3.16.2007

Now THAT'S more like it!

Ever wonder why No. 1 seeds never lose, No. 2 seeds almost never lose, and No. 3 seeds rarely lose?

We got a some prime examples yesterday in the UNC/Eastern Kentucky and WSU/ORU games, and today in the Wisconsin/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi game.

In each of those cases, the lower-seeded school was able to hang close through either half or most of the game, only to wilt in the second half. Teams don't become top-three seeds for nothing, and they usually don't do it with rotations that go only six or seven deep.

There comes a point at which all the adrenaline, all the energy expended to hang with the big boys starts to wear off for those lower seeds, and that's when depth takes over. It happens time and time again.

Wisconsin was able to just keep chipping away as the Corpus Christi zone defense that had befuddled the Badgers for the better part of the game, got just a bit slower. That's all Wisconsin needed to put the game away. Perhaps nothing was more telling than the fact that the Badgers were plus-10 in scoring at one point in the second half with all-everything guard Alando Tucker on the bench.

Other thoughts today:

  • For all the talk about how awesome Nevada's Nick Fazekas is, that overtime win against Creighton showed why the Wolf Pack are such a dangerous team, and why I picked them to upset Memphis in the second round. Fazekas fouled out with 3:00 to go in overtime on a silly reach-in foul, but it made little difference. Garfield High alum Marcellus Kemp finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds and was clearly the difference in the game. Additionally, whenever Nevada needed a big shot in overtime, Ramon Sessions and Kyle Shiloh each finished fearless drives to keep the Bluejays at bay. Watch out, Tigers.
  • Will a No. 12 upset a No. 5 seed this year? So far, the No. 12 seeds are 0-for-3. There's only one chance left: Arkansas against USC tonight in Spokane.
  • Winthrop's win should hardly be surprising to anyone. Remember, the Eagles lost on a last-second 3-pointer in the 2006 Tournament against Tennessee. Chris Lofton hit it falling out of bounds from the baseline, a ridiculous shot that became one of the enduring moments of last year's Dance.
  • Speaking of Tennessee, so much for me thinking the Vols were ripe for a first-round upset. The dropped 121 points on Long Beach State. When I went to ESPN.com when I got home, I thought that was a serious typo, or thought maybe the women's tournament had started and I missed it. No such luck. The Vols dominated in every conceivable way, as three different players scored 20+ points, led by -- guess who? -- Loftin, with 25.

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