Oh Those Surprises

Ratings: Reverting to Historical Form
For a while I thought the BeeOneGee would pull off an historic reversal.  No such luck.  Back to their overrated ways, but at least this year it is to a smaller degree.  Remember, these rankings don't tell us who has the best conference.  It tells us how teams/conferences are doing in the context of their seeding.

As ever, the PAC 12 was woefully under-seeded and the BeeOneGee over-estimated. (But, to give them their due, other than Wisconsin, they've been pretty close to form.  Oh yeah, except for Indiana.  Uh, and Ohio State...)

At least the Big East is improving on their abysmal showing in earlier years.  Here's the tally after Sunday.

PAC 12               +17
MVC                  +  9
SEC                    + 5
A-10                   +  3
ACC                   -  2
WCC                  -  8
B1G                    -  8
Big East               -13
Big 12                 -16
MWC                 -26

Michigan

The Wolverines are the BeeOneGee's great last hope to prevent a total swan dive in the tourney.  But I'm impressed.  I did not see their blowout of VCU coming.  It was, on paper, a great matchup.  They both have speed but, in the end, Michigan had the big guy (McGary) that VCU lacked.


As for Michigan's miraculous take down of Kansas, I especially noticed who was cool down the stretch:  Kevin Young for Kansas, McGary for Michigan.  Young wasn't a star, but he played smart, error free b-ball and made some key buckets.  They needed him in the lineup down the stretch, but Self made a mistake by benching him (probably for matchup purposes) and Kansas suffered.  Sometimes, a less than spectacular player who is feeling comfortable and playing well is what you need in a desperate situation like that.

As for McGary:  Wow.  This guy is a freshman?  Cool under pressure and great down the stretch.  He's going to be a great one. 

Duke
Too bad Duke and Louisville are playing today and not for the title.  Is there really any doubt that Mike Krzyzewski is one of the all time greats?  Best thing is, he sits most of the time and doesn't micromanage every move, every placement of every play.  Still wondering how you get "Shuh-shev-ski" out of that name, though.  Must be a Cyrillic thing.

Wichita State
Have to admit, I didn't see this one coming either.  I saw Creighton take them out in their conference tournament and I figured they were another San Diego State:  good talent, toss them the ball and tell them to go play.  The fact that Creighton can beat them and yet they're still standing in the Tourney is a bit of a head-scratcher for me.

Pet Peeve #4
Those stupid ads with the smugly self-satisfied guy talking to a small group of kindergarten kids is worse than all-talk radio with Dick Vitale.  But there's nothing worse than child actors who are more adult than adults trying to act like genuine little kids.  Gag me with a spoon.