Free Time's Journal

2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, Final 4 Round

https://vidstudent.livejournal.com/114387.html

So, from 4 to 2 went like this.

The first game was reasonably good, with Florida up early and then a combination of Shabazz Napier and one Niels Giffey. The UConn Blog's Twitter feed was the best to follow during and after the game, including a pic that you do not put out there for employers not under the SBNation banner. You can't blame him, though. UConn as a 7-seed goes in representing the AAC.

The second game was all you could ask for. I counted three instances of Bo Ryan Blown Gaskets - the first was the best, with him gesturing with his hands vertical wondering how fouls were being committed from the vertical position. The most justified was instance three, where he politely ordered the official over to the monitor at the scorer's table after extracurriculars went well beyond multiple whistles and ended with a player shoved to the ground. (If the play is dead, STOP SHOVING. If he's still hanging on, as the game thread from a Kentucky blog suggests, then they will notice that instead.) Some runs, closely fought from start to finish, cold threes, and thundrous dunks. And your stat of the day - Wisconsin went 19 of 20 from the free-throw line. That miss came in the closing seconds, as Traevon Jackson drew a foul from beyond the arc with the game tied. Pic describing my reaction to fouling a three-point shot in the closing seconds of a tied basketball game:

Of course, they then went down to the other end, and with 5.4 seconds on the clock, Kentucky hits a three from the corner, just like last game, because that's what they do. Wisconsin gets the ball and a decent two-point shot at the buzzer, which doesn't fall, and that's college basketball in a nutshell.

So, we forgot to update the per-round conference records last time. Let's catch up:

B1G: 1-2 Elite 8, 0-1 last round, 10-6 finish. Can't argue they weren't good.
AAC: 1-0 Elite 8, 1-0 last round, 8-3 overall. UNDERSEEDED.
SEC: 2-0 Elite 8, 1-1 last round, 12-2 overall. I'M SORRY ALREADY
PAC-12: 0-1 Elite 8, 8-6 finish. They were just fine, really - but outside of the game Wisconsin beat Arizona in, not remarkable, either. Still, nothing to indicate the bids were overdone.
Atlantic 10: 0-1 Elite 8, 4-6 finish. As a conference, you want to be at .500 when you send six teams - but arguably team #6 did the best of any of them. This leads to our next paragraph well.

So, we have a #7 seed playing a #8 seed for the title. Our other two Final Four teams, the more likely #1 and #2 seeds, just left. Again, 37.5% upset percentage from rounds 3 and 4. Dear NCAA Selection Committee: When you were seeding, was it seeding teams into a bracket, or an euphanism for marijuana consumption?! I HUMBLY SUGGEST IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE LATTER. At least the games from the bracket YOU COMPLETELY OVERLOADED WITH TALENT have been worth watching, even though the result is a #8 coming out of there! CONGRATULATIONS you all sucked this year at your job.

Well, one game to go...let it be a good one.