There is really not much to blog about. Gonzaga appears to be unstoppable. They completely destroyed USC 85-66, and truth be told, they took their foot off the gas for the last 4 minutes of the game – taking the clock down for the full 30 seconds most possessions.

Apparently, I missed most of the excitement. Charlie had an orthodontist appointment today and his mouth was sore – so we decided after dinner to get him ice cream from Sonic to make him feel better. I was sitting at the Sonic and just listening to the game on the March Madness app – and listening to Gonzaga score at will. And then the scary moment – official Bert Smith collapsed on the sideline. In a way, I am glad I didn’t see it – I was extremely nervous for him while I drove home with the announcers saying they were still tending to him and so they were going to commercial.

Fortunately, the reports I am reading say that he was feeling light-headed and being tended to at the stadium, but he was stable and did not need to go to the hospital. Very thankful that he was ok.

Anyways, by the time I got back home and we got everyone their ice cream and I sat down on the couch, I looked at my phone and could see the score was Gonzaga 23, USC 8. I didn’t even make Katie turn off Descendents 3 on the TV. I knew the game was already over – you simply go to get ice cream and miss the first 8 minutes of the game (well not completely, I listened to the dominance), and you have missed everything.

A point to make about how good Gonzaga is. If you look at the KenPom adjusted statistics, USC had the 4th best adjusted defense in the country. Gonzaga scored 49 points on them in the first half. They took one of the best defenses in the country, and just scored at will on them. The game never got close. At one point, USC scored to make it a 17 point lead, and the announcer said, it is hard to realize it, but the Trojans are actually playing much better basketball in the second half – but no matter what they do, Gonzaga won’t let them chip away at the lead.

Gonzaga is now 30-0. In 29 of those 30 victories, they have won the game by double digits. The closest anyone has gotten to them in the tournament is Oklahoma – who lost by 16. In the regular season, those double digit victories included games against 2 seed Iowa, 3 seed Kansas and 4 seed Virginia. I do think that they might be one of the best teams that I have ever seen.

You never know what March will bring. There is a reason we haven’t had an undefeated team since Indiana did it 1976. The pressure for perfection can be amazing. But for the moment, the West Coast Conference Champions have met every challenge they have faced this season – and that has earned them a well-deserved spot in the 2021 Final Four. Congratulations to the Gonzaga Bulldogs!

Baylor jumped out to a large lead early, and then held off a really tough Arkansas Razorbacks team. In the first half, it didn’t look like Baylor could miss. Yet, Arkansas somehow kept in the game – only down 46-38 at halftime.

But for a team that was so strong offensively, one of the big stories is the defense that Baylor played in the second half. There was an 8 minute stretch towards the end of the game where the Razorbacks didn’t score a single point from the field – just 6 free throws. During that 8 minute stretch – they extended their 4 point lead to 10. And strangely, Arkansas didn’t really try to extend the game by fouling.

So, congratulations to the Baylor Bears – the regular season champion of the Big 12! It is good to see that the Bears have managed to survive the Lunatic Curse to make the Final Four – especially since they have been one of the top 3 teams in the country the entire season. They will play Houston in a battle for Texas – with the winner getting the chance to play for the national championship.

I have to say that my imaginary handicapping is not going well. But the Houston / Oregon State game really reminded me of why I made the decision to no longer bet on the games.

As I was watching the game as someone who had nothing real on the game, I could simply enjoy the game. But the end of it made me have flashbacks. I also know that my handicapping page must be imaginary – because I ended up on the right side of the chaos for a change.

My guess is this is not the case thanks to Covid – but imagine a full Vegas Sportsbook with a huge crowd watching the game. Some might be watching as fans – but most are watching because they have bets on the game. And here are some important numbers. Houston was an 8 point favorite, and the over/under was set at 129.

For the record, I had Oregon State and the 8 points, and the under. With 21 seconds, Oregon State hit a layup to make the score 64-58. Houston gets the ball in and immediately gets trapped in the corner. Out of desperation, the ball gets thrown down the court and Houston’s Justin Gorham gets to the ball first. Maurice Calloo from Oregon State reached to foul him and knocked Gorham to the ground. And the official called an intentional foul.

And I could hear in that imaginary sportsbook the screams. Because the intentional foul would not only give Houston the chance to get the lead to the 8 point spread, but they would keep the ball!!!! I can hear the cheers of those with Oregon State bet slips as Gorham missed the second free throw to keep the game a 7 point game. But everyone knows what is coming next – the next foul.

This time Gorham makes both free throws and now the cheers from the Houston supporters start screaming as their bet slip is now winning. As long as Oregon State doesn’t score in the last 10 seconds, they now win.

And of course, Oregon State rushes down the field, get the ball to Maurice Calloo and he throws up a heavily guarded desperation three-pointer. And it goes in!!!! The Sportsbook goes crazy on the Oregon State side of the room as the lead is back to 6 points. Meanwhile, there is a lot more screaming happening! That is because there is still 3.7 seconds left. And that three-pointer just made the score 67-61. And so those with the under at 129 are furious. They now only have 1 point of a cushion and you have to figure Oregon State will foul to extend the game.

Houston passed the ball in after the time-out, two Oregon State players trap the Cougar in the corner to try to force a turnover, and I can hear it in the Sportsbook! FOUL HIM!!! WHY ARE YOU NOT FOULING HIM!!!!! PLEASE FOUL HIM!!!!! The Beavers knowing they could not score 7-8 points in 3 seconds tried to quickly force the turnover and then gracefully gave up.

People with Houston slips are screaming in agony as they rip up their tickets without getting the free throws to have a chance to tie the line. People with the over slips are screaming in agony as the rip up their slips frustrated by the shocking ending. And those with the under or Oregon State +8 are screaming for joy as they walk to the window to collect their winning and likely bet on the Baylor / Arkansas game.

In a period of 20 seconds, an entire Sportsbook is going crazy as the lead goes from 6 to 7 to 9 and back to 6, and stops 1 point short of getting to the over/under line.

I miss the excitement of a Vegas sportsbook. I don’t miss being the person who tended to be screaming while ripping up my bet slip.

Well, that was certainly very interesting. Who of us had Houston jumping out to a 17 point, Oregon State coming all the way back to tie the game with 4 minutes left, just to watch Houston win in the final 4 minutes.

You have to give the Beavers an amazing amount of credit for coming back from down 17 points. But on the next possession after Gianni Hunt’s three-pointer tied the game at 55, Quentin Grimes drilled a three-pointer to answer and give the Cougars back the lead. That was the last time Houston would score from the field. But they would get 9 more points from the line to seal the game.

Part of the reason for that is the Cougars amazing ability to get offensive rebounds. After Oregon State’s Ethan Thompson hit a free throw to make it a two point game, Houston’s Grimes missed a three-pointer but Fabian White got the offensive rebound. Then, DeJon Jarreau missed a three-pointer, only for Grimes to chase the ball down in the corner and get fouled. He would hit both free throws to increase the lead to 4.

After their strong defense caused the Beavers to miss a three-pointer, they had a similar sequence where Grimes missed a jumper just for Justin Gorham to get the offensive rebound. Then, Gorham missed his shot just for Fabian White Jr to get the offensive rebound and get fouled. He missed the free throw, but it wouldn’t matter.

Once again, Houston’s strong defense forced a missed three-pointer, they would get the ball to Gorham near the basket where he would get fouled. This time, he would only hit one of the free throws to make it a 5 point game.

With under a minute to play, Oregon State desperately needed a basket, but unfortunately, Ethan Thompson would trip and get tied up by the Houston defense. And at this point, it turned into the classic foul to extend the game. Houston hit their free throws, and won 67-61.

I was really impressed in the Syracuse game about their defense – holding the Orange to 46 points. But their offensive rebounding ability is equally impressive. The Cougars got 19 offensive rebounds in this game – and many of those offensive rebounds led to Houston eventually scoring.

Congratulations to the Houston Cougars! They were the champions of the American Athletic Conference Tournament, and now they are the first team to be playing in the Final Four!

With Houston and Oregon State getting ready to tip off and start the Elite 8, we should make sure that we spent a moment to recognize our current leaders!!!!  

In the Standard Pool, our leader is Adam Davis – with a very impressive 620 points.  But it is still a close race.  Kelly Woods not only is in 2nd place with 610 points, but Kelly’s second bracket is in a 3rd place tie at 590 points with Ryan Callahan and TJ Acuto.  In 6th place is Mark Walsh at 580 points, and there is a large tie for 7th place at 570 points between Don Berglund, Kevin Busby, Heath Lindvall, Audra Chamowitz, Joe Haggerty and John Greene.  

In the Upset Pool, Ryan Callahan leads with 243 points.  Our Standard Pool leader, Adam is in 2nd place with 227 points.    They are followed closely by TJ Acuto (224 pts), Amy Hattaway (219 pts) and Gregg Farber (213 pts).

In the 2nd Chance Pool, my wonderful amazing wife Elizabeth got 7 of 8 Sweet 16 picks correct along with Kennedy Urban and an entry for someone calling themselves Big Ten Rules.  Their 280 points puts them 40 points ahead of the 27 people who correctly got 6 of the 8 Sweet 16 games right to be at 240 points.

We also need to congratulate Kyle Kelly, who appears to have won the consolation prize for finishing last in the Standard Pool.  My picks are so bad I can’t say my normal catch phrase of not challenging the Lunatic (I am sadly in a tie for 239th place) – especially not to someone who was a past champion.  I guess we have to say that Kyle shouldn’t have challenged Adam, Kelly, Ryan and TJ this year.

Big movement can happen in the Elite 8 – 80 points can certainly move you up the standings fast (assuming you are lucky enough to still have your Final 4 picks playing over the next 2 days).  So, enjoy the games!!!!

Well – there was no exciting comeback this time. USC jumped out to a 15 point halftime lead, and didn’t look back as the finished off the Oregon Ducks 82-68.

So, we have 3 Pac 12 teams joining three one seeds (Gonzaga, Michigan and Baylor), a two seed (Houston) and a three seed (Arkansas) playing in the Elite 8 on Monday and Tuesday.

Games start a little after 7 pm – should be a good couple of nights of basketball!!!

The Lunatic curse managed to eventually end the run for the SEC champion. Well – lets be fair, the Lunatic enjoys his magical powers – but they are imaginary. The players can’t really know that I have picked them and perform poorly. This game had a lot in it.

UCLA had an 11 point lead at halftime, but Alabama quickly erased that by scoring the first 11 points of the second half. UCLA would go on a run to bring the lead back out to 7 – but Alabama would make a run to tie the game. And the Crimson Tide found themselves with a 1 point lead and the ball with 2 minutes to play.

Then, they were ruined by replay. Alabama along the sideline was dribbling the ball and it hit the foot of the UCLA player and went through the legs of the Alabama player. It was originally called Alabama ball – but it was overturned because the referees saw the ball slightly touch the Alabama player’s shorts before going out of bounds. And to be very clear, the replay showed the ball brushed the shorts – it did not actually hit the actual leg of the player.

But that was enough. The announcers mentioned that there was no way a referee could have seen that in real-time. And they are right…. We could argue whether or not the shorts should be considered part of the player – I assume the rules say that is the case. But why wasn’t it a kicked ball. I am not saying that it was a really bad call to overturn it – just saying I have questions…..

Then after a defensive stop, Alabama got the ball down to Juwan Gary under the basket – but his shot was blocked by Cody Riley. To be fair, I think that Riley also blocked half of Gary’s arm which would have ended up out-of-bounds if it wasn’t attached to his body. In my mind, that was clearly a missed call.

Then again, it probably wouldn’t have mattered – Alabama would have missed the free throws. Free throws killed the Crimson Tide in this game. They went 11 for 23 from the line in regulation. Just hitting a couple of those would have completely changed how this game played. Although maybe not – if UCLA had to foul Alabama to extend the game, it is very unclear if the Tide would have hit the free throws…..

UCLA got fouled on their next possession (on a play that drew less contact than Gary’s blocked layup). Jaime Jaquez Jr hit one of the two free-throw to tie the game. Then, Alabama’s Herbert Jones hit a free-throw to take the lead back. And then UCLA with just 14 seconds in the game got it to Cody Riley who took it strong to the basket to give the Bruins the lead – setting the stage for a wild 14 seconds.

Herbert Jones got fouled and went to the free throw line. But the 73.8% free throw shooter missed both free throws so they had to foul. David Singleton hit both of the free throws to give the Bruins the 3 point lead with 4 seconds to play. And the announcers mention – this is big because Cronin tends to foul when up by 3.

People know my feelings about fouling when up 3 – I watched my Boilers lose thanks to that strategy in 2019. And it almost cost UCLA as well. Jahvon Quinerly brought the ball up the court, and the defense started converge on him to try to foul him. Instead, Quinerly passed the ball to Alex Reese – who was pretty open since the defender left him to foul Quinerly. And Reese calmly drilled the three-pointer from extremely deep to tie the game. Who knows – if they play straight up man, maybe Quinerly ends up making a desparation three-pointer instead. But in an attempt to try to foul, they stopped playing actual defense – and that gave Alabama a much better chance to tie the game.

Then again, it didn’t matter. The overtime was all UCLA. The Bruins outscored the Tide 23-13 in the overtime period, and a lot of the Tide’s points were just late drives as UCLA simply didn’t want to foul. I would say the pivotal moment came with 1:38 – when UCLA was up four points and Jaime Jaquez Jr hit a three-pointer before the shot clock went off to extend the lead to 7. The next two times down the court, Alabama stopped driving to the basket where they were scoring all their points and settled for toughly guarded three-point shots (which both missed). And by that point it was too late. Part of the reason is because unlike Alabama, UCLA was making their free throws. In the last 50 seconds of the game, UCLA made 11 of 12 free throws making it impossible for Alabama to cut into the lead.

And so the Bruins became the second Pac 12 team, and the second double-digit seed to make it to the Elite 8. They also became the second team since VCU did it to go from the First Four to the Elite 8. That VCU team made the Final Four – just saying……..

Alex Reese for Alabama hit a really long three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. This has been such an exciting game!!!! Don’t want to miss the overtime so will blog later!

Oregon State has already earned their spot in the Elite 8. And with USC and Oregon playing in tonight’s Sweet 16 finale, they are guaranteed to have at least 2 teams playing for a chance to make it to the Final 4.

But UCLA would like to crash the party as well. The Bruins just ended the first half on a 20-6 run to take a 11 point lead at halftime against the #2 seed Alabama Crimson Tide. Add into the fact that Alabama has the Lunatic Curse against it since I have picked them to win the East Region, and suddenly, there is a very realistic chance that the conference which had their best ranked team as a 5 seed will have three teams in the Elite 8. And ironically, those teams would not involve that 5 seed (since Colorado was eliminated by Florida State).

Only 20 minutes will tell, if there will be two double digit seeds in the Elite 8 (of which both would be from the Pac 12)? Should be fun to watch for those of us just enjoying the basketball games. It is always stressful for the fan bases of the teams that are playing – with Alabama fans hoping for a run to get back into the game, and UCLA fans will be hoping that they hang on and don’t open the door for the 2 seed to come back.

It is not the prize that any of us want to win, but at the end of the day you get your entry fee back. My wonderful wife, Elizabeth, was fighting for it – but she needed a pretty miraculous day to create the tie. She started the day tied for last place with Kyle Kelly.

But Kyle had the advantage on her. That is because with Kyle picking Virginia, West Virginia, UConn, and UNC to make the Final 4 (and the other upsets he had picked), Kyle was already stuck at 170 points with no chances to score any more points.

Elizabeth started the day also with 170 points, but she had the possibility of getting more points if Gonzaga or Michigan won today. With Gonzaga’s blow-out victory, Mrs. Lunatic has moved up to 210 points, and left Kyle for the honor none of us want to have.

Of course, all of this is unofficial – I always do a check of the website to make sure the scores are right. But as of now, Kyle is in last – he should not have challenged the Lunatic.

Well – maybe that is not true. First of all, Kyle was our 2013 Stomp the Lunatic contest – he is normally very good at this – I suspect he simply got to aggressive with picking upsets. Also, the Lunatic isn’t doing very well. His best picks stand in a tie for 214th place. It is going to be a very thorough stomping, So, I guess we should take a look at the leaders for the yearly catch-phrase.

Kyle shouldn’t have challenged Adam Davis (our current leader at 580 points), or TJ Acuto and Ryan Callahan (who are in 2nd at 550 points).