NCAA Tournament Recap

[We interrupt this blog's normal religious content to bring you a sports report...]

Since I believe in the principle of 'accountability', let's review my previously published NCAA Tournament 'predictions', now that the tournament is over.

(Actually, it's just an excuse to mention again that I had UConn picked from the beginning...)

All in all, I picked 40 of the 63 games correctly, including the champion; not enough to consider quitting my job and becoming a professional sports gambler, but enough to win my office pool at least.

BYU over Syracuse: WRONG--This pick had nothing to do with merits, but rather so I didn't have a conflict of interest when cheering for BYU (who almost won anyway).

Boston College over Utah: RIGHT--Ditto... The Utes got the best matchup possible--a weak Boston College team (compare BC to North Carolina--the 6 seed matchup for Air Force), but couldn't take advantage. Awww...that's too bad...

Pacific over Providence: RIGHT--Pacific's victory and Vanderbilt's surprise run to the Sweet 16 were my best two 'upset' calls of the tournament. Too bad they were the only ones that worked out...

Texas Tech over Charlotte: RIGHT--Not technically an upset, but I was going against 'conventional wisdom'.

Wisconsin over Pittsburgh: WRONG--Close...but no.

Arizona over Duke: WRONG--Thanks a lot, Arizona, you couldn't even beat a so-so Seton Hall team in the first round... In the meantime, Duke advanced to the Final Four costing me points every time they won. Oh well, I will have to admit UConn beating Duke in the semifinal game was pretty sweet, especially with Duke choking on a big lead in the final three minutes...

UNC over Texas: WRONG--Yep, the Tar Heels lost another close one. I should have known...

Wake Forest over St. Josephs: WRONG--Everyone knows good guard play wins tournament games, and St. Joe's proved it over a tough Wake team. I picked against them, but I was still happy to see them win. St. Joe's was criticized for its weak schedule in the A-10, but how many people noticed we were inches away from having TWO A-10 teams in the Final Four? (St. Joe's and Xavier)

Georgia Tech over Gonzaga: RIGHT--Actually, it was Nevada, but I was right about Gonzaga's defensive deficiencies...

UConn over Stanford: RIGHT--(Well, the UConn winning part) Since I had picked UConn anyway, Stanford losing early cost me some points, but in the end made the Huskies road a little easier. Plus, LOTS of other people picked Stanford in the Final Four (including the Baroness), which maximized their damage while minimizing my own.

Kentucky over Georgia Tech: WRONG--I was very, very close to putting Georgia Tech in the Final Four, but went with Kentucky instead. Can't win 'em all...

Oklahoma State over Wake Forest (actually, St.Joseph's): RIGHT--But just barely... Make sure and remember that tidbit about BYU (about how BYU has beaten OSU in both of the Cowboy's latest Final Four years). Guaranteed to win you an Obscure Trivia contest...

UNC over Cincinnati: Um...no.

And the 2004 National Champions--the UConn Huskies.
In conclusion, let's give a little bit of credit to UConn coach Jim Calhoun. Numerous sports writers were giving him the 'Anti-Coach of the Year' award a month ago (as in, the coach that does the least with the most)--which was terribly unfair. Even putting aside the injury situation with Emeka Okefor and others, UConn only lost six games during the year, and who did they lose to? Georgia Tech (3 seed), Pittsburgh (3 seed), Providence (5 seed), North Carolina (6), Syracuse (5), and Notre Dame (--). Only the Notre Dame loss wasn't to a NCAA tournament team, and the others were to HIGHLY SEEDED tournament teams on the road. Jim Calhoun and the Huskies were seen as underachieving only because they were the preseason #1 and people were hyping them to not lose ANY games during the year before anyone had stepped on the court. Hopefully, Calhoun's two titles in the last six years (that's *ahem* more then Duke...) will give him the credit he deserves.

And, hey...let's cheer for the UConn women too--going for their third straight title tonight...

[End of sports tangent. We now return to our regularly scheduled blog-cast...]