NCAA Tournament – Round of 64/32 Wrap-Up

The first week of the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is in the books, and the Sweet Sixteen is set. For those of you that missed the action, here’s a recap of this weekend’s memorable moments, a preview of next weekend’s action, and an update on the Crasstalk Bracket Funderdome Challenge.

Before we begin, let us all recognize the efforts of the NIT 16-seed Robert Morris Colonials in bouncing the NIT 1-seed Kentucky Wildcats last Tuesday. Godspeed, Colonials.

Starting with the South Region, the big story of the tournament so far is the emergence of Florida Gulf Coast University, who upset 2-seed Georgetown in the Round of 64 on Friday. The Eagles certainly live up to their name, featuring an immensely entertaining, high-flying offense that seems to openly flaunt the laws of physics. The FGCU Eagles went on to prove they’re not a fluke, smacking around the 7-seed San Diego State Aztecs in the Round of 32 on Sunday, earning a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. The Eagles are the first 15-seed to make it out of the first weekend in Tournament history.

11-seed Minnesota smacked around 6-seed UCLA in the Round of 64 before getting bounced by 3-seed Florida in the Round of 32, thus validating everyone’s “Obvious Upset As Soon As It Was Announced” pick.

The seemingly-annual “Roy Williams Revenge Game” was uneventful, with 1-seed Kansas beating 8-seed North Carolina in the Round of 32.

Moving to the Midwest Region, the Oregon Nike Catalogs Ducks upset 5-seed Oklahoma State in the Round of 64, then went on to upset 4-seed Saint Louis in the Round of 32. I thought the Ducks were underseeded, but I didn’t think they were THIS underseeded.

The West Region has been Upset City, with the 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 seeds all going down this weekend.

Gonzaga was the first 1-seed to go down, losing to 9-seed Wichita State in the Round of 32. What’s that, MonkeyBiz? Does this suggest that perhaps non-Power Six conference teams shouldn’t be given #1 or #2 seeds until a non-Power Six team wins a National Championship? Yes it does, Other MonkeyBiz. Yes it does.

Ole Miss upset Wisconsin in the Round of 64. This is only an upset in the sense that it’s a round or two earlier than the Bo Ryan-coached Badgers usually get bounced.

The 14th-seeded Harvard Crimson upset 3-seed New Mexico in the Round of 64. The New Mexico Lobos were a popular Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight pick, and an RPI favorite. The Crimson were promptly eliminated by 6-seed Arizona in the Round of 32, thus restoring balance to the universe and reminding everyone that RPI is awful.

13-seed La Salle beat 4-seed Kansas State in the Round of 64, then went on to eliminate 12-seed Ole Miss, winning a date with 9-seed Wichita State next weekend. 10-seed Iowa State smacked around 7-seed Notre Dame in the Round of 64, and gave 2-seed Ohio State a scare in the Round of 32 before being bounced on Aaron Craft’s virtually last second 3-pointer.

The East Region has been comparatively stable. 12-seed California upset 5-seed UNLV, and went on to lose to 4-seed Syracuse. 3-seed Marquette squeaked out wins versus 14-seed Davidson and 6-seed Butler, winning both games by a combined 3 points.

9-seed Temple upset 8-seed N.C. State, although calling it an upset is questionable. Temple went on to face 1-seed Indiana, where the Owls’ Khalif Wyatt scored an astounding 31 points. Unfortunately for the Owls, three of Temple’s other starters went a combined 0-for-21, ultimately falling to Indiana in the final minute. After sinking the dagger 3-pointer, Indiana’s Victor Oladipo was overheard yelling at Owls guard Khalif Wyatt, saying “THIS ISN’T EVEN MY FINAL FORM!”. No further clarification from Hoosiers Coach Tom Crean is available, but Oladipo was sighted later, surrounded by an energy field, walking back to the team bus.

Next weekend’s games are going to be very interesting. The East and West Regions will play on Thursday, with the Midwest and South Regions playing on Friday.

First up, out of Washington, D.C. we have 3-seed Marquette taking on 2-seed Miami, and 1-seed Indiana taking on 4-seed Syracuse. Can Marquette keep their string of miracle wins alive? Can Miami silence it’s critics and make it to the Elite Eight? Can Indiana solve Syracuse’s zone defense? Can Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim avenge his 1987 National Championship loss to Indiana? Will this be the weekend Indiana basketball finally gives me a heart attack and/or brain aneurysm?

Biz’s Picks: Indiana over Syracuse, Miami over Marquette, MonkeyBiz over Problem Ded

Next up, out of Los Angeles, we have 9-seed Wichita State takes on 13-seed La Salle, and 6-seed Arizona versus 2-seed Ohio State. I know nothing about Wichita State and La Salle, other than Wichita is where Sports Illustrated’s Peter King likes to set hypothetical football games. Also too, Arizona and Ohio State are playing.

Biz’s Picks: Wichita St. over La Salle, Ohio State over Arizona

The Midwest region is next, with 1-seed Louisville taking on 12-seed Oregon, and 2-seed Duke taking on 3-seed Michigan State. Between the Oregon Nike Billboards Ducks’ well-known penchant as a testbed for Nike products and Louisville’s adoption of the Adidas “Adizero” (read: Zubaz) uniforms this postseason, I would highly recommend not watching the game as it may break your television and/or destroy your retinas. Meanwhile, the floor mops they use during games are currently being distributed to interns around the national sports media to handle the deluge of sportswriter slobber that’s about to inundate us all over Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.

Biz’s Picks: Louisville over Oregon, Michigan State over Duke, Zubaz over Good Taste, Sportswriter Slobber over Intern-Powered Court Mops

Finally, the South Region will feature 1-seed Kansas versus 4-seed Michigan and 3-seed Florida versus 15-seed FGCU. If Michigan’s Trey Burke, Glenn Robinson III, and Tim Hardaway Jr. all show up, Michigan is going to roflstomp Kansas. Unfortunately for Michigan, they have a tendency to disappear from time to time, and the Jayhawks are too experienced to not take big advantage of it if they do. It’s fun to think about what could happen if FGCU beats Florida, but let’s be realistic: the Gators are gonna eat the Eagles alive. It’s not gonna be pretty. They’ll have to broadcast it with a Parental Advisory warning.

Biz’s Picks: Michigan over Kansas, Florida and the Laws of Physics WAY over FGCU 

And now, your Crasstalk Bracket Funderdome standings after the first week:

1) I’m Waitin For Dolemite
1) Jason
1) Rina
4) flaxen.vixen
5) DrCaveat Lector
5) Petulant Fucko
5) Rhino Pienoceros
8) BestLaidPLains
8) Dogs OfWar
8) Jarrod
8) MonkeyBiz
12) A Piece of the Continent
12) KotBR
12) Olivia Flammerhammer
12) shesarainbow Xx
16) daisy walker
17) Amazon ww
17) enesbit15
19) Captain Badass
19) Botswana Meat Commission
19) La Ziguezon
22) clarity83

Mock away, and Go Sport!

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