LAGUNA NIGUEL – Friday’s second day of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Round of 64 (first round) games produced “seed upsets” in eight of the 16 contests.
*No. 9s got wins over 8 seeds by way of the University of Central Florida (over Virginia Commonwealth) in the East Regional), Oklahoma (over Mississippi in the South) and Washington (over Utah State in the Midwest).
Coupled with Baylor’s toppling Syracuse (in the West), it meant there will be a “No. 9 . . . No. 9 . . . No. 9 . . . and No. 9” (yeah, almost like the John Lennon lyrics in “Revolution No. 9” in The Beatles LP which is more commonly known as The White Album) in the Round of 32 games Saturday and Sunday.
A 10 (Iowa over Cincinnati in the South) also won Saturday, as did an 11 (Ohio State over Iowa State).
*But the real “rattle a lot of folks’ brackets in NCAA pools” upsets came via No. 12s (Liberty, in a first-ever program tourney win, over Mississippi State in the East) and Oregon (over Wisconsin in the South) No. 13 (UC Irvine in yet another initial tourney victory, this one over Kansas State, also in the South).
*At least one of those “super seed winners” will advance to next week’s Sweet 16 since Oregon and UCI hook up in San Jose Sunday, while Liberty will have to take on a No. 4 seed, via Virginia Tech in an “in-state clash” played in San Jose (2K or so miles from either of the programs’ campuses).
Virginia Tech Coach Buzz Williams could end up as the new head coach at Texas A&M (he’s a Texan) or at the University of Texas (should the Longhorns’ honcho, Shaka Smart, move on to – likely – soon-to-be open gigs at Wake Forest or Alabama).
And, if Williams makes a move, Virginia Tech’s athletic department decision makers could have Liberty Coach Ritchie McKay as an “A list” candidate to replaced Williams.
*He may already have piqued Washington State administrators’ interest but if Russell Turner’s UCI team knocks off the Ducks Sunday he’ll almost certainly – it can be reasonably assumed – become a real person of interest in Pullman.
*The Big Ten (7-1), ACC (5-2), SEC (5-2) and Big 12 (4-2) were a combined 21-7 in first-round games.
It would take no leap of faith to suggest that 13 of the 16 teams moving into regional semifinal action in Week II will be from those four conferences, with Oregon (Pac 12), Gonzaga (West Coast) and Houston (American) being the likely “outsiders”.
*Best Friday performances on winning teams: R.J. Barrett (Duke/26 points, 14 rebounds and three assists); Mamadi Diakite (Virginia/17 points and nine rebounds off the bench); Corey Davis Jr. (Houston/26 points, seven rebounds and six assists); Caleb Homesley (Liberty/30 points) and Jarrett Culver (Texas Tech/29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists).
*Cool Factor Sunday: Duke vs. Central Florida (UCF Coach Johnny Dawkins was Mike Krzyzewski’s first all-American and a long-time assistant).
*Rating the Sunday games: 1. UCI-Oregon (West Coast bias); 2. UNC-Washington (a Huskies’ upset would take some of the wind out of the “The Pac 12 sucks” sails; 3. Liberty-Virginia Tech (two of the more underrated coaches in the sport); 4. Texas Tech-Buffalo; 5. Houston-Ohio State (Cougars’ Coach Kelvin Sampson has taken four programs – Washington State, Oklahoma, Indiana and his current employer – to NCAA tourneys); 6. Duke vs. UCF (anytime Zion Williamson is on television it becomes “Must Watch TV!”; 7. Iowa-Tennessee; 8. Virginia-Oklahoma.
*Saturday games I’ll DVR while attending the West Coast Elite camp at Cerritos College and watch when I get home: 1. Murray State-Florida State; 2. LSU-Maryland; 3. Wofford-Kentucky.
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