Congratulations to LSU, UCLA, George Mason, and Florida, for reaching the Final Four.
I can honestly say that I am only surprised at GMU making to the final set, the rest are very good solid teams that you can never count out, especially in this era of parity. The interesting thing is, of those that remain, there are no number one seeds left and perennial media darlings Duke and UConn are out. (If Duke would have won a championship every year that Dick Vitale has picked them to, they'd have UCLA beat by now.)
I am not sure who will win it. But there are four teams left and all four have earned the right to be there, that much is for sure. My sentimental favorite is UCLA. Living in the LA area as a boy, I thought the NCAA Tournament was the UCLA Invitational, for years. Those days are now gone, but they do have a bunch that can play defense. How else can we explain one of the best team of athletes (Memphis) around, scoring only 45 points in a 40 minute game (that's a little over one point a minute)? With that kind of defense, all that was needed was a "whopping" 50, by the Bruins.
I did not see the LSU-Texas game, but form what I have heard from those that did, LSU looked pretty good. I did see them beat Duke and they looked pretty good doing it, from my vantage point. (My favorite time of the tournament is, when Duke gets eliminated.)
Florida looks like they are serious, as well. The height advantage really helped them stick it to Nova, who just couldn't get the threes going. The inside game was thoroughly dominated by the Gators and George Mason will really have their work cut out for them, on Saturday.
But everyone that has no dog in the fight will most likely be pulling for GMU, the giant killer. Trust me, I have seen them play a little here and there during this tourney, they deserved this bid. They have beat Michigan St., North Carolina, Wichita St., and now the #2 media darling, UConn. A fluke would have been gone by now.
This is one good tournament. So stay tuned.
5 comments:
Jon over at my blog accused you of extolling blind love for UCLA, now I know why..
By the way, I used to live in LA myself back in the 70s.
A somewhat semi-homey?
Seriously, what part? I lived in San Bernardino. Was born in Lancaster, spent some time in Fairfield, up north. I used to have family in the Valley, Costa Mesa, and still have an aunt and a cousin in Corona.
Jon would be right. We always rooted for USC in football and UCLA in basketball. The baseball team was the Angels, in my family. (There was a time when I thought I would die before the Angels would ever win a World Series.) And of course there was the Lakers and the Rams. (Raiders were my AFL team and I thought it was absolutely great when they moved to LA and was irritated when they moved back to Oakland)
So with the exception of the Rams, if any of these teams makes it to the post-season, I will be rooting for them.
But honestly, it's probably going to be LSU and Florida.
Go, GMU!!!
I don't follow sports very much, with the exception of baseball (My father was once offered a job as closing pitcher for the Yanks, but he turned them down because he didn't like to travel). I graduated from Mason when it was still part of UVA. But I live very near GMU and sometimes attend reunions there.
Mason has never been "a sports college"; rather, the emphasis has always been on academics.
I'm really pleased for the green and gold. I'll be wearing my class ring today!
AOW,
I am tickled for them. If Florida looks past them, Florida will be watching the title game in Florida.
Culver City. Was there only a couple of years, but we saw quite a bit of the sites while there, like Yosemite and San Fran. It's a great state, and I hope to get back for a visit one day. Hopefully by the time I return it will still be part of the USA. j/k
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