We've been telling you guy for several years now that Davidson is a brilliantly coached team, that the only thing separating them from their so-called betters is talent. Bob McKillop has solved that problem as well, at least for the short term, with the recruitment of Stephen Curry (a player that the ACC, en masse, passed on by the way) and his backcourt mate Jason Richards, who give them a chance to beat anyone. They had UCLA down by 18 earlier this year, pushed Duke, UNC and State to the wire, and ran off 23 in a row after those losses.
People say they were shocked that Davidson beat Georgetown. They shouldn't have been. We certainly weren't. Davidson is a most worthy opponent, and they deserve their spot in the Sweet 16.
Not surprisingly, the churlish Thomas Boswell had a churlish response in the pages of the Washington Post, bring up Maryland's ancient complaint about playing games in North Carolina - that it was an "undeserved home-court advantage" and that it was a "major blunder" by the committee, and suggests that "mystery calls" against Roy Hibbert screwed the Hoyas.
After that paragraph, he does make clear that Georgetown was beaten by Davidson, but it's remarkable how much the paranoia around Maryland basketball has penetrated local media. Pooooooor Georgetown, abused by UNC fans, tormented by the officials, and unfairly matched up against - Davidson? Huh? Georgetown can't beat Davidson on their own? A Big East team needs help with a Southern Conference band of brothers?
Just a couple of quick points here. First, if they had played this game in Nome, everyone not pulling for Georgetown would have gotten behind Davidson. What difference does it make that they played it in Raleigh? That's the nature of the beast: the underdog rides the wave. Always.
And secondly, does any D.C. area team ever lose in the tournament without blaming the NCAA or the officials? Good Lord. Texas had to play in Arkansas, and they managed to get it done.
This is just a ludicrous article and grossly unfair to Davidson, despite his minimal attempt to be blunt: too late. The well is already poisoned, and he doesn't stop there. What a wanker.
Nobody but Curry scored those 40 points, and it didn't have anything to do with the officials or the location. If Boswell really wants to get to the bottom of Georgetown's loss, he should probably start with the Hoya's inability to stop Curry. They're not the first ones to struggle with him, and they won't be the last. The guy is really good.
As one of the announcers said, who would have thought the Southern Conference would get a team in the Sweet 16 before the ACC?
The ACC complained about only getting four, but as it turns out, only UNC advanced to the Sweet 16. Duke and Clemson lost Saturday, and Miami lost, but valiantly, taking Texas down to the wire before yielding, 75-72. Texas had to hit their free throws in the last 10 seconds to win it. We thought they'd win, but we never imagined it'd be that close.
We didn't really think Arkansas had a realistic chance against UNC, but we didn't expect total annihilation either. So far, UNC is just destroying opponents, beating Arkansas by 31 and Mt. St. Mary's by 38. They'll get Washington State in the Sweet 16, and while the Cougars are an outstanding defensive team, as you'd expect from a team coached by Dick Bennett's kid. But Tony Bennett has quickly become his own man - for one thing, his team scored 61 points (his dad's team could win games scoring 35, which was butt-ugly offense). Washington State limited Winthrop to 41 and Notre Dame to 40.
They tend to focus on shutting down the inside, which could be problematic against Wayne Ellington.
Thus is set a classic matchup between an offensive powerhouse and a defensive wrecking machine. We're not sure what's going to happen here, but we're pretty sure UNC won't break 100.
Whoever wins gets the winner of Tennessee and Louisville, and that's going to be a major league track meet. That game should be about as much fun as anything in this tournament so far.
We'll be shocked if Villanova stays particularly close to Kansas, as the Jayhawks move closer to a presumed match with UNC, which is going to be huge for Kansans, who still feel betrayed by Roy Williams. If it happens, expect a major mopefest for a week from Ol' Roy, and a week of blood curses from KU.
We also don't think Davidson is done yet. Wisconsin is huge, but they're not particularly fast. We're sticking with the SC!
Memphis survived Mississippi State, but only by three and they missed 17 foul shots (15-32) for 46.9%. Michigan State has been erratic this season, but they're mentally tough right now and they'll probably be able to force Memphis to play their game. A lot of people have targeted Memphis to lose because of free throws. If it's a three point game, that could be their downfall.
Stanford and Texas is another interesting matchup. As of now, the stars shine bright for Texas, but we'll have to think about this one a bit.
The teams south of Texas in the West bracket might as well pack it in . No one in that quartet is going to beat UCLA.