Round 1 Day 2 Update - Giving Away Bids
In the era of "that didn't age well" add Greg Saneky to the top of the list of people eating their words. With recent conversations around the NCAA Tournament Expansion, the SEC commissioner proposed to "stop giving away" bids to smaller conference teams. Well, it's hard to have anyone agreeing with him as the SEC woes continued with Charles Barkley's finest losing to our future financial managers and Wall Street traders. Yale played a fantastic game, coming back from a 7 point halftime deficit to Auburn led by John Poulakidas' 28 points on 6/9 shooting from 3. The SEC is 3-5 in the first round with their hopes lying with Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.
The 12 seeds must have read yesterday's summary in the locker room before their games, because not so fast they said, the 11 seeds have nothing on us. UAB started out the 5/12 matchups with a great fight and infuriating finish, chucking up a contested 3 instead of using their last timeout. However, James Madison and Grand Canyon kept the magic of the 12 seed alive, upsetting Wisconsin and St. Mary's, respectively. James Madison especially dominated their game from beginning to end with physical play and swarming defense. The Dukes look ahead to playing Duke on Sunday now. Big Red aka Western Kentucky had Marquette in the first half, not gonna lie, but the Big East toughness prevailed with the #2 seed avoiding any upset, solidifying no 16 or 15 seeds advancing this year.
The game of the day was Florida vs Colorado, with a barn burner score of 102-100 in favor of the Buffaloes. Iona transfer Walter Clayton did all he could to keep the Gators dancing, but in the end, JC's alma mater couldn't pull off the magic. It was awesome having that game and Yale Auburn on a split screen on the TV, just peak March Madness. The tough day in the Clouser household was topped off by New Mexico, popular Cinderella pick, having nothing going for them vs Clemson. At least JC and KC enjoyed some games in Brooklyn last night though!
In our bracket, Auburn/Yale was the bracket buster of the night- Ryan had them in the final 4, Casey and Jonathan had them in the championship, and Theo... tough entrance into the 85 expansion group, having your champion lose in the first round. Just like your Scarlet Knights, let's just look forward to next year.
Quality-First-Carly has the most sweet 16 teams still alive, having only 1 team eliminated in the first round. Jonathan has the lead but again, a championship team already out hurts. Newark Airport is having a poor showing here with Casey and Kayla at the bottom of the bunch, guess American Express can't buy everything! Lelia is talking a lot of smack in the Brennan family here, but all I'll say on that is there are a lot of games to go! Even with a lot of movement between the two days, it gets more interesting now as each game was only worth one point, but now will be worth two for the sweet 16.
Unrelated but to put on record - anyone proposing to change the March Madness bracket is insane. Keep it the way it is. If you realign to a major conference and can't make the tournament, that's your own fault. Know your lane, just like how Charlie Strong should have stayed in his lane at Louisville football, and Shocka Smart better be smart and stay in the big east and learn his lesson from his Texas stint.
Lastly, anyone looking to take Ryan's seat at our wedding please let me know. We'll still keep Natalie though. Go Nova!
My games to watch today are Gonzaga vs Kansas as two powerhouse teams go at it, and Oakland vs NC State as we'll see if the Golden Grizzlies can continue their "not Cinderella" run. Lastly, Creighton vs Oregon will be interesting as two offensive minded teams go at it, with Couisnard coming off his 40 point game.
As always double check my math. Also, Dayton just lost to Arizona but that will be in tomorrow's update.
Rory F Beglane
Founder of the 85 Expansion Bracket Challenge
Villanova Enthusiast
0 Time Bracket Winner