85 Expansion Day 1 Update
We kicked off the tournament with no jaw dropping upsets, as the teams with seeds 1 through 4 all advanced with relative ease. St. John's started slow, but won by 30, so it's hard to call that much of a test. Auburn, Houston, and Tennessee all handled their games just fine.
UC San Diego was a popular upset pick over Michigan and was a bounce off the rim away from sending the game to overtime, but the Tritons were sent packing and the most talked about upset pick was validated, but not complete. One UCSD fan had a sign "Michigan is a lake but the Tritons rule the 7 seas" and I'm not quite sure how you lose a game after that burn.
That made the most talked about game the Clemson McNeese game, as the Cowboys held Clemson to just 13 points at halftime. I had no faith in McNeese, thinking coach Will Wade signing with NC State before the tournament even began would be a major distraction. But credit Deadpool (Wade Wilson, close enough) for keeping his guys locked in, and holding off a Clemson second half comeback to survive and advance.
High Point really let me down, as the team with the best names in the tournament (Juslin Bodo Bodo & Kezze Giffa) couldn't handle the Boilermakers. I was gambling on Purdue's historical early exits minus last year, but guess I'm a hater. Speaking of haters, "Say Drake" went on and beat Mizzou, arguably the 2nd most popular upset pick after UC San Diego. With only 3 losses on the season, the Bulldogs are poised to put up a tough game for the Red Raiders of Texas Tech.
Other games- Buzz Williams is still a good coach and sent Yale back to their studying and sending resumes to Jim Brennan, Ryan Kalkbrenner is still really tall and ended Louisville's comeback season after two atrocious years (Cardinals will be back with Pat Kelsey at the helm), battle of the initials BYU beat VCU and will face Wisconsin who dominated Montana, the Bruins destroyed Utah State, I was betting on the Utah State student section, probably a bad idea... and a great late night game of two major conference teams in Kansas and Arkansas, John Calipari has Arkansas on to the next round for yet another chess match - the bracket did the Razorbacks no favors giving them Bill Self then Rick Pitino.
In our scoreboard, Rob Karabin continues to somehow be really great at this. Clearly, he didn't teach his son much though, and Cameron will be in 2nd in the Karabin household just like Arsenal will remain in 2nd to Liverpool this year. Caitie is reminding me why I married her, and also self admits she knows way too much about basketball at this point - but look at the payoff! Carly stays quality as always, keeping her and Caitie just a point behind Rob for a tie for 2nd.
4th Place: Casey and I were debating about McNeese at work, and he took McNeese. This is not an indication of ceiling coordination which I am still always right on, your sprinklers can always move out of the way. Ryan "here is the winning bracket" Brisson also is in striking distance, we'll see if he can cross the finish line like LaGuardia Construction (for the non-construction folk, yes it's really done, we have a party to celebrate next week). Newcomer Chris Puder rounds out the top four- hopefully the Piscataway tennis team can start out just as strong this year.
Games to watch:
I'm a huge Grand Canyon fan, and Maryland has been the biggest choke team of the year. Let's see if the Antelopes can pull off the 4-13 upset at 4:35.
Illinois Xavier could be a great game, Xavier coming off a huge comeback win over Texas and Illinois has something to prove with 12 losses on the year, a late 9:45 game.
Lastly, Marquette vs New Mexico is a great coaching matchup of Shaka Smart vs the junior Pitino at 7:25PM.
Other than those 3, we'll see if there's any surprises.
Enjoy the games while the Nova crew enjoys their coaching search in this tournament! Did Will Wade put pen to paper yet for NC State?
Rory F Beglane
Founder of the 85 Expansion Bracket Challenge
Villanova Enthusiast
0 Time Bracket Winner