you take it, you pay the price.
Wofford - Who are they? What are they doing here? With their mid-major big brothers stealing the show over the last couple days, it'd be easy to miss the fact that Wofford is going Dancing for the first time in school history. Despite their relative obscurity, the small school from Spartanburg, South Carolina is no slouch. They challenged themselves this year with five non-conference games against BCS schools, picking up wins against Georgia and South Carolina, while losing to Illinois, Pitt, and Michigan State. They may be the Admiral James Stockdale of this group, but the Terriers, who have won 19 of their last 20 games, are not likely to be intimidated by the 3 or 4 seed they will face next week.
But this ain't no dream we're living through tonight,
You want it, you take it, you pay the price.
Sometimes you just have to Prove It on the floor.
Five auto bids settled in the last two days, and four of them grabbed by mid-major powerhouses who had a shot at an at-large bid, but refused to let the Selection Committee dash their March dreams.
Oh, and also Wofford.
Northern Iowa - The Panthers are more than a collection of great names (Kwadzo Ahelegbe, Ali Farokmanesh, and Adam Koch (pronounced "Cook," naturally)). They are a team that strangles their opponents with one of the slowest tempos in Division I. And that's just what they did to Wichita State on Sunday, winning 67-52 in a 59-possession game. The win sends the Panthers to their second straight Dance, but this time, with an RPI of 18, they should pull a better seed than the 12 they got last year. As Pat Forde says, no power conference team will want to see this Tourney-tested, gritty squad staring them down come Sunday.
Siena - The Saints are back. Siena will get a chance to return to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the third straight year. They didn't make it easy on themselves, falling behind by 15 points before reallying to beat Fairfield in overtime. If we're lucky, Siena will give us a first round game half as exciting as last year's double-overtime thriller against Ohio State:
And if we're even luckier, Bill Raftery will be calling the game. Onions!
Old Dominion - The Monarchs of Old Dominion punched their ticket with a smashing defeat of the College of William & Mary (hey, they don't call it the Colonial Athletic Association for nothing). ODU survived a wild game against VCU in the semis to get to the championship game, which was much smoother sailing. Making their third tourney trip in the last six years, the Monarchs aren't likely to settle for just being there. In the past few years, George Mason and VCU have proven that CAA teams shouldn't be taken lightly in the tournament, and you can bet that whoever matches up with ODU isn't likely to make that mistake.
St. Mary's - After a devastating late-season injury to star Patty Mills left the Gaels vulnerable to the cold shoulder of the Selection Committee last March, they decided they weren't going to leave anything to chance. With a resume that looked eerily similar to last year's, St. Mary's was in danger of yet another heartbreaking Selection Sunday. To say that they "got over the hump" with their thorough pasting of Gonzaga last night is a massive understatement. The Zags have tormented St. Mary's with five straight wins in the past two seasons; if any one of those games had turned out differently, the Gaels might be looking at two straight at-large bids. But behind 26 points from Mickey McConnell and 20 points from former Hoosier Ben Allen, St. Mary's not only threw the monkey off its back, but tossed the monkey around the gym like a rag doll. After the bad luck and near miss last year, you have to be happy for the Gaels, even if it means that we'll be deprived of this kind of internecine ESPN squabbling:
(For what it's worth -- and I'm as shocked about what I'm about to say as you are -- I side with Vitale on this issue, though the specific arguments he offers are not the best. Bilas' arrogant, myopic, sterile, and pointlessly Darwinist approach to tournament selection is the worst thing about him. It's a good reminder that he did go to Duke, after all.)
Wofford - Who are they? What are they doing here? With their mid-major big brothers stealing the show over the last couple days, it'd be easy to miss the fact that Wofford is going Dancing for the first time in school history. Despite their relative obscurity, the small school from Spartanburg, South Carolina is no slouch. They challenged themselves this year with five non-conference games against BCS schools, picking up wins against Georgia and South Carolina, while losing to Illinois, Pitt, and Michigan State. They may be the Admiral James Stockdale of this group, but the Terriers, who have won 19 of their last 20 games, are not likely to be intimidated by the 3 or 4 seed they will face next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment