Congratulations to the seemingly unstoppable Florida Gators, who continue to win when it most counts, on the championship level. It took five NBA-caliber starters, but it still amounts to a repeat. Then there's the added bonus of a football title sandwiched in between. Maybe this calls for a third serving of Gatorade?
Even scarier than Florida's dual sports titles is their one-two punch of star coaches Urban Meyer and Billy Donovan, who are young, popular, and successful. They make the Gators the marquee program in the Southeast, perhaps on a level with UCLA and Texas in all-around athletic greatness. And they have the potential to keep Florida a perennial power in both sports.
There's a lot of speculation about Donovan and the open Kentucky job. I believe the parties will officially meet soon, but no hiring will take place. Kentucky has a program with a much better history than a future. At this point, it's the inferior job. And if Donovan is thinking about coaching immortality, he's not going to do it in Rupp Arena. The great ones are synonymous with a single program, and he can do that if he stays in Gainesville.
The Final Four reconvenes in San Antonio for 2008. Who will be there? Always a tough decision, especially when you don't know which underclassmen will declare for the NBA draft. One year in advance, I say Kansas, Louisville, USC, and Memphis. Bill Self overcomes his tournament demons as the Jayhawks cut the nets.
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Everybody says if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. So here goes: Horford has pretty eyes. Now that that's out of the way, what a horrible tournament!
Horford has pretty eyes.
And he can shimmy his shoulders, apparently.
Was the tournament really so bad? I don't think so. Sure, others have been better, but it's really a can't-miss event no matter what. It was frustrating to see Florida be so unreachable, but that level of combined talent is really a rarity. So even if I'm not fully entertained, I'm at least appreciative.
Can't believe I'm predicting Kansas.
It was a great tourney! I won $25 bucks. Woot!
Congrats, K. And where will you be taking me with your winnings?
My analysis that this was a bad tournament comes down largely to the fact that the Chalk won. That shouldn't happen. There was no grand moment, a la Bryce Drew. No great Cinderella, a la George Mason. There was a grand tragedy, with the death of the UNC mascot. And the best team won, going away.
Sum it up, and it's a crappy tournament. Which is not to say I didn't completely neglect both work and children to watch as much as possible!
Both you and N get the Starbucks drink of your choice! You can even get a Venti...
The top three winners were all part of my morning coffee group and the rest of the department was crying foul. We plead caffeinated.
My analysis that this was a bad tournament comes down largely to the fact that the Chalk won. That shouldn't happen.
Actually, it should. Despite a few glaring mistakes, the NCAA selection committee has gotten a lot better in seeding teams. Butler and SIU were given an appropriate seed, so their Sweet 16 appearances became less surprising. The reason there were no upsets in the 5/12 matchups is because the 5 seeds in those days are 8 seeds now, and the 12 seeds are 7-10 seeds now.
That last part seems more important; no team is under the radar anymore. Valpo should never have been a 13 seed, but the NCAA was closed-minded then, and the fans enjoyed watching the Crusaders get their revenge. To compare, Winthrop was an 11 seed this year. Think about that. As a result, they didn't surprise anyone... except Notre Dame.
One of the reasons I project next year's Final Four on championship night is because others are quick to do the same, and I don't want to be influenced by them.
Case in point: The Vent over at SI on Campus projects their 2008 Final Four, and three of them match mine: Louisville, USC, and Memphis. They went with UCLA instead of Kansas, perhaps assuming that the majority of Afflalo, Collison, and Shipp will stick around.
Spouse said something really wise: if the selection committee does a bad job, everybody bitches because of mis-seedings. But if they do a good job, everybody bitches because the games are all predictable. They did an excellent job this year. Which is fine. But it does make for a predictable tournament. Especially when Florida was, well, better than everybody else.
Give me Villanova shooting 78% from the floor to surprise Georgetown any day.
As usual, I agree with Spouse.
But note: Butler shoots 78 percent and they beat Florida. Just sayin'.
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