NCAA Tournament

I got this e-mail from someone who was apparently not very impressed with my last post:

"Hey Phyllis, your an idiot. Nice call on Boise State there. WAC tourny champs, baby! This team has the talent to do some damage in the big dance. I see them making it to the sweet 16. Go broncos!"

So let me respond: First of all, I think I said I couldn't see how BSU could beat Utah State. That's right. I couldn't see it. I doubt anyone else saw Garner coming out and killing it like he did. Dude hardly plays all year, comes in and scores ten points in about five minutes, and then promptly returns to obscurity on the bench. Crazy. If he doesn't do that, they don't win that game. Period.

And notice that Greene did not play in the USU game? Good call, Graham. So not only did "Nascar" Greene not put in his 10-15 minutes of substandard play, Garner took his place and excelled. Amazing.

I guess I am glad I made no prediction about the New Mexico State game, since I would have been doubtful BSU could pull it off in Las Cruces. But pull it off they did, and I am duly impressed. The one area of concern from that game (which will help me answer the e-mailer's claim BSU can make some noise in the tournament) is that the bench scored a whopping six points in fifty-five minutes. I maintain that having five good players is nice, but I think they need some support (perhaps someone will come in and pull a Garner in the tournament) in order to beat anyone they might face in Alabama. Again, I will be rooting and hoping and yelling, but the bracket I filled out says "LOU" right below "St. Joe's." (For the record, my two youngest sons stepped up and picked Boise State in the first round--let's see what happens.)

Ahhh...The NCAA tournament: I look forward to it all year. I put in for time off at my job so I can soak it all in for twelve hours two days in a row. I will order some pizza, put on my sweats, and stare at college basketball in HDTV until my eyes burn. But although I am excitedly waiting for Thursday to get here, I know what will happen. "Alas! how far the promise of anticipation exceeds the pleasure of possession!" Rosalie Ashby said that to Agnes in Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey, and something similar will happen to me. Teams I hate will win, others I want to win will not, and I will be mad at myself at how much I eat. Then Friday's games will be over and I will survey the carnage that my brackets have become. Then there is the friend issue: I have none, so I will be doing all this by myself in my living room. My family doesn't even really like to watch any of the games, either. So I am trying to really enjoy these last few hours I have anticipating the pleasure before I experience (or possess) it.

A few quick predictions before I sign off: You already know what BYU will do. And I won't bore you with my whole bracket, but I have picked the following first round upsets (10 seed or higher winning): St. Joseph's over Oklahoma. Villanova over Clemson. Davidson over Gonzaga. St. Mary's over Miami. Western Kentucky over Drake. Baylor over Purdue. Arizona over West Virginia. Yes, I am a fan of the underdog. Who do you have?

One more. Four of the ESPN experts have Kansas winning it all: read here.
Won't happen. Mark it down.