A Look Back at the First Weekend of the NCAA Tournament

Here's a recap of the major stories and news from the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

The Big East....or, the Big Least?

I'm wouldn't say the Big East is not a good conference after the first weekend of the tournament, but I do think they have vastly underperformed so far.  Yes, two games this weekend were between Big East teams (Marquette vs. Syracuse, and UCONN vs. Cincinnati), but the rest of the Big East was shown up by mediocre competition.  Exhibit A was the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, as they were dominated by Florida State.  Notre Dame only managed to shoot 35% from the field, and only 23% from behind the three-point line, while giving up 71 points to a Seminole team that isn't exactly known for their scoring.  Exhibit B was Georgetown due to the romping they received, courtesy of Virginia Commonwealth.  The Hoyas looked as though they had no business being on the same court as the Rams, who many thought didn't even deserve a spot in the field.  Georgetown only shot 38% from the field, and only allowed VCU to shoot 40%; however, the Rams still won the game by an 18 point margin.  Exhibit C was the Wildcats of Villanova after their choke-fest to end the game against George Mason.  Villanova led throughout the game and looked for most of the night like the better team...that is, until George Mason woke up and stunned Villanova in the final minutes.  Exhibit D goes to the Pittsburgh Panthers and their loss against the Butler Bulldogs.  I won't criticize Pitt too much other than the fact that they are perennial under achievers.  Butler played a great game, as despite the mayhem at the end, did deserve the victory. And finally, Exhibit E was, you guessed it, the Louisville Cardinals as they lost at the buzzer to Morehead State.  I think this one is self-explanatory as Morehead State proceeded to get killed by Richmond in the second round.  The Spiders were able to dominate in all aspects of the game against Morehead, whereas Louisville only could manage to keep the game close.


Surprises over the weekend...


1. Morehead State defeating Louisville at the buzzer
2. VCU's domination of Georgetown
3. Butler defeating Pittsburgh
4. Gonzaga's domination of St John's
5. Richmond in the Sweet 16



First weekend all tournament team...


G: David Lighty (Ohio State)
G: Jimmer Fredette (BYU)
Honorable mention Guards: Shelvin Mack (Butler), Kemba Walker (UConn), Joey Rodriguez (VCU)
F: Markieff Morris (Kansas)
F: Derrick Williams (Arizona)
C: Tyler Zeller (UNC)