Sunday, March 22, 2009

Great Finish To Round 2 Of March Madness

The 3 late games today, wrapping up the 2nd round of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament, were all terrific. Louisville (# 1 in their region, and ranked 1st overall) got all they could handle from # 9 Siena, including falling behind the underdogs by several points late in the game. They escaped the embarrassment of an early exit, but only just. Final score: Lou 79, Siena 72, but it was closer than that down the stretch.

Michigan State (# 2) versus USC (# 10) was incredible, with both teams looking like they belonged in the next round. It was tight right into the final minute, but the Spartans prevailed against the Trojans... wait, wasn't that battle thousands of years ago? Boy, I suck at history! Final score: MSU 74, USC 69

Another great finish involved # 3 Missouri against # 6 Marquette. Marquette pulled ahead late, and in fact at one point, the 3 underdogs in these games were all either tied or leading in the late stages of their contests! In the end, though, the favoured Mizz moved on to the next round. Final score: Miss 83, Marq 79.

When the 3rd round begins on Thursday, all of the teams ranked 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their region will be there. Two of the # 4 teams will join them, along with a # 5 (Purdue) and a # 12 (Arizona). That's one of the best looking Sweet Sixteen lineups I can remember, in terms of having a high percentage of the top teams taking part. While everyone enjoys a good upset, there's really nothing like watching the best of the best go head-to-head against each other on the tournament's 2nd weekend!

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