No Cinderfella Yet ...
>> Cinderella hasn't arrived at the NCAA tourney yet
Jay Busbee
Yahoo Sports
March 22, 2019
sports.yahoo.com
Happy Friday, Read and Reactors! Good news: your bracket’s probably in pretty good shape! Bad news: so is everyone else’s. Day 1 of the NCAA tournament is in the books, and so far, Cinderella hasn’t made it to the dance. Did her Uber get lost? Can someone text her and see if she’s on the way?
Ja rules a first round that’s not very fiery
We’re smack-dab in the middle of two of the greatest sports days in the year. Unfortunately for chaos-lovers, the action ran pretty chalky on Thursday.
The prime highlights were individual: Murray State’s Ja Morant established himself as the likely No. 2 pick in the NBA draft with the first NCAA tourney triple-double in half a decade. And Fletcher MaGee, who’s a Wofford ballplayer and not a gumshoe 1950s detective, set an NCAA record for career three-pointers.
But Yale couldn’t buy its way past LSU, Auburn skated on a curious last-second New Mexico State decision, and Belmont just barely missed upsetting Maryland on a complex “Panic Reverse” backdoor play.
Save us, Friday!
The NCAA tournament has a way of balancing the karma scales, and that means Friday ought to have an overflow of buzzer-beaters and upsets. Let’s look at the slate:
Our Jeff Eisenberg ranks Oregon-Wisconsin as the best game to watch, another strong candidate for a 12-5 upset. Keep an eye out for players like UCF’s 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall and some guy on Duke named Zion Williamson, an up-and-coming baller who might just start drawing attention soon.
And then, of course, there’s Virginia. No one will ever give the first #1 seed to lose to a #16, as the Cavs did last year, the benefit of the doubt … but we wouldn’t be surprised if UVa hung 300 on poor Gardner-Webb.
So before Friday’s games, give your bracket a kiss and some love. This time tomorrow, it might not look so pretty. Enjoy the tournament, everyone! <<
- Eric L. - |
