So we have reached the men's 2014 NCAA basketball tourney's half-way mark, per se! We are smack into the start of the 'Sweet Sixteen'! It has all arrived so fast. Before we know it this year's tournament will be done and gone. So let's embrace it for now for what it is worth. The men's tourney picks back up on March 27th and 28th! For now we break from the men's tourney and venture with close attention in all the entirety that we will surely muster for the women's 2014 NCAA basketball tournament!
So much excitement, cheering, jeering, elation, heartache and disappointment is what this year's men's 'Final Four Tournament' has brought us. So many brackets getting busted so early on because of the phenomenal play by the respective under-dogs in the different regions. All we can do is scratch our foreheads and watch in dismay and much awe as the Cinderella teams socked it to the perennial favorites. Below is a quick recap of the highs and lows to-date.
'Round of 64' (Thursday, 03-20-14 and Friday, 03-21-14):
East: 12) Harvard Crimson beat 5) Cincinnati Bearcats 61-57 (Thursday, 03-20-14)
South: 11) Dayton Flyers beat 6) Ohio St. 60-59 (Thursday, 03-20-14)
West: 12) North Dakota State U Bison beat 5) Oklahoma Sooners 80-75 (Thursday, 03-20-14)
Midwest: 7) Texas Longhorns beat 10) Arizona St. Sun Devils 87-85 (Thursday, 03-20-14)
Midwest: 14) Mercer Bears beat 3) Duke Blue Devils 78-71 (Friday, 03-21-14)
'Round of 32'(Saturday, 03-22-14 and Sunday, 03-23-14):
South: 11) Dayton Flyers beat 3) Syracuse Orange 55-53 (Saturday, 03-22-14)
South: 10) Stanford Cardinal beat 2) Kansas Jayhawks 60-57 (Sunday, 03-23-14)
(NOTE: The name Cardinal is in relation to the color 'cardinal' and is not a
mascot. Stanford sports no official mascot!)
mascot. Stanford sports no official mascot!)
East: 3) Iowa St. Cyclones beat 6) U North Carolina Tar Heels 85-83 (Sunday, 03-23-14)
This game is not much of a surprise to anyone who has been following men's NCAA basketball this season and has come to know the Cyclones tenacity and ability to close-out a game. Iowa St. being vested, tenured and able to implement the pick and roll fairly well about as well as they set-up screens. Whatever their knack for ballin', the Cyclones play with a lot of heart. The slight disdain with this game lies in the manner in which Iowa St. won which was in itself extremely controversial. The clock just plain ole ran out on the Tar Heels. With coach Roy Williams jumping and gesticulating for a timeout, the Tar Heels inbounded the ball to Nate Britt who dribbled past midcourt as time expired in Iowa State's 85-83 victory. Then with 1.6 seconds to play the Heels just failed to call a crucial time-out. Coach Williams was well aware of their game-costing-mistake and added that no one should blame the officials. The cyclones did not play up-to-par during the entire game which gave way for UNC to keep it as close as they did. Heart-break for sure was this game for the UNC players and for Tar Heel Nation. C'est la vie I suppose is apropos in this occasion. Maybe it is a bit too harsh for me to state, but really...it is what it is! Don't give room for yourselves to be left in these situations (last-second scrambles) that end in such dire, loathing situations. You must blame the 'man in the mirror', people!
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