Even the elite ones are beatable. You know, Florida, Ohio State and the UCLA.
There were nine overtime games on Thursday, including a pair that went beyond
regulation in a wild first day down here in Tampa at the ACC tournament.
Ben Howland's Bruins went down. So did Lute Olson's struggling Arizona team.
Alabama, once-considered to be a Final Four contender, missed yet another
opportunity in a loss to Kentucky. The two hottest teams in the ACC, Maryland
and Georgia Tech, will try to regroup after all four lower seeds ended up
advancing in the ACC tourney.
Maligned Wildcats coach Tubby Smith got a crucial win and he isn't the only
coach fighting for his job. Tommy Amaker's Michigan team got a much-needed
victory over Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten tourney. Wyoming and
Colorado State, both with jobs on the line, pulled off upsets in the Mountain
West.
Wyoming beat an Air Force that has gone from a lock three weeks ago to a team
that will likely be packing its bags for the NIT after four straight losses.
A lot can happen in a short period of time.
Game of the day
West Virginia fought back from a 17-point deficit and appeared to have the
victory — until Louisville freshman Edgar Sosa drove the court for a layup at
the buzzer that forced overtime.
The Cardinals, who had lost nine straight games in Madison Square Garden,
ended up with an 82-71 double-overtime victory over John Beilein's Mountaineers.
Sosa's layup could end up costing Beilein & Co. an NCAA berth.
Upset special
Miami's win over Maryland was impressive, but the Terps were an NIT
team a month ago. That's why it's a no-brainer to give it to Ben Braun's
California Golden Bears, who knocked probable No. 1 seed UCLA out of the Pac-10
tourney in the quarterfinals.
Senior Ayinde Ubaka went for a career-high 29 and dominated overtime with
eight points and freshman forward Ryan Anderson added 18.
Ben Howland's team might have lost out on a No. 1 seed, but it'll depend on
the success of teams like Florida, North Carolina, Kansas and Ohio State. If all
win their conference tourneys, the Bruins could wind up somewhere outside of
California as a No. 2 seed.
Cal is 16-16 and has played nearly the entire season without two of its top
big men, DeVon Hardin and Jordan Wilkes.
LeBron's boys
LeBron James was in the crowd once again to watch former high school
teammates Romeo Travis and Dru Joyce.
Travis and Joyce have led Akron to 16 wins in the last 18 games, including an
82-53 rout over Central Michigan in the Mid-American quarterfinals.
Akron, which hasn't played in the NCAA tournament since 1986, will take on
Kent State in the semis.
Door's open for red-hot Xavier
The Atlantic-10 is officially a one-bid league after UMass got knocked out in
the quarterfinals by St. Louis in overtime.
Billikens guard Tommie Liddell had 24 points and knocked off the Minutemen,
who had an outside shot of getting an at-large bid if they reached the title
game.
Now this tournament clearly belongs to red-hot Xavier, which has won nine
straight after a rout over an undermanned Dayton team.
The Musketeers will face overachieving Rhode Island, who got past Fordham in
the quarters on Jimmy Baron's layup with 11.1 seconds left. St. Louis will face
George Washington in the other semifinals.
Go-to guys
Al Thornton, Florida State: The Seminoles senior forward scored 25
points, none bigger than a free throw with 1.5 seconds left that gave the
Seminoles a 67-66 win over Clemson and might have punched FSU's ticket into the
NCAA tournament.
Ayinde Ubaka, California: The senior guard scored eight of his
career-high 29 points in overtime as the Golden Bears knocked UCLA out of the
Pac-10 tourney in the quarterfinals.
Harvey Hale, Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons guard scored 21 of his 22
points after regulation in a thrilling double-overtime win against Georgia Tech.
Tommie Liddell, St. Louis: Scored 24 points and also had a key steal
with 10 seconds left in the upset over UMass.
Morris Almond, Rice: The senior, who is third in D-I in scoring, put
up a 30-spot in an upset over Central Florida. He also knocked down a 3-pointer
with 2.8 seconds left that won the game.
Coaching scuttlebutt
Brad Holland was fired after 13 years at San Diego. The Toreros were 200-176
in his tenure and 18-14 this past season. ... Continuing to hear Old Dominion's
Blaine Taylor for the Colorado job. ... Syracuse assistant Mike Hopkins, Vermont
head coach Mike Lonergan, Eastern Kentucky head coach Jeff Neubauer, Albany head
man Will Brown and St. John's assistant Fred Quartlebaum have all been mentioned
already for the opening at St. Bonaventure. ... Look for former Virginia coach
Pete Gillen to try and get back in the college ranks. How about if South Florida
opens? If Tubby Smith is out at Kentucky, names that are certain to surface are
Florida's Billy Donovan, Texas A&M's Billy Gillispie and Marquette's Tom
Crean. ... Look for former Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson to leave Coastal
Carolina. ... Nick Fazekas barely extended his streak of scoring in
double-figures to 59 games with a 10-point performance in a rout over Idaho. ...
Fresno State's Quinton Hosley can cross the Denver Nuggets off his list if he
ever makes the NBA. Hosley was ejected after elbowing Coby Karl, the son of
Nuggets coach George Karl, in the head. The younger Karl sank five key free
throws in Boise State's 78-73 win in the WAC quarterfinals.
Random news and notes
Georgetown led 26-2 against Villanova, but Jay Wright's Wildcats fought back
and Scottie Reynolds missed a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left that could have cut
the deficit to 3. ... Now we know why Dan Monson resigned at Minnesota earlier
in the season. The Gophers are bad. They lost more games (22) than any team in
school history and also scored just 40 points in a loss to Michigan, the lowest
point total in the history of the Big Ten tourney. ... Baylor's win over
Missouri was the program's first Big 12 tournament victory since 2001. ... No
chance that the committee keeps out a Tom Izzo team that has now won 22 games.
The Spartans are a lock for their 10th straight NCAA appearance. ... Could Glen
"Big Baby" Davis and the LSU Tigers run the table in the SEC
tournament? It's certainly not out of the question. LSU beat Tennessee on
Thursday, face Ole Miss today and then would have to get past Florida in the
semis.
Quotes of the day
"I don't even care. If we don't play better than we're playing right
now, anyone in the field of 64 teams will beat us." — UCLA coach Ben
Howland after the loss to Cal
"Let that be a national statement for those stupid stickers they put on
the court. He's probably done for the year. Let that be a statement that if you
put those stickers on the floor, you put kids at risk." — Nevada coach
Mark Fox after watching starting guard Kyle Shiloh slip on a logo sign.
What I'm watching today
1. Florida State got past Clemson, but the Seminoles sure could use a win
over North Carolina to secure a berth in the NCAA tournament. This one will be
interesting to see how Tyler Hansbrough plays in his mask.
2. How about Bobby Knight vs. Bob Huggins with potentially a NCAA tournament
berth on the line. Texas Tech faces Kansas State in the Big 12 quarterfinals and
the loser is likely NIT-bound.
3. Round 3 of the battle between Indiana and Illinois, but this one has far
more implications for the Illini than for Kelvin Sampson's club — which has
already locked up a spot in the Big Dance.
4. Michigan State and Wisconsin split a pair of games. This one comes on a
neutral court with plenty on the line.
5. Holy Cross and Bucknell will battle for the Patriot League crown and an
automatic NCAA berth. Ralph Willard's Crusaders are the favorites, especially
because the game is being played on their home court.