By JOHN P. WISEOne Great Season
There's some debate whether a 7-4 record is acceptable for the Big East's 11 teams in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and I contend that it is. I do believe the conference is over-rated, but if 16.18 percent of the 68-team field came from the Big East, and now 21.88 percent of the 32 remaining teams are from the conference, then I'd say the second round was a success.
And even if only three teams advance to the Sweet Sixteen, that's still 18.75 percent, slightly better than the initial entry. But if the Big East only sent three teams to next weekend, that would have to be a disappointment even if the math might indicate otherwise. At least four teams should be the goal.
Those numbers above are just for surface observation, but if you want to get into a compare-and-contrast type of conversation, how about the Big Ten? It was the only league that played more than one game on Thursday that finished with a sub-.500 mark, but boy did its teams represent on Friday. Ohio State, Purdue, Illinois and Michigan breezed to four wins by an average margin of 23 points.
Friday produced far less drama for us than Thursday did. Here are some take-aways from Day 2:
+ Texas probably got tired of hearing all about how Oakland was going to grab the upset. The Longhorns came to play and although they were challenged late, they survived and advanced. Among experts I've been reading and listening to this week, UT probably had the widest range of predictions; some had them falling to Oakland &mdash I did in one bracket — and others have them in the national championship.
+ Poor Bruce Pearl and Tennessee. It's no coincidence that the Vols suffered their worst loss ever under Pearl the same week the microscope zoomed in on the embattled coach's future there. Michigan crushed them by 30.
+ George Mason's defeat of Villanova was not an upset. If you're a label watcher, maybe it was, since the Wildcats hail from the big, bad Big East. But the Patriots are a legit team and many — including OGS — picked the game correctly. No. 8-seed George Mason will give Ohio State trouble on Sunday in Cleveland.
+ Speaking of the Buckeyes, you won't find issues with their 29-point win over Texas-San Antonio if you just look at the score. But if you watched the game, you saw them look out of sync some, turning the ball over through uncharacteristically sloppy stretches. But it was nice to see big Dallas Lauderdale throw down several nasty dunks in front of family and friends in Cleveland.
+ Duke beat Hampton in what was perhaps the least talked about 42-point victory in the history of the NCAA Tournament. There was little mention of the Blue Devils on Friday, even though the return of injured point guard Kyrie Irving is not an insignificant development.
+ Kansas and North Carolina couldn't completely put away Cinderella hopefuls Boston University and Long Island, but they moved on after double-digit wins.
+ Arizona and Memphis played one of the most exciting games of the day, and was the only one to finish with a two-point margin. Derrick Williams preserved the Wildcats' 77-75 win by blocking a potential game-tying shot by Memphis in the closing seconds.
+ The only other one-possession margin involved another Pac-10 team. Washington held on despite a nice rally by Georgia late in Charlotte. The Huskies advanced, 68-65.
+ Marquette shut down Xavier star Tu Holloway and advanced from the All-Jesuit Round into a third-round matchup with Big East rival Syracuse.
+ I can't believe Georgetown looked as bad as it did against VCU. I didn't necessarily think the return of Chris Wright suddenly made the fading Hoyas a Final Four contender, but an 18-point loss to a team many thought didn't deserve to be in the field?
+ I dare you to say you knew Illinois would rout UNLV the way it did.
Looking Ahead:
+ I'm especially amped to see the first game on Saturday's docket. John Calipari's Kentucky team seems like the easy call over Bob Huggins and West Virginia, which was the case in the Elite Eight last year. Well, they're not playing Saturday's game on paper, either. If the Mountaineers bring their offense to the gym like they did against Clemson on Thursday, they have a good chance. But I think UK might have too much firepower and the Wildcats should advance. I'm glad CBS will play that doozy (12:15 p.m. ET) from start to finish before Game 2 even tips off.
+ Gonzaga and BYU battle it out for West Coast supremacy. The Zags looked sharp against Louisville on Thursday, and will be a tought out for Jimmer Fredette and the Cougars, who didn't necessarily thump Wofford in the second round.
+ Also looking forward to seeing the Cincinnati-Connecticut tilt (9:40 p.m., TBS). If the Bearcats show up the way they did the final 30 minutes against Missouri, they'll hang tough for sure. Will be very interesting to see the hottest team in the country, led by the hottest player in the country, go up against Cincy's smothering D.
Conference Check:
ACC: 4-1
America East: 0-1
Atlantic 10: 2-1
Atlantic Sun: 0-1
Big East: 7-4
Big Sky: 0-1
Big South: 0-1
Big Ten: 5-2
Big West: 0-1
Big 12: 3-2
Colonial: 2-1
C-USA: 0-2
Horizon: 1-0
Ivy: 0-1
MAC: 0-1
MEAC: 0-1
Metro Atlantic: 0-1
MVC: 0-1
MWC: 2-1
Northeast: 0-1
Ohio Valley: 1-0
Pac-10: 3-1
Patriot: 0-1
SEC: 2-3
Southern: 0-1
Southland: 1-1
Summit: 0-1
WAC: 0-1
WCC: 1-0
My Bracket Check:
CBS: 21-11
ESPN: 22-10
BracketContest.com: 23-9