While most of the WUWS crew is suffering from the cruel hangover that can only come from a 60 hour Vegas binge, I'm currently enjoying the sweet hangover that can only come from digesting 48 games in 4 days. Now it's time to take stock of the weekend and see if there was anything to be learned.
Who hit blackjack:
1)The SEC. A couple of weeks ago I dumped on the SEC but in terms of expected performance based on seeding, this conference did great. It's teams had the most wins vs expectations and placed the most teams in the Sweet 16 vs expectations.
2)Mid Majors. Hey the little guys are alright. Butler and Southern Illinois justified their high seedings. Their rewards are matchups against #1 seeds Florida and Kansas respectively. The party will be expected to end there but for now they get to grind on all the pretty girls in the room.
3)UNLV. Yeah, I bet against them but my policy is to never gamble with my heart. Wendell White has been a star and the Rebels have been surprisingly strong on the boards. This run brings back all the memories of Theus, Gilliam, Augmon and Johnson.
4)My bracket. I'm currently in 2nd but still have my entire Elite 8 alive and with Texas being eliminated, Go Strider's bracket will quickly fall from the top spot.
Who puked in the VIP lounge:
1)The ACC. Save for North Carolina, these guys had a bad weekend. Virginia and Maryland both failed to play up to their seeds. Duke got bloodied by Eric Maynor and VCU and Blue Devil fans must be sobered by the fact that Greg Paulus and Josh McRoberts each have two years of eligiblity left.
2)Wisconsin. Everyone could see this coming from a mile away. The Badgers were playing better a month ago and the loss of Brian Butch while not a killer certainly didn't help. A shame as this team's only crime is that it's a little bit boring.
3)Washington teams not nicknamed the Huskies. At least we have the good sense to stay home when we get fucked up. WSU and Gonzaga both lost bringing much joy to the DIII palace.
Who didn't win their 4 team parlay but also didn't fuck a tranny:
1)The Pac-10. They got three teams into the Sweet 16 but UCLA and Oregon were expected to be there while USC isn't exactly Cinderella as a #5 seed. WSU lost a tough one to Vandy but Arizona and Stanford were less than inspiring. This weekend will be the real test for this conference that bitches and moans about east coast bias.
2)The Big-10 in general and Ohio St in particular. ESPN will have you believe that they shit all over themselves. In reality, of their six teams only Wisconsin and Ohio St were actually expected to make the Sweet 16. Ohio State partied like a rockstar on Thursday then nearly choked on their vomit come Saturday. Hey survive and advance. Sometimes what works in Vegas works in the tourney as well.
3)Kevin Durant. He averaged nearly 30 points a game but his Longhorns got throttled by USC. Hopefully this wasn't his last game at Texas but wishing for that is stupid.
4)The #1 seeds. We saw Florida, Carolina and Ohio St all struggle this weekend. Kansas on the other hand cruised and is playing very well right now. All of them won which sets up some potentially huge matchups next weekend.
Well that's a wrap for the first weekend of the tournament. The lack of any huge Cinderellas means that there are going to be some big games this weekend. While the first weekend of the tourney is the most exciting, for my money the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 is the best weekend for fans of college basketball. Move over Albany. Step aside VCU. It's time to make room for the blue bloods.
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