When it comes to the world of sports, and especially the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament, “momentum” isn’t something you bring into a game with you:
It’s what you can build, and build upon, in 40 minutes.
That was the case in Thursday NCAA tourney second-round game played in Salt Lake City between Mountain West Conference champion and West Regional No. 3 seed New Mexico and Ivy League champion and 14 seed Harvard.
The Lobos, under the guidance of a coach (Steve Alford) who was the best player on an Indiana team that won a national title 26 years ago, were the choice of many to bag the four wins needed to go from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles (for the regional semifinals and final) and on to Atlanta for the Final Four.
But who grabbed the first of those four wins late Thursday night?
Hey Harvard alumni: How are you enjoying that first-ever NCAA tourney win?
Coach Tom Amaker’s squad made some significant tournament history Thursday night, shattering the brackets of millions and, in the process, what appeared to be legitimate Final Four aspirations of a New Mexico squad that had proven to be clearly the best team in one of the very best (the Mountain West) conferences in the country.
Last season the Crimson made its first NCAA tourney appearance since 1946.
But Harvard’s hopes for a return took a huge blow in the fall when its two best players, Brandyn Curry and Kyle Casey, were dismissed from the school as part of an academic scandal at the school.
But, instead of “wait until next year” (both players could return next fall), “next year” proved to be the 2012-13 season, as Amaker’s squad won the Ivy title and then pulled off one of the biggest stunners in recent tourney history Thursday.
Amaker has been mentioned as a possible target of USC and that talk is only going to get louder – as could speculation that he could be a candidate to head to Los Angeles at another school should, as many anticipate, UCLA and Ben Howland part ways whenever the Bruins’ season comes to an end.
But, for the time being, the only trip to Los Angeles on Amaker’s mind is the one his squad would earn for the West Regional semifinals at the Staples Center next week by knocking off the University of Arizona in a third-round game Saturday.
Other observations on Thursday’s action:
*The three Pac 12 teams that played advanced to the Round of 32, with the U of A Wildcats having no problems with Belmont (but a whole lot more prognosticators had Belmont winning that game than they did Harvard beating New Mexico) and 12 seeds Oregon (over Oklahoma State) and Cal (topping UNLV) collecting “upsets”, of sorts.
The other two Pac 12 entries are in action Friday, with UCLA (a 6 seed, as was Arizona) facing Minnesota and 10 seed Colorado playing Illinois. Both games are in Austin but the Bruins-Gophers clash is part of the South Regional while the Buffs-Illini game is in the East Regional.
It was a much needed collective performance by a conference whose reputation, regionally and nationally, has been far from sterling in recent years.
*On the other hand, it was a painful Thursday – with one notable exception – for the Mountain West, which had the best collective Ratings Percentage Index among all the 31 conferences with automatic bids.
The MWC received four at-large bids (its’ most ever) to go along with automatic qualifier New Mexico.
Boise State was bounced by La Salle in a Dayton “First Four” game Wednesday night and then the Lobos and Rebels were sent packing Thursday.
But Colorado State thoroughly outplayed – dominated, in reality – Missouri, 84-72, in Lexington.
The Rams, in their first season under Larry Eustachy (who inherited a gifted squad left by Tim Miles when he left for Nebraska), will get a pop at the No. 1 overall team in the field – Louisville – on Saturday.
The matchup of centers Colton Iverson (for CSU) and Gorgui Dieng should be a dandy.
San Diego State – possibly over-seeded at 7 in the South, by the way – faces Oklahoma in Philadelphia Friday.
*And Thursday proved a very nice day for the Atlantic 10, as well.
Butler held off a nice second-round half rally by Bucknell (to earn a Saturday game with Marquette, which had to eke out a comeback win against 14 seed Davidson) in a East game in Lexington.
Saint Louis was always comfortably in front of New Mexico State and cruised to a 64-44 victory in San Jose and a Saturday showdown with Pac 12 tourney champion Oregon.
And Virginia Commonwealth – which finished behind Saint Louis – smoked (88-42) Akron in Auburn Hills in even more one-sided fashion that had been anticipated.
Temple (vs. North Carolina State in Dayton) and La Salle (vs. Kansas State in Kansas City) are in action Friday.
*Lastly, the Syracuse performance Thursday in San Jose gave strong indication that the Orange, in fact, have recovered nicely from the run of sub-par play that led to seven losses in 12 Big East games.
Granted, the 81-34 victory came against the Big Sky Champion (Montana) and the sledding will be a lot tougher against the Mike Montgomery-coached and Allen Crabbe-led Cal squad Saturday.
But the win over a very well-coached (by Wayne Tinkle) Montana team, coupled with the performance during the Big East tourney (where the Orange advanced to the final before losing being the second-half onslaught of Louisville), makes me think Syracuse is a playing a lot like the team that looked so “Final Four-like” from November through late January.
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