The teams tonight will be hard-pressed to duplicate last night’s drama, but you have to think at least two of the four games could be intriguing.
I would think UCLA-North Carolina could be special. The trend of a national champion not being crowned west of Waco, Texas since 1997 is one game away from being sustained another year. UCLA is the lone team standing from the West.
This should be a very interesting game to watch. I’m pulling for North Carolina because of Brady Manek. He had a very tough senior season at OU getting Covid twice and never really being able to play sustained minutes. The change of scenery to Chapel Hill has served him well. I hope the Tar Heels can find a way to advance.
The other marquee storyline game is St. Peter’s vs Purdue. The Big Ten has its own streak as well without any team from the conference winning a national title since 2000 when Tom Izzo’s Spartans won the trophy.
I think for the hope of the Tournament having a great Final Four it would be best if Purdue advances with superstar Jaden Ivey.
What St. Pete’s has done is a great storyline, but I think for the sake of the Tournament…I’d like to see how Purdue with Jaden Ivey could do moving forward.
The other two late games are Providence-Kansas and Iowa State- Miami. The two last standing Big 12 teams with a chance to reach the Elite 8.
The video above is Arkansas coach Eric Musselman who created a stir with his great postgame interview after the game last night. OU actually played their best game of the season in defeating Arkansas in Tulsa in December. Coach Musselman got tossed late in the second half. I love his passion with his team.
Coach Musselman came to Arkansas from mid-major Nevada. This is coach Musselman in a calmer state of mind.
Hope your favorite teams are advancing or at least have played well.