Big East. Over. Rated.
Apparently so. As much as it pains me.
Villanova 73 — Robert Morris 70
Yes, I know they won, but in overtime. And against little Bobby Mo, winner of the Northeast Conference. Villanova was all fatootzed by the Bobby Mo defense, they were taking bad shots from the outside. It was touch and go. A win is a win, but still. They did little to inspire confidence in the rest of the conference.
Old Dominion 51 — Notre Dame 50
All I know is, Luke Harangody is no Reggie Miller.
Washington 80 — Marquette 78
All tied up at 78 with about a minute and a half-left, Marquette stole the ball. They moved the ball around and around and finally, a pass floated in the direction of Jimmy Butler, who looked like he wanted no part of taking that shot. Turnover. Game over.
But the best, the most miraculous upset on this day of miracles, was:
Ohio University 97 — Georgetown 83.
No buzzer beaters necessary here. The Bobcats got contributions all up and down their bench and smoked the Hoyas. In a year when the talking heads were complaining that there wasn’t enough depth of field, that there were no storybook teams, Cinderella showed up disguised as Armon Bassett. And beat the living crap out of Georgetown.
More to the point, for me personally, all the Big East teams (except Nova) busted my brackets. Thanks a lot, fellas.
I’d have better luck dipping the cat’s paws in ink and letting him walk on my bracket sheet. I am so doing that next year.
Either that, or I’ll have the Bracket of Spite, in which I pick against all the teams I hate. If nothing else, that will be personally gratifying. In a pathetic sort of way.
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[...] Big East. Over. Rated. – Jody DiPerna – Fan Overboard – True/Slant [...]
As an ACC fan sitting in the middle of Big East Country here in New York, I’ve been pounded all season by the Big East publicity machine. So, that’s my excuse for picking so many of these team to at least advance past the first round. My bracket isn’t looking too pretty, either. (At least Villanova, one of my Final Four picks, survived.) Do you remember when the Wall Street Journal ran a stock picking column, pitting three pros against a staffer throwing darts at a copy of the NYSE? The darts often did better. I’d have done better throwing a dart at the bracket than I did last night.
On the other hand, all the Davids beating Goliaths underscores the mistake the NCAA makes by supporting the rule that prevents the best players from going straight to the pros. All these close games are terrific for the tournament ratings, and that is where the money is—as we’ll see again when ESPN and CBS go head-to-head for the NCAA broadcast rights next year.
I can’t even think about the bidding war between CBS and ESPN. I dread the day that The WorldWide Leader lands the tourney. Dark times.
In response to another comment. See in context »[...] – Jody DiPerna’s wrap-up captured the zeitgeist yesterday, with a lot of people going WTF as Villanova almost fell [...]
[...] aflame, I am liberated, yes, truly liberated and free as a bird to add my Sheet of Sh*t (versus my Bracket of Spite) to the compost, sit back and claim that I just picked the wrong upsets. Heck, even Prez. Obama [...]