Stomp The Lunatic

They did in a couple minutes what I tried to do in my unwritten stories blog.

– Purdue – we are a team looking for redemption

– NC State – we are a team of destiny

– Alabama – we are a team who is writing our own story

– Connecticut – we are a team defending our title

So very excited!!! So very nervous!!! I want to see Purdue win so badly!!!! I have my lucky Purdue shirt! I have my cherry coke zero in my old Purdue cup that used to help me get through late night study sessions with unhealthy amounts of soda!!!

Here we go!!!!

I had a plan – I was going to write all day. I never made it outside to exercise. Maybe tomorrow.

My blog posts took me more time to write than I had hoped because I had a few more pieces I wanted to write. But they will take a ton of time and research so they will have to wait until Sunday.

The one I will promise to eventually do is my Grading the Conferences. There are a bunch of articles that I see in the media that I try to do my own versions – of which, this is one of them.

I will also tell you one that I have seen ESPN do that I refuse to do because I hate. Each round, they do a Reseeding the Final Four / Elite Eight / Sweet 16, etc. I get what they are thinking, but at the end of the day, I think it is terribly unfair and it leads to choices that I think is unrealistic.

I know they are trying to identify what team is playing well at this very second and re-rank their chances. And they almost always read as the top 4 seeds still around are now the 1 seeds, the next top 4 seeds are now the 2 seeds, with a couple of changes simply so it is not just moving the teams down the board and they can claim they switched things up.

Why do we need to do this? Sure, it gives you a chance to try to correct a mistake by the committee on a team that you thought should have been 1 seed higher or lower.

But it normally leads to boring reads that have a horrible chance to be wrong. Just as an example from ESPN’s/

Alabama was ranked 14th of 16 in the Sweet 16. They were ranked 8th of 8 in the Elite 8. They were ranked 4th of 4 in the Final 4.

It makes it sound like ESPN simply doesn’t believe that Alabama should be winning any of these games.

If we did a decent job of seeding the teams to begin with, the rank ordering shouldn’t change because of a couple games. Can’t we just celebrate the fact that they pulled an upset to get where they are, and enjoy the Cinderella run that the team might be on? We can write one or two articles about how the tournament was seeded and then let the teams show that championships are won on the court and not on paper.

I know that the media needs material to last three weeks. I guess I do a lot of the same things because I like to have blogging material as well. But I still don’t know why I open the article every time and then go, why did I waste my time seeing that they still think that the #1 seeds are still 1 seeds.

Well – only 20 minutes until the games. Time for the Lunatic to rest his fingers for a little bit and possibly lose his voice instead. The Final Four is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy the games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Lunatic went from down after the first two rounds to up big in his imaginary handicapping. So, the Lunatic is playing with imaginary house money!!!! It is once again a reminder to me that I probably should not try to rank my bets – once I started to simply bet the max amount to catch up, I went on a charge. With only 6 possible bets left to make, I only need to win one of them to have a winning tournament. And of course, if things go badly tonight, I could always simply bet the lowest tier of bets to stay ahead. Probably won’t do that – because that is no fun (and its all imaginary). But still pleased that I ended up ahead this year. My Final Four picks are on the Handicapping site – respect the streaks!!!!

This evening, another chapter will be written for these four teams. For two of them, they might seem like the final chapter, but as we will see, they might turn out to just be the beginning. It is the beauty and the cruelty of March (although I guess at this point, we are now in April).

March 15th, 2024

Virginia’s Isaac McKneely stood on the free throw line with 6 second left. Making the next shot would send the Cavaliers into the ACC championship. Instead, McKneely would miss the free throw and in a frantic rush up the court, the ball ended up in Michael O’Connell’s hands. His three-pointer at the buzzer caused the stadium to erupt as we were heading to overtime. No one would realize the impact of that one shot.

North Carolina State entered the ACC tournament as a team not even considered on the bubble. They had lost 7 of their last 9 games leading into the tournament, and it looked like they were likely going t76-o be hosting an NIT tournament game. They beat Louisville and Syracuse, then they upset Duke, and then when all that was necessary was a free throw to go down, NC State miraculously got the miss that they need and the buzzer beater they needed. They would continue to ride that momentum as they upset North Carolina to claim the ACC tournament championship.

Then, the Wolfpack kept winning. Ben Middlebrooks scored a career high 21 points as they upset Texas Tech. DJ Burns muscled his way to the lane to lead the Wolfpack to a victory over Oakland in overtime. DJ Horne scored 19 points to lead the Wolfpack against 2 seed Marquette. And Burns came back to score a season-high 29 points to lead the Wolfpack to a 76-64 victory over Duke.

The Wolfpack continue to be one of the best stories of the tournament as they refuse to leave the dance. They are going on the type of run that teams dream about – and even better, the run is happening at the best time – in March.

DJ Burns is fun to watch – he looks like he is having so much fun with his infectious smile. He is very good in the post and a tremendous passer if you double team him. DJ Horne is the Wolfpack’s leading scorer – an athletic guard that can quickly get to the basket.

Memories of the historic 1983 Wolfpack run have returned – as that was the last time the Wolfpack made the Final Four. But as much as we like to go back to the past to remember, don’t confuse this team for the 1983 team. This NC State team is writing their own amazing story that is special no matter what history has happened.

According to Vegas, they will be -9.5 underdogs going into the game against Purdue. But that seems to be just fine to the Wolfpack. Underestimate them at your own peril. The Wolfpack are not simply happy to be here – they can win a National Championship if their magical run can last 3 more days.

March 17th, 2023

This day was the end of one story and the beginning of another. Because this is the day that they entered the NCAA Tournament as a 1 seed, and this is the day that they would lose to 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson. In that game, the Boilers shot 5-26 (19.2%) from three-point range as their inability to hit an outside shot ended their season.

In a little bit of a surprise, player-of-the-year Zach Edey decided to come back for his senior season. For some reason, Edey was not believed to be a first-round pick in the draft, and so he decided to come back to the Boilers to try to win a championship.

Purdue doesn’t often use the transfer portal. Matt Painter believes in bringing high schoolers who plan to stay for four years and creating a team that grows together learning to be efficient in a complicated play-book. But the Boilers would recruit one transfer – senior Lance Jones from Southern Illinois. Jones is an athletic guard who plays good defense and added another outside shooter for the team.

Two freshman added additional perimeter strength on their bench as Camden Heide and Myles Colvin are both shooting over 40% from three-point range. Senior Mason Gillis is the Big 10 6th man of the year award winner as he worked on his shot and continues to play aggressive defense.

The Boilers still have Edey – who is now a two-time player of the year award winner. He is truly an unstoppable force as typically, the other team fouls out multiple players simply trying to stop him. They still have Braden Smith, a dynamic point guard who is averaging over 7 assists a game.

But maybe most notably, they are 2nd in the country shooting from three-point range, as their 40.6% puts them only behind Kentucky.

This story has always been a quest for redemption. And they have earned that redemption and more by making it to the first Final Four since 1980 for the Boilermakers. But they have their eyes on one last prize – a national championship.

Jan 24, 2024

On this night in Tuscaloosa, the Alabama Crimson Tide got a chance to play in-state rival Auburn. They had played multiple ranked teams in the non-conference season, but many of them ended in losses. The Tide had been winning games in the SEC, but they did suffer a loss to Tennessee.

Still, they were 5-1 and on their home court. Senior Mark Sears would lead the Tide by scoring 22 points and help get Alabama back in to the rankings discussion, as they returned to the polls as the 24th place team in the country.

With a win against Florida, the Tide would move to 11-2 in the SEC with a game lead over Tennessee. But the Tide would lose 3 of their last 5 to fall into a tie for 2nd place. And after a loss in the SEC tournament quarterfinals to Florida, the doubts began.

No one doubted that Alabama could score. Coach Nate Oats leads a fast-paced style of offense that probably has not met a three-point shot that it doesn’t like. It is a very analytical approach. If I shoot 30 shots and hit 50% (a pretty good percent), I will walk away with 30 points. I only need to shoot 30% from three-point range to match that point total on those 30 shots.

The Tide have 7 players on their team who have shot 99 three-pointers this season. They only hit 36.5% of them, but they shoot a lot of them. And that has led the Tide to score 90.6 points per game – the highest points per game in the country.

But the Tide were also giving up 81.1 points per game (357th in the country). So, if the threes were not falling, their defense would not tend to save them. Many, including the Lunatic, talked about how this lack of defense made them a vulnerable top seed. They might get past the first rounds, but they might be in trouble once they get to the Sweet 16. As many looked for 13 seeds that could pull upsets, Charleston became a popular pick because they would be going against the Alabama defense.

But the Tide took all the negative statements and doubts and used them as fuel. They have been capturing all the quotes from Charles Barkley on TV and AL.com on the internet, and use them as motivation before the games. Grant Nelson scored a season-high 24 points to lead the Tide past 1 seed North Carolina. And then Mark Sears hit seven three-pointers against Clemson to lead the Tide to their first Final Four in school history.

The Tide enters the game tonight as a 11.5 point underdog to the Huskies. That might seem like an insult and that no one expects the Tide to compete in this game, but when you realize that the Huskies have gone 10 games in the last two tournaments winning by double digits, you realize that this is basically saying that people think Alabama has a better chance of keeping it close than most teams.

But the honest truth is that Alabama is unlike any team that Connecticut has played against. Almost any one on the court will shoot the ball from three, forcing you to extend your defense to an uncomfortable level and opening up the opportunity for their talented guards like Mark Sears and Aaron Estrada to drive to the lane.

The odds might be against Alabama, but the Tide seem to thrive on that doubt. And if they can knock down their three-pointers, they can beat any team in the country. They certainly can win two more games to win the National Championship

Jan 17, 2024

It is a little surprising, but according to the ESPN story that I am looking at, this date was the first time in 15 years the Connecticut Huskies were ranking #1 in the polls. The Huskies had certainly finished the season #1, but they typically didn’t start there.

This year was similar, the Huskies started off their title defense in 6th in the polls. They had a good non-conference season where they beat UNC, Texas and Gonzaga. Then, they kept winning while the other top teams lost, waiting for their chance to hold the top of the rankings.

The Huskies won against ranked Creighton 62-48 with their trademark defense and a balanced offense. The Huskies would hold on to the top spot for 6 weeks until they got upset by Creighton on February 20th. That would be the last time the Huskies have lost this season. By being the only major conference champion to defend their regular season title with a conference tournament title, they claimed the NCAA tournament #1 seed and the final poll top spot.

Connecticut is so balanced as they have 5 players averaging double digits in points. They play a very slow-paced half-court offense that makes you work for the entire shot clock. But they then create tons of fast-break baskets from their suffocating defense.

It all starts in the paint with 7’2″ Donovan Clingan – if anyone tries to get into the paint, Clingan shuts them down. Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer and Stephon Castle give the Huskies three guards who can play tremendous defense and can score. Alex Karaban gives the Huskies a forward who can also shoot from the outside.

There has been no defending champion who has repeated to win the title since Florida in 2007. But in this March, this Huskies team appears to be ready to join them. They beat Stetson by 39, Northwestern by 17 (although they were up at one point by 30), San Diego State by 30, and Illinois by 25.

The Illinois game showed the problem when facing the Connecticut Huskies. With about 2 minutes in the game, Illinois was hanging around with the Huskies as the game was tied at 23. Then, the Huskies went on a 30-0 run. That is correct, Illinois went slightly over 9 minutes without scoring a point. If you look at KenPom statistics, Illinois ranked 4th in the country in offensive efficiency. And the Huskies defense shut them down for no points for 9 entire minutes.

The Huskies are currently the defending champions and the #1 team in the regular season. To be the best, you have to beat the best. And I guarantee you that you will have to be at your best in order to beat the Huskies. Will the favorite be able to win the two final games to claim back-to-back championships.

April 6, 2024

These 4 great teams are in Glendale, Arizona to try to add two more victories to their stories. Less than 1 hour away from tip-off. So get ready to cheer!!! Get ready to watch some great basketball!!! Get ready for more stories to be written!!! Enjoy the games!!!

I was thinking more about the game last night between Iowa and Connecticut. I do think the illegal screen call is a little controversial but the right call. In real-time, it looked like she was still moving a little, and she did push her elbow out to impact the path of the defender. The defender certainly did sell it to make it look worse than it was – but it was something that certainly was in the realm of being called by the referee as a foul.

While it is a shame because you want to see the end of a great game like that be won with a shot or a great defensive play, I don’t agree with some of the arguments out there that you can’t call a foul at that point in the game. If it is a foul, it is a foul. We can make arguments on whether that call has been consistently been called – but the amount of time doesn’t matter. If it is a soccer game, and there is only a minute left in the game, does that mean players can suddenly go off-sides because referees should let the players decide the game. The rules are the rules – and they should be called whether there is 5 minutes in the game or 5 seconds in the game.

It is also not the reason UConn lost the game. There are plenty of plays where UConn went down the court and did not score (or stop Iowa from scoring). If they are gotten the rebound on Clark’s missed free throw, they would have called time-out and got the ball on their side of the court with 2 seconds to make a game tying or winning shot.

There were times in the first half that I thought Iowa would go up for a layup and get fouled with no call happening. There are several places where the call could have gone the other way but it didn’t.

It is a shame that a team had to lose that game – because it was a fun, exciting game that went to the very buzzer. But the game was not stolen because of a call. I could think it is controversial because everyone is complaining about it. If you think it is a bad call because you felt that she was not moving and set a legal screen, that is fair. But it is not a bad call because there was only 4 seconds in the game.

And I would like to believe that the call did not happen because of some conspiracy that wanted Iowa to win the game. As much as I criticize calls from time to time, I have too much respect for referees to believe that they would have made a call because it was perceived that everyone wants to see an Iowa / South Carolina final. It is a fast game that is hard to officiate and the referee made a decisive call when they saw a defensive player get hit by a screen in which they felt the screener was moving. They should make that call.

I debated whether I would write this story at all. But I mentioned in previous emails that I was rooting against the LSU women’s team because of their coach, and so I figured I should explain some of it.

There are a lot of things that I have not liked about things that Kim Mulkey has said over time. Her comments to stop testing for COID during the Final 4 of the pandemic really rubbed me the wrong way. And there are plenty of other historical things – such as Baylor not retiring Brittney Griner’s number until after Mulkey left for LSU because of a feud between the coach and player. But lets focus on the recent pieces.

The SEC tournament title game between South Carolina and LSU got ugly. LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson intentionally fouled South Carolina after a steal and then bumped into South Carolina’s Ashlyn Watkins. And then everything escalated into chaos when Kamilla Cardoso shoved the LSU guard to the floor. The game then was delayed for 20 minutes as the benches cleared, multiple players were ejected and Johnson’s brother jumped over the offical’s table from the stands to run on the court to get into the fight.

After the game, Cardoso apologized for her actions. South Carolina’s Dawn Staley gave the type of statement you would expect a coach to say. “I just want to apologize to the basketball community… When you’re playing in championship games like this, in our league, things get heated. No bad intentions… I want to apologize for us playing a part in that… That’s not who we are and not what we’re about.” I thought it was classy – it mentioned that the emotions are high but fighting should not happen and we are sorry about it.

Then, of course, there was Kim Mulkey. “No one wants to see that ugliness. But I can tell you this: I wish she would’ve pushed Angel Reese. Don’t push a kid – you’re 6-foot-8 – don’t push somebody that little. That was uncalled for in my opinion. Let those two girls that were jawing, let them go at it.” No apology. No recognition that in a game being watched by so many people that having it delayed by 20 minutes due to the bench’s flowing out onto the court to fight was not wrong. And most likely, if Angel Reese had done what Cordoso did, I am sure that Mulkey would have come out and said Reese was defending her teammate like a good teammate would.

But then, she doubled down a few days later. “It’s so out of control with the media right now. You don’t get this much attention when men do it. So why do you keep writing it about the women? It really comes across, and I’ll just say it, it comes across as a little bit sexist. And you’re tearing down two great teams. You’re tearing down a woman who coaches one of those teams. Stop it, it’s not newsworthy after the first introduction. I’ve seen every men’s game that’s had something like that, and it’s no big deal. Nobody got in a fight. There were no punches thrown. There was nobody choked. It was a shoving match. Whoop dee doo! So let’s move on.”

There is some truth in what she said – at the end of the day, it did turn out to be simply a shoving match. My problem is the fact that Mulkey doesn’t have the recognization of the situation. Two top 10 teams in women’s basketball got into an altercation, the leading scorer for the undefeated #1 team in the country was suspended for the first game of the NCAA Tournament because of it, a relative for one of the players was arrested and spent the night in jail for his role in the altercation, and one of the coaches reaction to it is that she wished the player had pushed her center so we could watch her put the player in her place.

So, lets do a hypothetical that never would have happened, but lets do it. Lets say Purdue had not lost to Wisconsin in the Big 10 tournament and was playing Illinois in the Big 10 championship. Late in the game, Lance Jones steals the ball from Terrence Shannon and Shannon intentionally fouls him. Then, he bumps into Braden Smith and starts jawing with him. So, Zach Edey comes out of nowhere and send Shannon flying to the ground. The benches clear, Shannon’s brother (I don’t know if he has a brother or not – but lets play along) runs through the stands over the table and shoves Edey, police run onto the court to try to calm the situation, Edey gets suspended for the game against Grambling in the NCAA tournament, and the Illinois coach says, “I wish that Edey had shoved Coleman Hawkins instead to pick on someone his own size”. Do you think that the Illinois coach would be raked over the coals for his comments?

First of all, this is ridiculous – there is no one who is Edey’s size. Second of all, most coaches are smart enough to say the correct thing and apologize for how the heated situation escalated – and could never imagine Brad Underwood or Matt Painter saying that they wish the fight had happened with people their own size. But most importantly, realize the situation. A #1 seed is losing their star player for the first round of the tournament. A fight just happened where a fan was arrested for what happened. And you don’t think the media would be all over this story.

My feeling at the time was that the media isn’t tearing into Mulkey because they are sexist. They are tearing into Mulkey because the fight got out of hand, it had ramifications for the #1 seed of the NCAA Tournament and the only person not recognizing that was Mulkey. The only thing sexist in my mind at the time was that the brother came running onto the court thinking that Flau’jae Johnson needed to be defended.

She recently has been put under fire by the Louisiana governor because of the fact that during the Iowa / LSU game, while the national anthem was being played, the Iowa players were out there holding hands respectfully while the LSU players were nowhere to be seen. That is because they were in the locker room doing their pre-game routines. He even threatened that scholarships should be taken away for not showing respect to the national anthem. This all falls on Mulkey.

I don’t think that the players are protesting the national anthem, and I certainly don’t think Mulkey is. Mulkey even said as such – it is just their routine. “Honestly, I don’t even know when the anthem was played. We have a routine where the team comes off the court at the 12 minute mark and we do our pre-game stuff,” said Mulkey.

Others also pointed out that the LSU football team also is not out during the national anthem. So, this isn’t a men’s/women’s thing. We can all argue about whether or not the national anthem should be played at sporting events – and while I like it, I can see both sides of the argument. But I will say this potentially unpopular statement.

She said she doesn’t even know when the anthem is played. That is a horrible lie – she knows exactly when the national anthem is played. She made a choice that she wants to use that time to prepare to win the game. But that choice has consequences – because whether it is fair or not, this gets perceived as the team is protesting the anthem. And when 12.3 million people are watching, it is a bad look when your opponents are out there respectfully for the anthem and you are not even on the court.

Then, during another press-conference, she used her time to talk about how her lawyers were ready to sue the Washington Post for a hit piece that was about to be published. She complained about how it was ridiculous that they were demanding answers to questions when she was preparing for the NCAA Tournament.

So, I read the eventual Washington Post story, and I don’t think it put her in the best light. I also don’t think that there was anything in there that required the need to state that your lawyers would be reviewing it and preparing a defamation lawsuit. And to be fair to the Washington Post writer, I am not sure how he is supposed to write an article about Kim Mulkey when Kim Mulkey refuses to answer any questions. Of course, they were asking for interview requests and answers to their questions – because a story about one of the best coaches in the history of the game is most relevant in March – when that coach is leading her team towards a National Championship.

Over the month, I have read stories about many of the coaches in the tournament. And they had quotes and interviews from that coach. I guess Mulkey has every right to not give an interview to a major news organization – but it seems a little wrong to then prepare to sue them when the story gets slanted in a negative light (that you don’t even know yet since at the time you mention the lawsuit, the story has not been published).

I was ready to argue that it isn’t sexist that the Washington Post wants to write a story about woman who has coached more national champions than only Geno Auriemma and Pat Summit. It is fantastic for the game of women’s basketball that the media wants to write an expose about one of the best basketball coaches of all time. And maybe if she spent more time working with the media instead of fighting the media, she could shape her story the way she wants it.

And then the LA Times article came out. And all the things that Kim Mulkey has been fighting about came out for all to see. And everything suddenly gets murky.

I enjoy a joke that I once heard. “When everyone is out to get you – paranoia is just smart thinking.” It is hard to blame Kim Mulkey for not trusting the media when stories like the LA Times come out. And I did a quick check. This is the first time I had heard that the LSU football team was not on the field for the national anthem. So why is one of the top 15 teams in college football not getting called out for this practice, but Kim Mulkey’s Tigers are. I don’t remember the Louisiana governor coming out this fall about the football team, so why is the women’s team being held to a different standard.

As much as I don’t want to say it, Kim Mulkey is right. At the end of the day, Kim Mulkey is a fantastic basketball coach who should be respected for the work she does. She is a fighter and she develops teams of extremely strong women who will not back down from anyone. It is not fair or right that she be criticized for being a passionate fighter for her team, because while other coaches might say it more politically correct, they all will go to fight for their players.

She is also wrong. Because as unfair as it is that she has to deal with the perceptions, it is important for the game of women’s college basketball. She has to understand that as a Hall of Famer as a player who will likely some day be a Hall of Famer as a coach and is currently constantly creating teams capable of winning the national championship, she is one of the faces of women’s basketball. And so she is going to get a ton more attention from the press, and that attention will sadly come with the criticisms. So while it might be that she wants to constantly fight with them, she needs to realize that part of the reason that everyone is hanging on every word she says is because she is important. And when she comes out and says things that don’t sound right, whether fair or not, she will get criticized.

Whether Kim Mulkey likes it or not, she has earned some of the criticism that she gets. She is confrontational and has strong opinions, and she is happy to let everyone know it. She should get respect for not backing down from her view when she shouldn’t have to, and she should get criticism for the perceptions around her program that those views cause.

In doing research on how great Kim Mulkey is, I learned something interesting. Kim Mulkey has won 722 games, which places her 39th all-time in number of victories (and of course, her 4 national championships is 3rd – simply amazing). However, did you know that in the Iowa / LSU game, she was not the coach who had won the most games. Lisa Bluder, the coach for Iowa, has won 881 games – making her tied for 11th. And while I am not an expert (since I didn’t even know she was the winningest coach in Big 10 history), while I am sure she has been criticized by the media for something, she certainly does not get the kind of negative press that Mulkey gets.

It is not fair that Mulkey should have to defend teaching a physical brand of basketball. But life is unfortunately not fair. And the reality is that when you win as often as Mulkey does, people are going to listen to what you say – and many are going to disagree with you.

For me, I still will likely find myself rooting against LSU while Mulkey is there. It is similar to the fact that I disliked coaches like Bobby Knight and Jim Boeheim for things they did or said so much that I rooted against their teams. But I have a ton of respect for Kim Mulkey, just like I did for Knight and Boeheim. There is no questioning that she is one of the best women’s college basketball coaches ever, and she deserves a lot more praise for her accomplishments than the constant criticisms she gets for some of her opinions.

Well – you all might have to put up with a lot of ranting from the Lunatic! Ever since I stepped into Mackey Arena for the first time in 1991 to watch my first Purdue basketball game, I thought about how exciting it would be to watch my Boilers play in the Final 4. And now that moment is 7 hours away.

So much nervous energy. So much excitement. So much material left for the blog. Because with the Final 4 consuming almost every thought for me, it only makes sense for those thoughts to find their way into the blog. I almost went golfing to try to take my mind off of it – it does look like it will be a beautiful day. But I couldn’t risk running into a 5 1/2 hour round and not getting back in time for the game. I should probably find a way to do some exercise – maybe I will see if I can shoot above 70 percent from the line again this afternoon. It is very unclear at this point as the Lunatic struggles with his emotions.

There are some blog stories that he hasn’t written yet – partially because he couldn’t figure out the right way to write them, and partially because he has been enjoying the games so much. That will probably fill my Saturday afternoon.

So much excitement!!!! So much anticipation!!!! The Final Four is almost here!!!!

It was such a great game that it was a shame to see it end this way. I am sure that experts will spend the next day arguing on whether or not the call was correct. Sadly, we will never know whether UConn would have made a basket on that last possession, or if Iowa would have held on to win. But it was a still an amazing finish to a great game.

In the first half, UConn had the control. They forced a ton of turnovers, held Clark to only a few points, everyone was missing contested layups, and the entire Iowa team seemed out of sorts based on the pressure that the Huskies were bringing. This led to the Huskies being up 6 at halftime.

Iowa jumped out quickly in the third quarter. And by doing a better job of controlling the ball and getting Caitlin Clark a few better looks, they had managed to tie the game going into the 4th quarter.

That charge continued into the 4th quarter as Hannah Stuelke hit a layup and Clark hit a three-pointer to give the Hawkeyes a 5 point lead. They would grow that lead to 9 with a little under 6 to play as Gabbie Marshall hit a two point shot from the wing, that at first glance looked like a three-pointer but her foot was just barely on the line.

But the time-out to review how many points the shot was helped UConn regroup. Aaliyah Edwards made a layup and Paige Bueckers hit a three-pointer to make it a 4 point lead with about 4 minutes left. Both teams were able to get the ball inside a few times to trade baskets, but the lead stayed at 4 with about a minute to play.

That is when Huskies’ Nika Muhl pressured Kate Martin to force a turnover. Muhl took the ball down the court, passed the ball to KK Arnold, and Arnold passed it back to Muhl at the top of the key. Muhl would calmly hit the three pointer and cut the lead to 1.

Iowa got the ball into Clark and she started to take the clock down. Eventually, she drove to the basket, made a nice pass into Hannah Stuelke, who tried to pass the ball to a teammate but got the ball stolen, so it looked like the Huskies would get the final chance.

Muhl drove the ball down the sideline towards the corner, and as she got there with about 4 seconds left, an offensive foul was called on Aaliyah Edwards for an illegal screen. As they showed the replay, it looked like Edwards had just barely set her position before the Iowa player ran into her. And while she certainly hit the Iowa player with her shoulder, it didn’t look any worse than your normal screen. Based on the rules, it probably was an illegal screen. Was it unfortunate that the game was going to likely end on that play.

Iowa got the ball into Clark, who only hit one of the two free throws. But Iowa’s Sydney Affolter grabbed the rebound. UConn would force a held ball, but that gave Iowa the ball out-of-bounds with under 2 seconds left. And Clark did something sneaky smart. When the Connecticut player guarding the in-bounds turned around for a second, Clark threw the ball off her back to allow another second to fall off the clock.

At this point, Iowa was able to simply get the ball in and throw it in the air. Iowa held on to win 71-69 to advance to the final where South Carolina awaits. We can only hope that the championship game will be as close and great as the game we just watched!

Congratulations to Iowa and South Carolina for advancing to the championship game!!!!!!

Thanks to stars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, Kamilla Cardoso and many others, the women’s tournament is starting to get the national attention that these amazing women deserve. The Iowa / LSU Elite 8 match drew a record 12.3 million viewers. I have read that tickets to see tickets to see the Women’s Final Four are actually costing more at this moment than the Men’s Final Four. These are all great things for the game.

And yet, this NCAA Tournament had its own set of problems that you hate to see happen. And while some of the things are out of the NCAA’s control and some of the things might be simple mistakes, it feels like we still need to do better.

Lets start with things that happened which are procedural which the NCAA can impact.

In the games being hosted at Gonzaga, the teams had to stay over 30 miles away in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho because there were not enough hotels in Spokane to host them, the men’s first and second round games, and a large youth volleyball tournament. Of course, while the Utah women were walking to and from a local restaurant to their hotel, someone started shouting racist slurs at the team – to the point that the NCAA and Gonzaga had to help them and UC-Irvine find a new hotel for safety reasons. Now, the NCAA certainly can’t control the fact that we still have people who would yell racial slurs at the players – in fact, it is horribly sad that we live in a world where this even happens (and it could have even happened if they were staying in the host city). And some credit goes to both Gonzaga and the NCAA for helping the teams quickly find new hotels (and the local police for continuing to investigate what happened). But if the tournament played at neutral sites in the first rounds, they could have controlled this to ensure all the teams could stay locally and potentially protected the players and coaches better.

In the NC State / Chattanooga game, one of the referees had to be removed from the game at halftime because it was identified on the referee’s social media that she got a master’s degree at Chattanooga. Apparently, the referee did not mention it so the NCAA didn’t realize a possible conflict of interest existed. This is amateur hour at the NCAA, and they should be ashamed. I am sure that all these referees have done at least one college basketball game over the season (and if they haven’t, the NCAA should be ashamed). You can not tell me that someone in the NCAA over the several months of the season can not be bothered to do a background check to make sure an alum of a school doesn’t referee a game for that school.

Then, we head to the Notre Dame / Oregon State game. This is when Irish freshman Hannah Hidalgo missed almost 4 minutes of the game because of her nose ring. In a postgame interview with ESPN, she said she was told she could wear her ring as usual (as she had all year) as long as it was covered. Well, apparently one of the referees changed her mind and forced Hidalgo to remove the ring before returning to the court. The rules are the rules. It clearly says jewelry is not allowed. But if what Hidalgo said in the interview is true, it is not acceptable to tell a player that what she is wearing is acceptable and then tell her once the game has started it is not. This took an important player off the court for 4 minutes. Hidalgo certainly shares some blame since she knows the rules. But if she was given that permission, it should not be taken away. Some credit that the officials made sure in the next game to ensure all players were not wearing jewelry before the game. But it certainly would not have been hard to do that before the Notre Dame / Oregon State game and prevented this from happening.

The one that is probably getting the most press is the court in Portland. In a ridiculous situation, the company that paints the lines on the court, made the three point line in some places 9 inches shorter than where it is supposed to be. The NCAA was quick to mention that the company also does the men’s courts, so while this happened in the women’s tournament, it was an unfortunate mistake that could have happened for either the women or men. But it baffles me that with only 2 sites for the Sweet 16, the NCAA couldn’t hire someone to do an audit on the court to ensure the lines are in the proper spots before the games. That is ridiculous that we have a critical championship tournament game being played on a court that does not have the correct lines. The fact that it was an unfortunate mistake is something that could have happened to any of the tournament games. But this was something easy to prevent.

There is also scheduling that I have a gripe with the NCAA. While some of this was certainly dictated by CBS and ABC/ESPN, it is still the NCAA’s tournament. So why is it that when we are in the Elite 8, that we have the two women’s games being played at basically the same time as the men. Why are we forcing college basketball fans to choose? Why couldn’t we start the games at 12, 2:30, 5 and 7:30. This isn’t like the first round where there are 32 games being played between the men and women. There was only 4 games being played – it feels like we could have spaced these out just a little bit more.

The NCAA has done a ton of work in making the women’s tournament better, and they are making great progress. They still have some room for improvement as this post mentions, but in a way, the fact that we are noticing some of these things is also progress. Several years ago, some of these errors would have gone completely unnoticed. The fact that we are commenting on it because so many of us are watching is great progress.

And to be fair, the biggest disappointing mistake that happened so far doesn’t belong to the NCAA. It belongs to the LA Times. This is where a journalist in trying to be cute in talking about how the UCLA vs LSU game is good vs. evil, they decided to call the LSU players “dirty debutantes”. Of course, the first thing as one might expect that you find in a google search of that term is a porn site. So, I hate trash talking – I think it is bad sportsmanship. And I imagine that if you printed some of the things that are said on the court, the person who said it would be embarrassed that came out of their mouth. But there is a difference between trash talking on the court and what a professional journalist publishes in a major newspaper. To call the LSU players evil because they do something all the teams do is irresponsible journalism. Then going and using a term that basically calls young ladies in college the equivalent of porn stars goes so far past irresponsible journalism that it is awful.

I certainly have many moments where I don’t agree with the statements from LSU coach Kim Mulkey. But this time, her comments were 100% correct. She said in a passionate press conference, “”You can criticize coaches all you want. That’s our business. You can come at us and say, ‘You’re the worst coach in America. I hate you. I hate everything about you.’ We expect that. It comes with the territory. But the one thing I’m not going to let you do, I’m not going to let you attack young people, and there were some things in this commentary that you should be offended by as women. It was so sexist. It was good versus evil in that game today. Evil? Called us dirty debutantes? Are you kidding me?”

The journalist did issue an apology, so they admitted their mistake. And as I blog about the games and the world, I constantly think to myself, in my attempt to be funny, have I crossed a line. So, I can be the first person to admit that it is difficult to not accidentally say something offensive. But the press is just as important in growing the game as the NCAA – publicity and coverage matters, so as much as the press will try to hold the NCAA accountable for making mistakes, the press has to be better at not making mistakes as well.

But in an awkward way, all of this is progress as well. Can you imagine a preview of a Sweet 16 game ten years ago generating the attention this article did? That fact that so many people are interested in the games that they are getting more coverage is progress. The fact that there are so many people in the LSU press conferences that we got to see a viral video of Kim Mulkey hold the press accountable is progress. The fact that we are talking about this is progress. Ideally, now that the conversation is happening, we need to learn and do better so that the women’s tournament continues to have a better opportunity to showcase these amazing athletes.

The future is bright. There are so many good players out there. There are so many talented coaches out there. More people are watching – and that is progress.

That’s right – it is that time when the Lunatic finds the only experts he can get onto his site to provide previews for the tournament. His family!!!

This typically involves my wonderful wife, Elizabeth, who is amazing for spending the time to put up with my craziness to pick the games. Then, of course, there is my son Charlie, who because he is following his picks will quickly pick teams so he can get back to playing video games. And then, there is my daughter Katie, who is lucky if she can tell you the 4 teams who are playing in the Final 4.

During lunch today, I told Katie and Elizabeth that it was time to make our picks, and Katie said, “Purdue is going to win! Done!” I made the realization that not only is the Lunatic biased, but so is his panel of experts. So, there is your preview.

BOILER UP!!!! Done!!!!! Expert opinions that you can only find on the Stomp the Lunatic Blog!!!