SMU’s best player is out and they have struggled without him.
Also, our favorite announcer makes an appearance in the tourney.
https://x.com/AndrewMarchand/status/2034389515465371731?s=20
This is March.
We sleep in May.
Grab your nitroglycerin pills!
Three rules to live by:
- Never acknowledge The Godfather: Part III.
- Never waste calories on pizza outside of the Eastern Time Zone.
- ALWAYS foul up three late.
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Is there anything he can’t do?
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Real ones will understand those references.
Nate Oats. My Cousin Vinny.
BTW, if anybody wants to see a preview of a 16-1 matchup, the Thunder are playing the Nets right now.
# Wojo: Michigan and MSU first face herds of Bison, then loads of pressure
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For the top seeds, there is mostly angst and apprehension, a season’s success hinging on a 40-minute sweat-fest against a team from a conference with a name like the Mid-South Atlantic Athletic Coastal Conference. It’s what makes March Madness so exhilarating and exhausting.
It’s what Michigan State and Tom Izzo have faced each of their 28 consecutive appearances. Michigan feels even more pressure now, in Dusty May’s second season after an historic romp through the Big Ten. It’s what makes the next few weeks, arguably, the most nerve-wracking in this state’s Tournament history.
Both are huge favorites in Thursday’s openers against two breeds of Bison in Buffalo, which seems like a metaphorical homecourt advantage for the underdog Bisons. Michigan (31-3) is a 30.5-point favorite against the Howard Bison (24-10) and MSU (25-7) is a 16.5-point pick against the North Dakota St. Bison.
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Michigan was a five seed last year and also lost to Auburn, in the Sweet 16. UM and MSU have mirrored each other for two years now — each with a Big Ten regular season and tournament title. Of course, that guarantees absolutely nothing, other than a nice banner and a decent seed.
Izzo knows how it works better than anyone, experiencing numerous highs and one agonizing low — a 90-81 loss as a No. 2 seed to No. 15 Middle Tennessee State in 2106. Giddy Potts etched his name in Tournament lore as the Blue Raiders hit 11 of 19 3-pointers. Long-range shooting often is the great equalizer, capable of negating size and talent mismatches.
North Dakota State has a bunch of decent 3-point shooters (36.5% as a team) and the Spartans have been vulnerable to the deep shot lately.
“I did figure out the bracket, and I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t win the national championship,” Izzo quipped Monday. “Or get beat in the first weekend.”
It’s true, although possibly not as true as in the past. In the NIL era, the power programs can pay to pile up more talent, while the mid-majors struggle to retain their best players. Cinderella is not yet an endangered species, but she’s getting there. All the No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four last season, and only one double-digit seed (No. 10 Arkansas) made it out of the first weekend.
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The Spartans will ride as Jeremy Fears Jr. rides, the type of dynamic guard that Izzo loves. If he gets the pick-and-roll game going with Coen Carr, Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler, MSU can beat anybody.
…The Wolverines will ride as Lendeborg and point guard Elliot Cadeau ride.
IIRC, I have UM losing to IA State in the elite 8 and MSU losing in the final four.
Arizona to win it all.
RedHawks won!
I went them to upset the first #1
Ohio State is sleep walking their way into getting blown out.
Update, win or lose that must have been a hell of a halftime talk.
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If this Duke-Siena score holds (it will not), there will be about 50 perfect brackets left.
Actually shockingly still 188,000+ left 0.7%
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Just shy of 900,000 brackets remaining. IFFF Sienna wins. 40,000 0.15%
Big ten was not so big today 
Conference in whole isnt great. Purdue and Michigan are the only ones I see going to at least elite 8. Illions has good chance as well
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IMO McNamara really screwed up by not at least playing six guys. Sienna clearly ran out of gas.
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IOWA is no layup tomorrow.
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The Siena’s and High Points of the world are what make the tourney so damned fun. I love watching teams that have no chance to win, on a normal day, play with no stress and sometimes actually pull one off.
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I thought Duke was going down.
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