Villanova Wildcats win NCAA Basketball National Championship in Epic Game 77-74

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Villanova, the small Catholic college with about 10,000 students from Philadelphia took on the mighty North Carolina Tar Heels with about 30,000 and gave us one of the greatest national championship games in history.

Playing before 70,000 fans in Houston with millions watching on television, both teams put on an exceptional display of why college sports are so popular.  March Madness is the NCAA national championship tourney with 68 teams battling it out to see who is number one.

This season was full of upsets with numerous teams reaching number one during the season only to be beaten and it was one of few college seasons where none of the top teams finished the season unbeaten.

North Carolina is one of the legendary basketball programs in America with five national titles while Villanova has just one national title, 31 years ago, to its credit.  Of course the Tar Heels are also home to Michael Jordan whose last second shot brought them a national title.

There were no Michael Jordans in this game.  The star for the Tar Heels was a guard from Iowa but even with no marquee players, heroes were plentiful.  The Iowa guard sank a three point shot with just 4.7 seconds left in the game to tie it after Villanova had surge to a ten point led with about seven minutes to play.

In the first half North Carolina pulled ahead by seven point, but by the middle of the second half Villanova had reversed the game and were ten points ahead.  A furious run by Carolina the last five minutes resulted in the three point shot with 4.7 left to tie the game.

The Wildcats threw the ball in, their star dribbled across the half court line, then handed it back to a teammate who let fly a long three point bomb just as time ran out and the buzzer rang ending the game.  What seemed like an eternity but in fact was just fractions of a minute went by before the ball swooshed through the hoop.

As the 70,000 exploded when they realized the shot was good and the players and coaches stood momentarily in shock, confetti rained from the ceiling and the Wildcats realized they had pulled off one of the great upsets in an amazing game.

The top scorer for Villanova came off the bench to score 20 points, he only scored 25 total in the previous four games.  The hero scoring the winning bucket had a brother playing for North Carolina.  Another Villanova star was home schooled in high school by his Christian family and taught basketball by his mother.

I mention no names because this game had so many of the most unlikely heroes they all deserve credit.

Both teams should be proud and thanks Villanova for showing us giant killers still have a chance in America.

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Politics takes a Breather as March Madness ends Partisanship

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Sometimes it takes a little bit of Americana to silence the partisan politics in our nation's capitol and we can thank the stars that for a couple of weeks every year politicians shut up and listen and watch.  No better example of March Madness and how it brings Americans together can be found than the photo of former Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush in Texas enjoying the men's national championship game between UConn and Kentucky.
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A Tale of Two Cities - March Madness comes to an end!

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Arlington, Texas & Nashville bring down the lights on NCAA Tourneys

There is no way the rest of the world could ever understand the American love of basketball and the frenzy of March madness.  This year has seemed to stimulate a revival of interest in the passion in both the men's and women's national championships, an increase in game attendance and higher TV ratings.

So many fascinating plots swirl around the contenders it would take a couple of television network series to even begin to scratch the surface.

Tonight the Kentucky Wildcats take on the U Conn Huskies in the men's championship, two of the most familiar names in men's basketball meeting in the most unlikely of places, the national championship.  Just last year neither team was even invited to the NCAA tourney.

They play in the A T&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and there will be an astounding 80,000 frenetic fans at the game joining the millions on television as the season long drama  reaches it's climax.

Tomorrow night the Notre Dame Fighting Irish square off against, you guessed it, the U Conn Huskies for the women's championship.  What is it with the U Conn name popping up?  Not far from the northern Texas men's site the women are in Nashville, Tennessee at the Music City Center Bridgestone Arena where 20,000 people will be in attendance. 

Now these two teams who used to share the same conference are now in different conferences and like a Hollywood blockbuster, U Conn has won 39 games and lost none while Notre Dame has won 38 games and lost none.  Between the two they have won 77 games and lost ZERO this season.

The Men

Coaches:

Kentucky - John Calipari

U Conn - Kevin Ollie

In the last 18 years these two teams have won 6 national championships and have been to the final four so many times I forgot.  Kentucky has won more games than any other team in college basketball history.

Now for the plots, sub-plots and just plain bizarre facts.

Neither team was invited to the NCAA playoffs last year.

Kentucky won in 2012.

U Conn won in 2011.

Kentucky began the year ranked number 1 in the nation and ended the year not even ranked in the top 25 by the AP.

U Conn began the year unranked and finished ranked number 18.

Kentucky was seeded 8 meaning it was considered one of the top 32 teams in nation.

U Conn was seeded 7 meaning it was considered one of the top 28 teams in the nation.

The U Conn men won national championships in 1999, 2004 and 2011.

Kentucky won national championships in 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998, 2012, a total of 8 and second only to UCLA (11).

[UCLA won ten titles the 11 years between 1964 and 1975, and again in 1995.]

U Conn has one of the most successful basketball programs (men and women) in the nation since 1995.

Kentucky has the most successful men's basketball program in history.

Most wins, 2138 in history.

Highest winning percentage in history.

Most NCAA tournament appearances (53) in history.

Most NCAA tournament wins (117) in history.

Second in national titles (8) to UCLA (11).

Kentucky also won NIT tournament in 1946 and 1976 making it the only school to win multiple NCAA and NIT championships.

UK has a record 39 Sweet 16 appearances.

UK has a record 34 Elite 8 appearances.

UK has a record post season NCAA appearances (61).

UK has played in 16 Final Fours (3rd place).

UK has played in 11 Championships, 2nd to UCLA.

Kentucky is starting five freshmen, only the second team in history since the 1992 Michigan Fab Five, but they lost the finals.

Ten years ago, 2004, U Conn became the first school in history to win the men's and women's titles the same year.

U Conn had teams in both finals four different times, with both winning just once.

This year the 8 and 7 seeds are the highest total (15) in modern history.

Kevin Ollie of U Conn is in his 2nd year as head coach following legendary coach Jim Calhoun.

John Calipari is a legend himself having taken 3 different teams to the NCAA Final Four, and UK alone to three Final Fours.

Calipari has won 20 games 20 times and 30 games 8 times in his career.

The Women

Coaches:

U Conn - Gene Auriemmce

Notre Dame - Muffet McGraw

U Conn and Notre Dame were ranked number 1 and 2 all season.

U Conn 39-0 and Notre Dame 38-0 are first unbeaten teams to meet in national championship.

U Conn going for 9th national championship, most in history.

U Conn is the defending national champion.

U Conn and Notre Dame were in last years' Final Four.

U Conn had the longest winning streak in college basketball, 90 games.

U Conn has won 8 national championships and been in 15 Final Fours.

Gene Auriemmce is tied with Pat Summit of Tennessee for most women's championships, 8 and is just two behind John Wooden of UCLA (10) for most in men's and women's basketball.

This is the 5th time U Conn, under Gene Aurimmce, could finish unbeaten and he lost 1 once three years.

McGraw has led Notre Dame to 6 Final Four appearances.

Notre Dame has won 1 national championship in 2001.

Under McGraw Notre Dame has been in 7 of the past 12 Sweet 16s.

Also under McGraw Notre has been in 16 NCAA tournaments including 14 straight.

So you get the drift.  For the next day and a half politics and world affairs will take a back seat to March Madness as we come to the conclusion of a simply spectacular season in both men's and women's basketball.

The legends are coaching, the amazing pedigrees of the various programs are blue blood through and through, and no matter what happens history will be made, dreams will be fulfilled, and other dreams will be shattered.

Can the kiddie corp of Kentucky prevail over U Conn?  Which giant will be left standing in the woman's final?  Can Kentucky's Aaron Harrison nail an impossible 3 pointer and win his fourth straight tournament game in the last seconds?

Hang on folks and don't miss either one of the cliff hanger stories for you will be reading about them in the history books from now on.

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March Madness concludes 1st week amid carnage and chaos - Sweet 16 left standing

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After the first two rounds the NCAA March Madness has all the makings of the Mad Hatters Tea Party with upsets aplenty and about half the games last second thrillers and the other half last second laughers.

So what team is playing far better than their NCAA seeding?  Kentucky, of course, along with Louisville.  These are the defending national champions of the last two years and one of the greatest rivalries in America yet they were seeded 8th, Kentucky and 4th, Louisville.

I think there is a media bias against Kentucky teams most likely because they are dominant forces in basketball.  Certainly it is not from the fact Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky although didn't the Civil War end about 150 years ago?  Or not?

Anyway the tournament selection committee clearly does not like freshman dominated teams any more than the Associated Press basketball poll.  John Calipari's "One and Done" coaching philosophy of recruiting freshman who will jump to the pros rather than finish college is quite controversial to say the least.

So in the last AP poll of the season before the tournament Kentucky was no where to be found among the top 25.  Even the USA Today/ESPN experts poll had Kentucky far down at number 21.  Louisville fared better finishing number 5 in AP and 4 in USA Today/ESPN.

So there are 4 number one seeds, one from each region.  One might think the top four teams in the rankings would be the top four teams.  Louisville was in the top four in USA Today/ESPN and #5 in AP so should have been seeded 1, or 2 at worst since the top 8 teams should be number 1 or 2.  Louisville landed number 4.  What is that all about?

Ashley Judd loves UK

As for UK who did not even make the top 25 in the minds of the sports writers, a week ago they lost to the number one team in America, Florida, in the SEC conference championship in the last second 61-60 and a week later they beat Wichita State, seeded #1 and ranked #2 in the nation, the only unbeaten team in the tournament, 78-76 ending the Shockers quest for a national title.

No doubt it will be remembered as one of the best fought games in NCAA tournament history and both teams fought valiantly and could have won but the Kentucky Wildcats did win.  What the newspaper writers forgot to mention, however, when telling us how great Kentucky has become in spite of having all freshmen as starters, is they didn't even think enough of UK to put them in the top 25 and they seeded them way down at 8th.

When was the last time an unranked team played the number 1 and 2 teams within a week losing by 1 point and winning by two points?  Are you kidding me?  The people doing the polls for national rankings and tournament seedings should go into politics where everybody knows the polls are nonsense.

Now the press hype will turn to the Kentucky - Louisville game next Friday at Indianapolis, just across the border from Kentucky.  Not only is it s bitter rivalry but both coaches, John Calipari of UK and Rick Pitino of Louisville have won national championships.  In fact both won national championships for UK, then Pitino won another last year for Louisville.  It will be entertaining.

Other notable survivors doing quite well were Arizona and Virginia, both seeded #1.  Florida struggled but also advanced.  There are still 2 #11 seeds, 1 #10 seed and 1 #8 seed left in the Sweet 16.  Giant killer Dayton, coached by Archie Miller, brother of Arizona coach Sean Miller, is the most valid Cinderella team and if both teams keep winning the brothers would meet in the championship game.

Before the season started I wrote a profile on Kentucky basketball saying we should watch both schools and both the men's and women's teams this year.  So here we are at tourney time and UK and Louisville are about to square off in a classic quarter-final battle to see who gets to the semi-finals while the women's teams, both UK and Louisville, survived the women's first rounds and both are seeded #3, a testament to Kentucky basketball and of course the foresight of the Coltons Point Times.

Just kidding...

PS  As much as I like the UK Wildcats, my heart remains with the Arizona Wildcats where long ago I once played.

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Busted - The Millions in the Billion Dollar Bracket

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With a huge sigh of relief the Buffett boys and their insurance companies escaped paying out a billion dollars for a perfect NCAA bracket and the end came astoundingly fast.  Before the first round of 64 was over the 15 million entries were through, finished, done, busted.

For all the excitement the end came just 25 games into the 32 first round games.  Not a single entry made it through the first round.

According to contest officials, when Memphis beat George Washington in the 25th game it was over.

Can the Gators be stopped?

So whether the odds were 1 in 128 billion or 1 in 9.2 quintillion it didn't really make any difference how many zeros were added, no one was going home with the goods.
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March Madness Triggers END of DAYS for Pools

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Day 1 of March Madness and already heart attacks have tripled, divorces are certain to skyrocket, liquor sales have doubled and David not only knocked the Hell out of Goliath but also out of about 99% of all the people expecting to win the Buffett Billion Dollar Pool and thousands of other pools requiring perfection.

Remember these names, Dayton, Harvard and North Dakota State, they are the villains who stopped you from landing on Easy Street for the rest of your lives.  In a matter of about two hours 99% of the millions in pools around the nation were stopped dead in terms of achieving the perfect bracket so you all can now sit back and enjoy some of the best, most unpredictable basketball in modern NCAA history.

Here is an AP story that says it all.

NCAA upsets crush bracket hopes

By JOHN MARSHALL (AP Basketball Writer) 12 hours ago AP - Sports

SAN DIEGO (AP) — So you were confident in your bracket, hoping to win the office pool, maybe get lucky and take down that $1 billion prize Warren Buffett is offering for a perfect run of picks.

One game in and ... done.

Way to go, Dayton.

Thanks for piling on, Harvard.

And North Dakota State — you've got to be kidding.

The first full day of the NCAA tournament got off to what has become its usual scream-at-the-TV start on Thursday, opening with three upsets that sent a wave of crumpled brackets — at least 95 percent missed at least one game before the tournament was 12 hours old — flying from Buffalo to San Diego. By the end of the night, fewer than 1 percent of brackets remained unblemished in contests by ESPN and CBSSports.com.

"Being bounced from the billion THAT early definitely made me feel some type of way," said Marcus Arman of Portland, Ore. "I can tell you this: I will not be supporting the city of Dayton in any shape, form or fashion so long as my foam finger still points upward."

Dayton, the No. 11 seed in the South Regional, got it started in the first game of the 64-team bracket, knocking off sixth-seeded Ohio State 60-59 in Buffalo, N.Y.

A few hours later, No. 12 East seed Harvard had its David-vs-Goliath thing working for the second straight year, taking down fifth-seeded Cincinnati 61-57 in Spokane, Wash.

Two upsets, and almost everyone shooting for perfection was eliminated before they got home from work.

North Dakota State, No. 12 in the West, finished off the day of dead pools by outlasting fifth-seeded Oklahoma 80-75 in Spokane's second upset of the day.

Thanks for playing everyone.

With Dayton's win, about 83 percent of the brackets in Yahoo's Tourney Pick 'Em game were one and done, perfection flushed in 40 minutes. Wins by Harvard and North Dakota State only figured to add to the number of disappointed would-be billionaires once the official numbers were released.

It was a 9.2 quintillion-to-1 pipe dream to begin with, and Buffett has to like his chances even more now.
"Yesssssssssss HARVARD!!!!!!! Messing up a lot of peoples chances at $1 billion lol," former Harvard and current Houston Rockets guard Jeremy Lin said on Twitter.

At CBSSports.com, Dayton took out 81 percent of the poolers in the bracket challenge. By the time the Bison roamed over the Sooners in the evening, 0.4 percent of the brackets were still perfect.

Of the 11 million brackets in ESPN's Tournament Challenge, over 80 percent had Ohio State advancing to the next round. That's about 8.8 million brackets with a blemish after one game.

And to the 2.2 percent that had the Buckeyes going all the way to the Final Four: Oops!

Through 12 games, there were 41,315 perfect brackets out of the original 11 million — or about 0.3 percent.

This, of course, is nothing new.

We are in the era of upsets, where seedings and status have little bearing on the bracket.

A year ago, not a single person of the 11 million who entered on ESPN's website was perfect after a first day filled with upsets. Just four got 15 out of 16 right.

By now, we've learned that Cinderella's carriage doesn't turn into a pumpkin once the NCAA tournament starts. It becomes a Formula One car racing through the bracket — and it may be moving at an even faster pace this year.
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AP Sports Writer Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis contributed to this story. 
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Kentucky Basketball - How Good Can it Get?

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Rick Pitino & John Calipari

In 2012 the University of Kentucky won the men's national championship.

 

In 2013 Louisville won the men's national championship.

 

In 2013 the UK women reached their 3rd straight regional finals.

 

In 2013 the Louisville women reached the national finals finishing 2nd.

 

So here are the final preseason national polls for the upcoming season.

 

UK Men - #1

 

Louisville Men - #3

 

Louisville Women - #5

 

UK Women - #7

 

 

Are you kidding me, all four teams in the top seven in the nation?

 

With the top recruiting class in college history, the UK men look to make up their fall from grace last year when the defending national champion didn't even qualify for March Madness.

 

 

Now basketball at UK is sacred and has been since Adolph Rupp started a run of 8 national championship in 1948.  Only UCLA has more (11), and 10 of them came over a 12 year span, 1964-1975.  UCLA has won once since 1975 while UK has won 4 times since then.

 

 

Of course the irony is that both UK and Louisville programs have been built on the backs of east coast coaches.  Rick Pitino of Louisville, recognized as one of the deans of college coaching, was born in New York City.  John Calipari of UK was born in Moon Township Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh.

 

 

Pitino had the distinct, yet dubious honor of having built both Kentucky programs to national prominence and leading both teams to national championships, something no other coach in the history of college basketball has achieved.

 

Distinct because no one has won the NCAA crown with two different schools.  Dubious because in Kentucky you are for UK or Louisville.  The intra-state rivalry is among the most intense in our nation.

 

 

When Pitino left UK and then returned to Louisville about half the state considered him enlightened while the other half considered him a traitor of the stature of Judas.  Only a kid from the streets of New York could overcome such a swing from conquering hero to Shakespearean villain, and then fight his way back to the top of the basketball pinnacle.

 

And look at the homes they have built for their respective teams.  Massive stadiums, the modern day Roman Coliseums, welcome over 20,000 people to the games but it is more than that.

 

UK

Louisville

 

The same stadiums are filled for midnight openings of the practice season and pep rallies before games.  Season tickets are so coveted they can be a major part of divorce property settlements.

 

 

I have a lot of relatives in Kentucky and their loyalty is split between UK and Louisville.  There are nieces, nephews and in laws that attended both schools.  Kentuckians are a rather strange bunch but one thing binds them together, the sacred nature of basketball and the hunger to win.

 

 

This should be a most entertaining year in the land of thoroughbreds and Bluegrass.

 

Here is what the AP has to say about Kentucky basketball.

 

 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- There is a battle brewing for women's basketball supremacy in the Bluegrass State.

The Louisville and Kentucky women's teams are ranked in the top 10 and have national championship aspirations after making deep runs in last year's NCAA tournament.

The fifth-ranked Cardinals will start the season Saturday against Loyola-Chicago after their stunning march to the national championship game with an injury-depleted roster. Louisville is healthy, welcoming back three regulars to have one of its deepest rosters in several seasons.

Kentucky, ranked No. 7, opens Friday at Marist with its sights set on reaching the Final Four coming off the Wildcats' third regional final appearance in four years. The Wildcats lost No. 2 career scorer A'dia Mathies to the WNBA but have added two high school All-Americans to the rotation.

''It's just incredible, I think, for the Commonwealth of Kentucky,'' Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell said Wednesday of both schools' success. ''It's just a real point of pride and basketball brings people together, it excites people, it motivates people. I think it's a terrific place to be and I'm humbled to be here during this exciting time.''

The Kentucky men's team is ranked No. 1 and defending national champion Louisville is No. 3.

The women's teams won't have to wait long to settle bragging rights. Louisville travels to Lexington on Dec. 1, aiming to avenge last year's 48-47 loss decided by freshman Janee Thompson's 3-pointer with 8.4 seconds remaining.

Before that in-state showdown, the Wildcats and Cardinals continue honing the chemistry that has both teams excited about their championship prospects.

Louisville's cohesion has been a work in progress in recent years as hip injuries sidelined senior guard Tia Gibbs for the past two seasons while 6-foot-1 senior forward Asia Taylor sat out last year. Junior forward Shawnta' Dyer tore the medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments in her left knee last December.

The Cardinals (29-9, 11-5 Big East Conference) endured some frustrating losses along the way but hit stride in the NCAA tournament, highlighted by a monumental 82-81 upset of No. 1 and defending champion Baylor in the regional semifinal. Louisville led for all but a few seconds in the final minute, winning on Monique Reid's two free throws with 2.6 seconds left.

Upsets of Tennessee and California followed before Connecticut trounced Louisville 93-60 in the championship at New Orleans.

Taylor can't wait to be part of what she hopes is a return trip down Interstate 65 to Nashville for this year's Final Four.

''I was happy for my teammates and the program,'' she said, ''but as a competitor you want to be out there and be in a big game like that. The fact that I knew I was coming back was my motivation to work hard.''

Though forward Sheronne Vails is out for the year following offseason knee surgery, Walz is eager to see if having his healthiest squad in some time can carry the Cardinals past favored UConn in the newly renamed American Athletic Conference and deeper in the NCAA tournament.

Besides senior guard and leading scorer Shoni Schimmel (14.2 points), Louisville returns junior forward Sara Hammond (10.8 points, 6.4 rebounds), wing Antonita Slaughter and junior guard Bria Smith (9.5 points).

''We'll probably have the biggest game of rock-paper-scissors that you've ever seen, and the last five will be our starters,'' Walz joked about the process of choosing a lineup. ''It's a great problem to have.''

Mitchell can say the same thing about his own well-stocked Kentucky roster.

The returns of senior forward and leading scorer DeNesha Stallworth (12.5 points, 6.0 rebounds) and Samarie Walker (8.7 points, 8.1 rebounds) provide a strong post presence for the Wildcats (30-6, 13-3 Southeastern Conference), who fell to UConn in the regional final for the second straight year.

''It took some months, and we still look back and wonder why didn't get over that hump,'' Stallworth said. ''We've gotten better in our offensive execution and are looking good. We don't want to be in that spot (of missing the Final Four) for the fifth straight year.''

Kentucky's backcourt is its deepest area with senior Kastine Evans, juniors Bria Goss and Jennifer O'Neill and sophomore Thompson able to play anywhere in the three-guard alignment. The additions of McDonald's All-Americans Linnae Harper and Makayla Epps could pay off right away for a Wildcats team determined to go a step further - and possibly meeting a familiar foe along the way.
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