I only have one word for this past weekend in NCAA tournament action: BRUTAL!!. After Kansas, Georgetown, and Villanova wrecked any chance of winning my bracket pool, I was hoping to get some karma back on Cal and Maryland. Cal just got overpowered by Duke. The Blue Devils were a better team on just about every measure. Their size and their defense pretty much smothered Cal’s hopes in a brutally efficient fashion.
Meanwhile, the gritty Terps hung around, hung around, and hung around some more, until the depleted Michigan State Spartans started running out of gas. I give Maryland, in general, and Greivis Vasquez, in particular, a lot of credit for coming back to take the lead (twice) in the final seconds. Sparty just made one more big, brutal, heartbreaking shot.
N.b. None of the teams mentioned above had “one-and-dones”. All four had senior leadership and returning tourney experience. Didn’t make much of a difference in Cal-Duke, but I thought the level of play was excellent in the Maryland-Michigan State game.
Looks like I may have to resort to rooting for Washington in the hopes that they knock off Kentucky.