Friday, March 25, 2016

Shocking night of hoops

I've never seen four major upsets in one night in the NCAA Tournament. Not to mention that two of those take downs were of No. 1 seeds.

I'm still in shock hours later. Let's recap:

One

Seventh-seeded Washington upended third-seeded Kentucky, 85-72.

Wildcat coach Matthew Mitchell said the Huskies are "definitely capable of going to the Final Four."

Two

No. 4 Syracuse toppled No. 1 South Carolina, 80-72.

The Gamecocks didn't have an answer as to how they never "woke up."

Three

Seventh-seeded Tennessee knocked off third-seeded Ohio State, 78-62.

Video..

Mercedes Russell lead the Lady Vols with a career-high 25 points and 15 rebounds.

Four

No. 4 Stanford took down No. 1 Notre Dame, 90-84.

Erica McCall had a career-high 27 points to lead the Cardinal.

My reactions:

I wasn't too surprised at Washington's win, especially considering how strong they started. Once they kept the lead for the entirety of the first quarter, I knew they had it. They have been building their chemistry all year, and coach Mike Neighbors said to me after the game they played at UCLA that their goals were bigger this year. That last season they thought it all ended on Selection Monday, and they had learned their lesson.

Syracuse's upset of South Carolina did stun me. I don't think anyone expected that. And it looks like, from the linked story above, that even the Gamecocks aren't sure yet what happened. I really did see them in the Final Four again this year.

No shocker on the Lady Vol win. Not only have they come together and all stepped up in this Tournament, but Ohio State took another injury hit earlier this week with the loss of Cait Craft.

Finally, I can't even say I'm that surprised at Notre Dame's loss. To me, they've been overrated all year long. I just didn't expect Stanford, which has struggled this season, to be the ones to do the deed.

So.....what happens tomorrow?

I think I'll begin with a defibrilator.

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