March Madness: Number one seed not present in Final Four

by Mallory Mulvihill
Sports Editor

To say this is “March Madness” is an understatement. Millions of people have been glued to their television sets every weekend since St. Patrick’s Day hoping that the teams they have picked to win do, and hope the person watching the same game next to them is cringing as their bracket falls apart.

Many watched the Sweet 16 with all their teams still intact on Thursday March 23 and 24 only to see top seeds fall, last minute comebacks, and overtime victories. Only one game in the both days was a blowout while the rest went right down the wire, in which could possibly be one of the most thrilling and exciting tournaments in recent history. Let’s start this region by region.

In the Atlanta region, Duke’s run of having problems getting out the Sweet 16 continues for yet another year as they lost to LSU 62-54. LSU completely took All-American and the second leading scorer in the nation, J.J. Reddick, completely out of his game as he only shot 3-18 from the field and had 11 points, which is 16 points below his season average. Quick and lengthy LSU guard Garrett Temple, a freshman, used his athleticism to get into Reddick’s head and completely shut him down. This has been a question all year, can Reddick make it in the pros? Although he may be one of the best shooters in the country, his inability to play through tough shooting nights and only be able to click from the outside may be a problem for him in the future. LSU is one of the youngest squads in the tournament and has done nothing but prove themselves time and time again. With the help of Glen “Big Baby” Thomas, who is 6’9 and a beefy 320 pounds, scored 14 points despite being in foul trouble. Temple, and fellow freshman Tyrus Thomas, who had five huge swats, helped the number four seed bring down a number one.

The second match up of the night saw a thrilling game of West Virginia and Texas that came down to two three pointers within the last five seconds of the game to seal the victory for the Longhorns. Senior Kevin Pittsnogle from WV, hit his fifth three of the night with five seconds remaining in the game to tie it at 71-71. WVwas down for most of the game, but scratched and clawed to come within three before Pittsnogle hit a fade away from the top of the key to tie it. After a quick pass in, the Longhorns advanced the ball up the floor which ended up in the hands of senior Kenton Paulino and launched a three of his own from the left side, while leaning to win the game for Texas 74-71 at the buzzer.

Moving on to the Oakland region, which saw the only blowout of the Sweet 16, as Memphis crushed Bradley 80-64, ending Bradley’s amazing run that had them upsetting Kansas and Pittsburg in the first two rounds. Bradley, although having to make a trip back home to Peoria, will return to a school full of fans who saw them get farther than anyone expected and who will be anxiously awaiting the arrival of next year’s season.

In another game that came down to the wire, the number one leading scorer in the country, Adam Morrison, saw his team choke again for the second year in a row. The Zags blew a 17 point lead in a game they controlled for 37 minutes before losing to UCLA in the final minutes 73-71. The Bruins scored the final 11 points of the game, and went up when UCLA put on a full court trapping press, and the ball was stolen right out of J.P. Batista hands by Jordan Farmar for a quick lay up by Luc Richard Mbah a Moute with 10 seconds to go to be up 71-70. Mbah a Moute came through again in the clutch, as he ran from the backcourt and dove on the ball from behind to steal it out of the hands of Derek Ravino with 2.6 seconds left. Morrison bent over in tears as he had trouble composing himself, even though the Zags were only down by three with enough time left on the clock to get a good look at a three pointer to tie. This makes one question Morrison’s ability to play in the pros. If he can’t control his emotions and stay composed to hit a big shot in the national tournament, how could he be mature enough to do the same in the big time?

Now let’s head to the Washington DC region, in which Cinderella story George Mason beat Wichita St. 63-55. Number seven Wichita State looked to have a lot to prove playing number eleven George Mason in the Sweet 16. George Mason, who had to play significantly harder teams and had already beaten the Shockers twice this season, came out ready to play from the get go. Just how Cinderella is George Mason? Well, the Patriots didn’t receive a single vote in the season’s final AP top 25, and never won a single NCAA Tournament game until they upset MSU in the first round, then turned around and brought down number three seed and defending National Champions in the second round. The Patriots led by as much as 19 and watched as the Shockers couldn’t buy a basket or get passed their tough defense.

The Connecticut/Washington game saw the number one seed put together a game that at some points was hard to watch and even downright laughable. The top seed of the tournament got away with a victory in overtime after being down 11 at halftime and down three with 1.8 seconds, before Rashad Anderson hit a three to tie it. A controversial call was made with 11 seconds left on the Washington Huskies being up 80-76. Mike Jensen was whistled for contact as Marcus Williams was going up for a layup. The shot went in and he converted the three point play to bring the east coast Huskies within one. The west coast Huskies had trouble staying out of foul trouble in the extra period and Connecticut pulled off a game they should have lost 98-92.

Finally in the Minneapolis bracket, number one seed Villanova also won a close game in overtime over Boston College by one, 60-59. Nova was down by one in the closing seconds of regulation, when Will Sheridan of Nova slipped under the radar on an inbounds play with 2.3 seconds left in overtime. His shot was blocked by Sean Williams, but was called for goaltending to give Nova the lead. Boston College was hosed on a controversial traveling call on Williams that should have been a holding foul on Nova. BC missed out on advancing one step closer to their first Final Four appearance in school history. The Eagles committed 21 turnovers and didn’t utilize the massive height advantage they had over Nova.

In another close game, which was what the Sweet 16 was all about this year, Florida converted a game winning three point play with 27.5 seconds left to beat Georgetown, 57-53. Florida, also made a comeback being down by as much as nine, but went on a 16-5 run using their strong transition game. Cory Brewer grabbed a loose ball and threw up a shot that miraculously went in and was fouled by Brandon Bowman. Brewer calmly sank his free throw to make the score 55-53. Darrel Owen had a clean look at a three for Georgetown, but only caught iron as Al Horford grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 6.6 seconds remaining.

After an exhausting Sweet 16, many fans didn’t know what to expect out of the Elite 8. There was still a mid-major school alive in George Mason, and only two number one seeds left that made it to this round by the skin of their teeth. Both days were full of upsets and close calls that had millions of people waiting for the next round to have just as many heartbreakers.

The Elite 8 proved to be just as entertaining as the Sweet 16. Millions of people still had hope that their brackets would somehow fix themselves if they could just get one team into the Final Four and pick the National Champion. Well, both number one seeds got knocked out, and everyone in the country was crushed when Connecticut got upset by the most unexpected team in the country George Mason. Villanova wasn’t even close against a young Florida squad. Let’s take the Elite 8 game by game.

Again LSU was held together by the strong play of Davis and Thomas, who were an unstoppable force for the Tigers. Many people doubted the play of Davis just for the fact that he was owned by Sheldon Williams in the Duke game, but proved everyone wrong as he outplayed Texas’s best player, Lamarcus Aldridge. This was yet another game that was sent into overtime as neither team could pull away from one another, but the country watched as LSU pulled it together in the extra period to win 70-60. Davis had 26 points to lead LSU to their first Final Four in 20 years. Well enough can’t be said about the Longhorns, who if they would have reached the Final Four and potentially won the title, would have earned national championships in football and men’s basketball in the same academic year. LSU starts three freshmen that have known each other since they were children. They played together, went off to college together, and now head to the Final Four together. What better than going to the Final Four with the guys you call your brothers?

UCLA makes its first appearance in the Final Four since 1995 as they beat number one seed Memphis, 50-45. UCLA played Memphis earlier in the year and knew that if Memphis scored in the high eighties, like they did in their previous meeting, there would be no way for the Bruins to pull off a victory. The Bruins played hard nosed defense and held the Tigers to way under their season average. The Bruins still pulled off a victory even though they shot 35% in the second half. The Bruins have 11 national titles, and are making their 16th Final Four appearance, tying North Carolina for the most ever.

Now onto the two biggest upsets of the Elite 8. The first coming from George Mason upsetting number one Connecticut, and favorite to win the whole thing, in overtime, 86-84. The Huskies followed suit from their performances during the whole tournament and had to rely on late game heroics again to force the game into an overtime period. George Mason has been doing exactly what every team should do, play like they have nothing to lose. UConn put together a run and were up comfortably at the half. Jai Lewis and Will Thomas dominated in the post over a UConn twosome that are firmly on the NBA radar. The Patriots were up by two with five seconds to play, when Tony Skinn, an 80% free throw shooter, stepped to the line and missed the front end of a one-and-one. Marcus Williams grabbed the rebound and pushed the ball up the court to Denham Brown, who made a reverse layup at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Going into the overtime one would think that UConn would have all the momentum, but the hardnosed, never give up Patriots fired back and Brown’s reverse layup only delayed the inevitable, maybe one of the biggest upsets in the tournaments history.

Finally after watching UConn fall to mid major George Mason, Villanova played Florida in the final game of the Elite 8. With UConn officially eliminated, this was Nova’s chance to enter the Final Four with a number one seed and a very good chance of winning the whole thing. Well, the Gators dashed their hopes as they beat Nova 75-62. The main problem Nova faced coming in to this game was the fact that the Gators had a huge height advantage over them. Nova had no answer for the low post presence that Gators have in Joakim Noah and Al Horford. The young group, which only starts one upperclassman, never trailed. Nova started to make runs late in the second half, but were always quickly quieted by the play of the two big men down low.

With the Final Four now set, there is no number one seed present, which would be the first time that has happened in 20 years. Most people’s brackets maybe have one team left in the Final Four, and millions of people have locked themselves in rooms because of the losses they have faced at the hands of mid majors just like George Mason. But now it isn’t even about bragging rights because you picked the right teams to take the cake, everyone is rooting for someone they didn’t intend to make it this far, or at least to National Championship. We’ll watch as a young LSU squad will bring a little joy to the victims that fell to Hurricane Katrina and maybe they’ll even play George Mason, the disrespected mid major school that has found a way into the hearts of every person who is watching the tournament. That would be some championship game huh? A team that starts three freshmen and a school that has been through enough highs and lows against another school that won’t send one of its players to NBA and didn’t get any respect from anyone this whole year. LSU will play UCLA in one game in the Final Four, and George Mason will take on number three Florida on April 1.