So often in major games, part of the story is can a star player lead their team to victory. And of course, part of the beauty of March is when a player who is not the star makes a major play. The Purdue vs Tennessee game had both.

Throughout most of the season as the media talked about who should be considered the player of the year, the conversation normally ended with two players – Purdue’s Zach Edey and Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht. And neither star player disappointed. There are lots of really amazing players – but the way these two played today, it really felt like we were watching the two best players in college basketball battle it out.

Dalton Knecht led the Tennessee attack with scoring 37 points. Meanwhile Zach Edey finished with 40 points and 16 rebounds. There is no doubt that each of the star players did everything in their power to try to will their team to win.

In a game that saw many runs, Purdue managed to be the team to make the last run. With 3:41 left in the game, Knecht drove to the lane and got fouled. After hitting the free throws, Purdue was hanging on to a 1 point lead.

Braden Smith drove to the hoop and as the Tennessee big man came out to contest, Smith just flipped the ball over his head to Purdue’s big man, and Edey finished off the play with a dunk.

Knecht tried to hit a three-pointer, but missed with Mason Gillis pulling down the rebound. Purdue would have a chance to make it a two-possession game.

Last year, Lance Jones was a guard for Southern Illinois – he transferred over to the Boilermakers for his senior year. Jones has added a dimension to the Boilermakers that they missed last year. He is a point guard that plays with an extreme intensity. He gave the Boilers a guard who could play good defense, could break the press (which was a struggle at times for us last year), and could shoot from outside. From time to time, that intensity would lead to a bad shot or a bad foul on defense – but he was the kind of player that you were happy to have that couple of turnovers or bad shots to have that intensity on the court.

Well, in this case, Tennessee played their fantastic defense and really forced Purdue to get the ball back out to the perimeter. And with the shot clock down to 3 seconds, Braden Smith passed the ball to Jones on the wing. And despite the fact that he only had 4 points on 7 shots, when the game was on the line, Jones didn’t hesitate to take the shot and drilled the three-pointer to give the Boilers a 6 point lead (and the Lunatic jumped off the couch screaming in joy).

Knecht would miss another three-pointer giving Purdue a chance to extend the lead. Fletcher Loyer missed a three-pointer after Purdue used up a bunch of the shot clock, but the long rebound came out to Braden Smith, who reset the offense. This time, they got the ball into Edey who was fouled, and the big man hit both free throws to go up 8.

Zakai Ziegler made a layup to cut the lead to 6 – and on the inbounds, the Vols trapped Smith in the corner, who threw the ball up to Edey and he got fouled. This time, the big man only hit 1 of the free throws – so the lead was now only 7.

It would quickly become 5 as Knecht drove to the basket and made the layup – looking like no one could stop him from getting to the basket.

This time, Purdue managed to get the ball across half court and took the clock down to about 40 seconds. They got the ball into Edey, but he missed the first free throw long and completely shot an air ball on the second free throw. It was still only a 5 point lead. And admittedly, the Lunatic started to panic – we could not possibly get this close just to lose a late lead again.

But while so much is made about Edey’s offense, this gave him a chance to remind everyone about his defense. Knecht drove again to the basket looking to cut the lead to 3. And as he effortlessly got past the Purdue guards, this time he found Purdue’s big man waiting for him. And Edey blocked the ball into the corner where the ball ended up into Mason Gillis’ hands.

Purdue passed the ball avoiding being fouled for a few seconds and then got the ball to a better free throw shooter – Fletcher Loyer. Loyer hit the two free throws to give Purdue a 7 point lead with 21 seconds left. And after Knecht hit a layup and Edey hit a free throw and Zakai Zeigler missed a three-pointer, Purdue threw the ball high into the air of the arena and began to celebrate. The Boilers are heading to the Final Four.

And the Lunatic celebrated!!!! As they were interviewing Matt Painter, the Purdue band started to play the Purdue fight song, and the Lunatic started to sing:

Hail, hail to Old Purdue! All hail to our old Gold and Black!

Hail, hail to Old Purdue! Our friendship may she never lack!

Ever grateful, ever true! Thus we raise our song anew!

Of the days we spent with you! All Hail our own Purdue!!!!!!

The Lunatic is ever grateful!!! And so excited that he will get to see this Purdue Boilermakers team play in the Final Four – the first time that has happened for a Purdue team since 1980.

BOILER UP!!!!!!

I am sure I will rant – but I need to compose myself. I can not tell you how incredibly happy that I am at this moment!!!

Purdue has beaten Tennessee to make it to the Final Four!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BOILER UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to laugh but I think my craziness is rubbing off on my son.

I have enjoyed the GEICO commercial about the different types of fans. Outside of trash talking, I can relate to both the passionate fan and the superstitious fan. Having played the clarinet in high school, I could see myself being that band member struggling to control my emotions during the game.

And while I certainly wouldn’t hit popcorn out of someone’s hands, I am certainly superstitious. Right before the tournament, Elizabeth tried to buy all of us T-shirts. She got me a Big 10 championship shirt, and got Charlie a Purdue shirt. But he didn’t like the feel of it, so I said since my T-shirt had not arrived, “I’ll take it” – and wore it for our first round game.

I have now worn the shirt for all the games. After beating Gonzaga, I said I had to wash the shirts so that I can wear them for Sunday. And Charlie said aren’t you wearing the Big 10 championship shirt. And I said, no that is the shirt I wear the next day – they keep winning with that pattern. He laughed.

Well, after Tennessee made the lead 32-21, he came downstairs and said I came down because they do better when I am downstairs. And they went on a 15-2 run.

Here is hoping Charlie stays down and watches the second half with me – Purdue needs all the luck they can get. BOILER UP!!!

Dalton Knecht has been so hot from three-point range, and the Lunatic was horrified as he shot an open shot off a scramble for the rebound. The three-pointer from the wing was pure and the Volunteers went up 32-21 as Matt Painter called timeout.

I don’t know what Painter said to them, but Purdue went on a huge 15-2 run to end the half. Fletcher Loyer had two drives to the basket, Zach Edey got a dunk, and the fouls on Tennessee started to send the Boilers to the line.

I really hope Purdue’s three point shooting comes back in the second half. The Boilers are doing a fantastic job in the paint, but a team that is one of the best from three-point range went 1-8 from beyond the arc.

Still, if you told me that we would be 1-8 from three and that Tennessee’s Knecht would have 18 points, I would be elated to hear that we were still winning by 2. Edey has 19, Braden Smith has 9, and Loyer’s 6 points triggered the run to end the half.

So excited, so nervous!!!! BOILER UP!!!

Hope that everyone is having a happy Easter weekend!!! And what a better way to celebrate than with men’s and women’s Elite 8 games all afternoon!!!!

At 1 pm, we head to Albany as 1 seed South Carolina (35-0) plays 3 seed Oregon State (27-7) to see who will be the first woman’s team into the final four (game on ABC)

At 2:20 pm, the Lunatic turns into a nervous crazy mess as 1 seed Purdue (32-4) plays 2 seed Tennessee (27-8) in Detroit in a re-match of their Maui Tournament semi-final. BOILER UP!!! (game on CBS)

At 3 pm, we head to Portland as 1 seed Texas (33-4) plays 3 seed NC State (30-6) – it is crazy impressive that both NC State’s men and women are both in the Elite 8 (game on ABC)

At 5:05 pm, Tobacco Road takes its show to Dallas as 4 seed Duke (27-8) vs 11 seed NC State (25-14) in a re-match of their ACC quarterfinal to determine which team will represent the ACC in the Final Four (game on CBS)

Four great games to determine the regional championships! Enjoy the games!!!!

Mark Sears had a rough first half – shooting 2 for 11 from the field. But he came out in the second half hot and never stopped. He went 6 for 7 from three in the second half, and helped lead the Tide to a 89-82 victory over Clemson.

Alabama partially got ahead with about 4 minutes to play with the inside power of Nick Pringle – he would get the ball in the lane and power his way to the basket. He would either get the layup or get the offensive rebound or get the foul. And in one case, he managed to score and get the foul on PJ Hall – which fouled him out of the game with 3:30 to play. His dominance in the lane extended the Alabama lead to 9.

Clemson tried to get back into as Ian Schieffelin got a layup and foul, and Joseph Girard III hit a deep three-pointer to cut the lead to 3 with 2 minutes left.

Alabama got the ball into Pringle again who extended the lead to 6 with another layup and foul. But Clemson quickly came back down the court as Jack Clark made a layup.

The play that might have been the dagger was with 1:17 as Sears faked a drive to the basket, took a step back behind the three-point line, and then drained a three pointer to go up 7 points.

Clemson cut the lead to 5 when it looked like Alabama would win it off a missed three pointer. But RJ Godfrey ripped the ball out of the Alabama defender’s hands and hit the layup. Then, a strange thing happened.

Clemson didn’t foul right away – which would turn out to be a great decision. They would pressure Alabama and force a turnover instead. Sears quickly fouled as the ball was stolen. Now, instead of watching Alabama shooting free throws to extend the lead, it would be Clemson getting a chance to cut the lead without the clock moving.

And then Jack Clark missed both free throws. This time, Clemson fouled and Grant Nelson drained both free throws. Then, it was just a matter of running the clock down to zero. And the celebration was on as Alabama made it to their first ever trip to the Final Four.

So, the Crimson Tide join the Huskies in the Final Four – half the excitement is set. The other two will be decided Sunday afternoon!!!!

Congratulations to the Huskies and Crimson Tide!!!!

Elizabeth’s sister Mary Kate is in town so we were enjoying a nice family dinner at Elizabeth’s mom’s place. Of course, I have been checking the score and was impressed that Illinois was only down at halftime by 5 in what was a really tight game.

It has been an eventful last 20 minutes

I chipped my tooth eating dinner – so now I am a little distressed.

I have found out that Elizabeth’s mom got a new printer which is not working, and so now I am trying to install it after Mary Kate and Katie have both tried multiple times – not a fan at the moment of the HP Envy printers – although part of that could be because my tooth is chipped.

My phone has dropped to 12% meaning that I might lose my access to both the games and HP Envy Support YouTube videos.

To ignore a frustrating moment with the printer I thought I would check the game. And I see UConn has gone on a 31-6 run to start the first half. So with 4 minutes left, the Huskies are up 29.

Well at least I don’t have to worry about my phone dying – congratulations on the Huskies eventually becoming the first team to make their way to the 2024 Final Four.

So, as Illinois rolls into their Elite 8 game against Connecticut, I have severely mixed feelings.

Being from Chicago, I have several friends and family who went to Illinois for school. Illinois was one of the two schools I chose between for both my undergraduate and graduate studies – I was very happy at Purdue, but I knew that Illinois was also a great school.

That is why I am so conflicted. Because there is no doubt that Illinois would not be in the Elite 8 if it wasn’t for guard Terrence Shannon Jr. He is averaging 23.3 points per game – ranking 3rd amongst all Division I players. He is clearly a gifted athlete. But that is not the full story.

In December, Shannon was charged with rape for an alleged incident that took place in Kansas at a bar after the Kansas / Illinois football game. The allegations said that he summoned the woman over to him, grabbed her butt, reached under her skirt and inappropriately touched her. There were enough witnesses that the Douglas County district attorney’s office decide to press charges.

I was actually proud of what Illinois behind that. The university cited its zero-tolerance sexual misconduct policy and indefinitely suspended Shannon from all team activities including games. At the time, Illinois was ranked #9 in the country. In a world that it seems all that matters is winning, Illinois took the moral high ground and said that is not who they are.

That suspension lasted 30 days. Because Shannon sued the university saying that the university violated his civil rights – depriving him of an opportunity to be a high NBA draft pick and earn NIL endorsements. So, based on the lawsuit, Illinois had to re-instate him – and he has been on fire since, leading Illinois to the Elite 8.

The whole situation is sad. Don’t get me wrong – Shannon clearly deserves to have his day in court – our legal system presumes people are innocent until proven guilty. But that doesn’t mean he deserves to play basketball. It means he deserves not to go to jail until he gets to defend himself.

And he certainly has questions to answer. Why would he even be in a Lawrence bar that evening? I think it is crazy that he travelled to a football game that was multiple states away but I know some students would do this. But I probably wouldn’t be hanging out afterward in the bar scene potentially rubbing in that their school lost after the game. Not to mention the need to get back to campus for classes on Monday (naively realized the fact that classes are important is a ridiculous concept). Even if he is innocent, he certainly did not make good choices.

But the university followed their written student policy. The university could have just as easily expelled him, but they at least let him have a chance to defend himself. If you believe the players are students, there is nothing that states a student has a right to play a sport. If you believe the players are employees of the university, I am pretty sure that they don’t need a ton of reasons to fire an employee – especially if they have a written policy that states the rules.

Where does the slope end – does a player who doesn’t get enough playing time get to sue because it could stop them from getting drafted in the NBA. If a player has failing grades and is ruled ineligible, can they sue because it could stop them from getting drafted in the NBA. If a player is a star, does that mean they don’t have to follow any of the rules that everyone else have to follow.

If this had been some random student, he would likely have been expelled – and would have no recourse despite the fact that no longer being able to go to Illinois can effect him in the job market.

Many of the people who will be drafted are not even in college – there are plenty of international players or G-league players who will get drafted. After the season is over, the NBA holds sessions to evaluate players – he could have gone to those without finishing the season at Illinois.

I understand legally why the judge ruled in Shannon’s favor – and the whole world of NIL makes it even more complicated to evaluate if the player is simply a student or if they are an employee. I am sure the judge didn’t want to be anywhere near the case as it creates problems no matter what they chose.

But it was still the wrong decision. Basketball is not a civil right. Just because leading them through the NCAA tournament could make his draft stock rise doesn’t change that he has any rights to be on that court. Does he get to sue the NBA when the draft happens before his case is decided and teams don’t want to risk a high draft pick on a player who might miss the season because he is in jail? It could cost him millions.

But apparently everyone else is responsible to give him the opportunity for those millions. He can do whatever he wants and as long as he scores 20 points per game, he should be paid by everyone.

So, as much as I would like to root for Illinois, I can’t root for Shannon. I guess I can root for Shannon to get in foul trouble, have to sit, and see one of the other Illinois players lead them to victory. And then maybe he will sue the referees for calling bad fouls that made him miss part of the game.

Then again, it probably is a moot point. With the Huskies beating everyone by double digits, my feelings probably don’t matter as Connecticut appears to be on their own mission to destroy everyone.

It is almost here – the Elite 8.  We have the Big 10 tourney champion against the Big East regular season / tourney champion (Illinois vs Connecticut) in the East.  We have the West with its upsets as Alabama faces Clemson.  We have the ACC championship part 2, as Duke plays NC State in the South.  And of course, my Boilers (the Big 10 regular season champs) take on the SEC regular season champs (Tennessee) in the Midwest Region.  8 amazing teams with 8 amazing stories – all hoping to continue to write more chapters to theirs.

We also have some amazing performances in the Lunatic pool.  Congratulations to Sam Brunner who is winning the Standard Pool with 700 points.  Following him closely in a tie for 2^nd is Carrie Viera and Michael Swinson – just 20 points behind.  We have a 5 way tie for 4^th – just 40 points behind – between Anne Haines, Wil Austin, Taylor Early, Ann Schumaker, and my uncle – Bill Yost.  And then in 9^th place, just 50 points behind, are Kelly Woods, Scott Grimes, and Rob Nesbitt.  And we have another 20 people within 80 points (just one extra correct Elite 8 team).

In the Upset Pool, Michael Swinson is all alone at 259 points in first.  He is being followed by Gus Woodburn (249), Ann Schumaker (247), Taylor Early (245), and Bill Yost (240) – but beware those entries that have NC State (who if they win Sunday will score 44 points) or Clemson (who if they win tonight will score 24 points).

We have a three-way tie for the Second Chance Pool, as our leaders got 7 of the 8 Sweet 16 games correct.  Those leaders are Tanmay Gautam, Eric Zeidler, and my daughter Katie Hodgson (which is probably driving her brother crazy – apparently picking Clemson and NC State to win their regions might not be as wild as first thought when she put the picks in).   Also ironic in that is the person in my family who could care the least about how they do is Katie – who is proud that she filled out her bracket in a couple minutes.  They are being closely followed by those who got 6 of 8 games correct (also an impressive feat) – Kristian Schmidt, John Woodburn, Scott Grimes, Kathleen Godwin, Karl Knox, Gerry Sherman, David Ogle and Drew Bradley.

Congratulations to all our leaders!!!!  The Lunatic kind of fell apart in the Sweet 16 – as teams like UNC and Marquette fell.  But while he might be too far down the pool to win, he really only cares about the results of hopefully 3 more games.  BOILER UP!!!!  

I apologize for skirting my duties. I normally would be blogging about the Elite 8 all day. Emails would be flying out at 1 in the morning. But the Lunatic needed a mental and physical health break. I have been sitting in front of a computer a lot this month.

I promise to give more details this afternoon as the Lunatic has fun outdoors!