85 Expansion - It Was A Timeout
After I was able to write about the narrative of the underdog from Thursday’s games, Friday’s games gave that storyline a setback. We had all chalk in our scores, with the only “upsets” being 9 seeds over 8. Yes, my Wildcats lost (they were actually 1.5 point underdogs), and the Wildcats of Kentucky won when no one wanted that. But even with the higher seeds prevailing throughout the day, we still had some great games, including the first guaranteed clip for One Shining Moment. Linking the 2025 video here for the Clousers to enjoy again.
Santa Clara versus Kentucky was a true Blue Blood versus Mid Major matchup. This game was neck and neck all game, so let’s skip ahead to the ending. Santa Clara drained a 3 with 2.4 left on the clock. Head coach Herb Sendek was not awarded a timeout that he unequivocally called. The video evidence of two refs on his side of the court, one on the baseline one at half court, not so much as looking to see if he was calling the timeout… is he supposed to be Dan Hurley and bump the ref to get their attention? But the clock kept rolling, and Kentucky’s Otega Oweh said it’s not yet 5PM, the banks are still open on a Friday, and hit the tying shot to send the game to overtime. I had flashbacks of Jalen Suggs versus UCLA in 2021 with this one. Kentucky outlasted the Broncos in overtime to survive and advance. I would be much more excited if this was almost any other team than Kentucky, but we still were given a March classic.
Fully acknowledging my bias, the Villanova Utah State game was an amazing game to watch, with some offensive genius on both sides of the court. With 12 lead changes and 9 ties throughout the game, Utah just finished stronger as the Cats stopped executing down the stretch and couldn’t buy a basket. As a Villanova fan, we’re just thrilled to be back playing in March, and we’ll be back again with Kevin Willard at the helm.
Outside of those two games, Wright State pushed Virginia till the end, Cal Baptist came storming back in the 2nd half but it wasn’t enough to beat Kansas, and Furman played UConn tough but couldn’t outlast them. The other 7/10 and 8/9 games were good, but no march craziness to report.
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We have more excitement in our scores than we did in yesterday’s games, as we have an incredible 7 way tie for first place with four more just a game behind first. Chris came out yesterday firing like his tennis team’s serve, Ed who is notoriously horrible at these is off to the greatest bracket start in my lifetime, Jim and Jonathan might be kicked out of their houses being tied with their wives, and Joey holds strong for the Iona Prep crew. Let’s not sleep on Carly with that Illinois pick, even if they only make the final four, that would be points on the board for her that no one else would have. Rob might need to block Erin on his phone for a day, but she also picked Clemson (?!) in the final four so I think this will be short lived. Truly, this is anyone’s bracket to take still.
If you’re still pulling for the underdogs, the games to watch today are VCU versus Illinois at 7:50 PM, and High Point versus Arkansas at 9:45 PM. Double digit seeds Texas and Texas A&M don’t feel like underdogs when they’re in the Power 5 conference. Louisville versus Michigan State at 2:45 is also projected to be a close game. At this point though, every team, even the lower seeds are battle tested teams that can make any game a great game, even those playing the #1 seeds. We didn’t get a random upset like an Ivy or Southern Conference team that only had one miracle in them - VCU and High Point absolutely have another win in them, if not more.
An update on the pot - I forgot to count myself… 18 brackets not 17, $380 for the total to be split.
We might have a lag on tomorrow’s writings with the dance school marching in the Pearl River St. Patrick’s Day parade, so stay tuned for some updates.
Rory F Beglane
Founder of the 85 Expansion Bracket Challenge - www.85expansion.com
Villanova Enthusiast
0 Time Bracket Winner
1 Time Always March Winner