It doesn’t shock me at all that Texas Tech is in the national championship game. This Chris Beard team defends like no other team in the country with perhaps the exception of Virginia. Talk about old school basketball where a coach demands complete dedication on the defensive end and smart decisions on the floor and you have our two national championship finalists.
Obviously, I thought Auburn got a tough break when the double dribble wasn’t called with 1.5 seconds left…but unfortunately that’s the way it goes and I feel for Coach Pearle and his kids who were a tremendous story in this NCAA basketball tournament.
What a great tournament. In a year in which there’s still an FBI probe investigating mens’ college basketball and the interest has dwindled with the college game—for me…this has turned out to be one of the more entertaining Sweet 16 grouping of teams I can recall in quite some time.
It’s nice not seeing Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, Gonzaga and Kentucky dominating the narrative in the national championship tournament.
I would guess Virginia will be a slight Vegas favorite, but I’m taking Texas Tech in the final for the championship. There’s something about Chris Beard and his team’s toughness which is so unique in the era of one and dones that I can’t get off the Red Raider train. It’s not me thinking just because they’re a Big 12 team I need to cheer for them, but more of my admiration at how smart and tough they play the game
Eddie Sutton would absolutely love this Texas Tech team. This is Eddie Sutton basketball. Defense, smarts and toughness.
It would be such a magical ending for Red Raider assistant coach Sean Sutton to be a part of a national championship team in which his father could enjoy with him.
The storybook is there to be had in Minneapolis on Monday for Texas Tech. I’m going to say as Jarrett Culver goes on Monday night—the Red Raiders will go.
He’s the star and his role players know it. There is an implicit understanding of roles. Note to Russell Westbrook—this is called bilateral trust.
I’ll go Texas Tech 58 – Virginia 56.
Thank you for the terrific article