It will be very tough for Friday to live up the awesomeness of Thursday. For a UNC fan the only thing that could have made it better was being in the NCAA Tournament and beating the crap out of Weber St. or something. Alas, we have to move on. As a basketball fan it was heaven and proof to me that the current tournament setup is perfect. You had major upsets, OT games, buzzer beaters, clutch shots, bad coaching, good coaching, bad officiating and the words Dunkin' Donuts written on one end of the court at one of the sites. Unfortunately, the perfection of the current product will be cast upon the altar and gutted in the name of a fatter bottom line when the NCAA decides to expand.
Anyway, Wake Forest represented the ACC and sent Rick Barnes home in a game pitting a coach who has no clue what he is doing(Barnes) vs a coach who apparently hates his players(Dino Gaudio) Seriously, Gaudio looked as though he about to receive an enema while waiting for the postgame interview on the court following Ish Smith's clutch jumper to win the game. Smith was smiling, obviously happy while his head coach basically refused to say a word to him. If that is how it is when Wake wins, I don't want to know how it goes if they lose.
Here is the schedule today. You can get your Duke hate on this evening, until then, watch Clemson swoon in classic fashion this afternoon.
#2 West Virginia vs #15 Morgan St., 12:15 PM
#6 Xavier vs #11 Minnesota, 12:25 PM
#5 Temple vs #12 Cornell, 12:30 PM
#4 Purdue vs #13 Siena, 2:30 PM
#7 Clemson vs #10 Missouri, 2:35 PM
#3 Pitt vs #14 Oakland, 2:45 PM
#4 Wisconsin vs #13 Wofford, 2:50 PM
#5 Texas A&M vs #12 Utah St., 4:45 PM
Break to line up your Duke voodoo dolls.
#8 Gonzaga vs #9 FSU, 7:10 PM
#7 Oklahoma St. vs #10 Georgia Tech, 7:15 PM
#5 Michigan St. vs #12 New Mexico St., 7:20 PM
#1 Duke vs #16 Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 7:25 PM
#1 Syracuse vs #16 Vermont, 9:30 PM
#2 Ohio St. vs #15 UCSB, 9:35 PM
#4 Maryland vs #13 Houston, 9:40 PM
#8 California vs #9 Louisville.