85 Expansion Elite 8 Update
A delay in reporting, as Ryan and the Delta team decided to take me out for the count all of Friday after celebrating the LaGuardia completion. While Meghan and myself were swatting away JFK recruitment like Florida's defense, there were some fantastic games with overtime, great ATO (after time out's), and top tier basketball.
On Thursday, we saw both Alabama and Duke put up triple digits, with Alabama putting up an NCAA record 25 (!!!) 3 pointers. They'll need to stay just as hot to keep up with Cooper Flag and the Blue Devils. Of note, there's rumors that Flag would return to Duke next year. That would be a HUGE win for the NIL to retain the best player in the country in college for a year.
Jonathan, who I respect fully for not going to the Delta Party to watch his Gators, had his decision pay off with their win over Maryland. Thank you for sending us Nova guys our coach (most likely)! The last game of the night was the best one, with the Texas Tech Red Raiders coming back from 16 to take down Calapari and Arkansas in overtime. The Red Raiders are the lowest seed in the Elite 8 now, and certainly will have it cut out for them vs the Gators. I also believe I'm correct in saying Ryan's parlay hit Thursday night - although the 1AM time might not be crystal clear, I know the parlay was shown off.
Friday saw Michigan State hold tough, and being the great coach he is, Izzo said they know they still need to be better vs Auburn. The Tigers had a similar mindset knowing they can't turn the ball over 15 times vs State and pull out a win. Tennessee sent Kentucky home in the SEC matchup, and despite Kentucky beating Tennessee twice in the regular season, who really cares if you don't win the last game of the season... Kentucky's new coach Mark Pope certainly satisfied in his first year though and can try to build off the success. The play of the night was the ATO for Houston to win the game off a layup with 0.9 seconds remaining. A great call by Kelvin Sampson, exposing the Purdue defense. Stay. With. The. Inbounder. Did no one learn from 1992 Christian Laettner or 2016 Kris Jenkins?!? Watch film people.
In our bracket, Lelia is looking for the repeat going 8 for 8 on her Elite 8 teams. Go buy a lotto ticket with the #8 in it, and bring Chris along as well who was the only other person to go perfect.
The Gator Nation Household and myself all were 7 of 8, keeping the Clousers close behind in striking distance, and myself just respectably in the middle, not embarrassing myself.
Chris jumped up big with his perfect score, and the diversity of picks at the top will be the determining factor at the end here. Duke, Florida, and Houston (with Auburn being a sleeper at the end), the 4 #1 seeds, will determine the final standings. No one has anyone else winning that remains.
There has only been one Final Four in which all four top seeds from the field made it: 2008, with Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina and UCLA. Other than that, three No. 1 seeds have made it just five times. In a year with great basketball but not a lot of great upsets, do we see the #1 seeds getting Low on the Dance floor (Low by Flo Rida was the #1 song of '08 - great signs for the Clousers).
No bad games to watch anymore, BUT I would like to give a shout out to the Women's tournament. Paige Bueckers and UConn are clicking at the right time, and despite us being robbed of a JuJu vs Paige matchup in the Elite 8, there are a lot of high profile players and teams left.
Best of luck to everyone still in it!
Rory F Beglane
Founder of the 85 Expansion Bracket Challenge
Villanova Enthusiast
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