SCOTT JACOBS

After a very somber, disappointing, high seed blowout frenzy on Thursday all the analysts were quick to point out that maybe this year is just not the Year of the Upset. And then Friday happened. And Tampa Happened. And the greatest barrage of upsets one host has ever seen flurried across the St. Pete Times Forum like never before. They fell like the bad guys in Scarface. One after another. Say hello to my little… bag of upsets. One of them, San Diego, I called. The others left my bracket gasping for air, and college basketball fans searching for sanity.

The first instant classic came between Western Kentucky and Drake. 101-99. Wow, an incredible game, and an incredible 38 foot three point desperation shot, in addition to 70 threes put up and 30 made, allowed for one of the most compelling high octane basketball games college basketball has seen in some time. With Drake on the ropes, they worked their way back, getting all the way to over team, an taking the lead by 1 with just 5 seconds left. And then it happened. WKU magic on a perfectly executed play happened, and the Hilltoppers shocked the CBS sports loving Earth.

But the gem on this day was San Diego. And I called it. Not sure what caused me to think the Toreros could beat the Huskies, but I rode the gut that they could be a bracket buster all week. I just liked the heart that they showed against St. Mary’s in the WAC Semi’s and UConn’s sluggish Big East tourney performance left me thinking upset when the brackets were announced. And the wild San Diego-UConn second half that just went back and forth was as good as you could of asked for. Brandon Johnson was superb again, scoring 18 before fouling out. But it was Pomare who carried them, before he also failed out. All in all though it was UNBELIEVABLE.

Just like the day was. After it was through, we had two twelve seeds, and a pair of 13 seeds, in addition to a 10 and a 11 moving on to the second round. With a relatively upset free tourney last year, this year we’ve got at least two cinderellas guaranteed amongst San Diego, Western Kentucky, Sienna, and Villanova. This is great. So much fun.

The NCAA Tourney has come through once again. Can’t wait for Saturday and Sunday.

SCOTT JACOBS

In a tournament chalk full of nothing so far, Belmont finally gave us a show. The 15 seed from Tennessee hung neck and neck with Duke all the way to the end, even leading by a point with under 20 seconds to go. But they couldn’t hold on, and the dream dies with that.

You have to give Belmont a lot of credit. They played one hell of a game, but turning the ball over on an inbounds play with under 5 seconds to go cost them history. They came that close to becoming the 5th 15 seed to ever beat a 2.

Belmont played a gutsy game, and they were scoring when it looked they were dead in the water. But in the end Duke did just enough to keep their season going.

So there you have it. By far the best game of the tourney so far. Who woulda thunk it? And right now, the biggest upset so far, USC losing to K-State and the Fighting Beasleys, isn’t that big of an upset at all.

Having said that, the USC game and the Duke game were gems and hope reigns supreme that this tourney will be a dousy.

Can George Mason knock off the Irish? Can the Cats take down the Fighting Alexanders? God I love March Madness!