A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
Conventional wisdom held that Russ Smith, Louisville’s leading scorer from it’s NCAA championship team, would be headed to the NBA after a remarkable junior season. That wisdom was apparently way off, as Smith has announced he will return for his senior season.
It’s easy to write off this season simply as a disappointment, but these Hoosiers deserve far more credit than many people are giving them. I’ll tell you why.
I understand and support the NCAA not allowing the Louisville men’s basketball team to travel — on the university’s or Rick Pitino’s dime — to New Orleans to watch the women’s team compete for the national championship.
Neither school in last night’s title game can really be considered a ‘fresh face’ in the tournament’s final weekend. However, there were a number of players in this year’s Final Four who can be.
Mike Rice’s actions were shameful, and every broadcaster on every network across the nation condemned Rice’s actions and applauded his firing … right? Sadly, that’s not quite the case.
Tonight in New Orleans, a Cinderella (Louisville), an emerging program no longer in the shadow of its rival (California), one of the best programs in women’s basketball history (Connecticut), and a team that is making its third straight Final Four appearance behind one of the nation’s top players (Notre Dame) will meet in the NCAA Women’s Final Four.
In a season where the nation’s top six or seven teams appeared to have set themselves apart from the other 338 or 339, few expected any of the top seeds to be ousted in the round of 16. But in the second half of Saturday night’s Georgia-Stanford game, conventional wisdom failed.
Here is the Sweet 16 schedule, along with television information, for today and tomorrow.
How would the remaining 16 teams in the 2013 NCAA basketball field do in a conference against each other? This ranking gives you an idea.
There are many awards in sports that are ambiguous and hard to figure out. One that shouldn’t be is the Naismith Player of the Year Award, which this year should — but won’t — guy to a guy who isn’t even on voters’ radar screens.
Second round games are tonight and tomorrow. Tonight’s line-up includes a pair of intriguing 4-5 games: Maryland-Michigan State at 6:20 Central and Georgia-Iowa State at 8:50. Tomorrow will see All-American Elena Delle Donne and Delaware take on coach Sylvia Hatchell’s third-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels.
For the second consecutive season, Creighton University faces a top ACC team in the Round of 32. Will this time be different?
If you’re like me and have already discarded your men’s NCAA Tournament Bracket (I had Wisconsin and Georgetown in the Final Four), you’ll welcome the beginning of the women’s NCAA Tournament and the opportunity to start with a fresh bracket.
Two soon-to-be conference rivals are paired off in the Round of 32 in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament at Rupp Arena, which fortunately holds a lot higher capacity than the Maui Convention Center. Folks, a new rivalry is being born. Maybe the constant realignment of college sports isn’t all bad.
A 14 beating a 3 seems like it should be a big deal. It’s a major upset and something that has only happened 17 times in NCAA Tournament history. But the definition of “major upset” changes when Steve Alford is involved.
