Meanwhile, my brother-in-law Casey is alone in last place, with an 0-for-3 record. Though, um, I’m not sure if his was really a serious bracket…
P.S. It’s early, but the second set of games is looking pretty disastrous for me right now. Pitt and UNLV have opened up big leads over Oral Roberts and Kent State, respectively; and Purdue leads Baylor by 5. The only bright spot is Marquette’s 4-point lead over Kentucky at halftime. But going 1-for-4 in the second wave of games — for a 3-for-7 Thursday-afternoon record, pending the result of the Brainiac Bowl between Stanford and Cornell — would not exactly be an auspicious start. Let’s go, Baylor! C’mon, Kent!! GO ORAL!!!
P.P.S. The score of the UNLV-Kent State game at halftime is 31-10 Rebels. 31-10?!? Really?? Good lord, Golden Flashes, you guys are not helping the mid-major cause here!! Argh!!
I hope you’re right, yea. So far, this is eerily reminiscent of last year’s first round.
Kent State totally blew one of the few potential statement games for the top tier of mid-majors in the first round, thanks to the slew of BracketBusters II matchups. It’s too bad somebody better, like Davidson or South Alabama, didn’t have that #9 seed and the chance to knock off UNLV. Damn.
Meanwhile, Temple (which is mid-major-ish) and Oral Roberts (not really in the top tier, but close) also laid (or are in the process of laying) massive eggs against the big boys. Overall, not an auspicious start. Argh.
I don’t really consider the A-10, Mountain West or Conference USA to be mid-majors. That said, some of their teams are more “mid-major-ish” than others (hence my description of Temple). UNLV is one of the least mid-major-ish teams from those conferences, IMHO. You don’t see UNLV on the bracket and think cute or cuddly, any more than you think that about Memphis or Xavier.
March 20th, 2008 at 4:20:42 pm
Yeah Casey!!! Woo hoo!!! You _OWN_ last place!! Great work. :D
March 20th, 2008 at 4:29:55 pm
The only really competitive games I’ve seen so far are Kentucky-Marquette and Xavier-Georgia.
Nothing entirely compelling yet…very chalky.
March 20th, 2008 at 4:39:46 pm
everyone is at work now. the real upsets will start tonight when everyone is watching.
March 20th, 2008 at 4:49:23 pm
I hope you’re right, yea. So far, this is eerily reminiscent of last year’s first round.
Kent State totally blew one of the few potential statement games for the top tier of mid-majors in the first round, thanks to the slew of BracketBusters II matchups. It’s too bad somebody better, like Davidson or South Alabama, didn’t have that #9 seed and the chance to knock off UNLV. Damn.
Meanwhile, Temple (which is mid-major-ish) and Oral Roberts (not really in the top tier, but close) also laid (or are in the process of laying) massive eggs against the big boys. Overall, not an auspicious start. Argh.
March 20th, 2008 at 5:03:39 pm
Isn’t UNLV technically a mid-major? ;)
Brendan, what did I tell you? Pitt wasn’t going to lose to ORU. In my mind, this game was never in doubt. ;)
March 20th, 2008 at 5:13:36 pm
I don’t really consider the A-10, Mountain West or Conference USA to be mid-majors. That said, some of their teams are more “mid-major-ish” than others (hence my description of Temple). UNLV is one of the least mid-major-ish teams from those conferences, IMHO. You don’t see UNLV on the bracket and think cute or cuddly, any more than you think that about Memphis or Xavier.
March 20th, 2008 at 7:38:51 pm
I don’t see ANY team on the bracket and think cute and cuddly…