Damn. UCLA escaped. Will this be the close game that the Bruins escape en route to a title game appearance? Think Ohio State over Xavier last year…

EAST:

No. 4 Washington State 61, No. 5 Notre Dame 41. Wazzu was all over the Irish, who only made a quarter of the shots they attempted. It’s the first Sweet 16 in school history. I was pretty impressed with Robbie Cowgill, who I thought would be eaten up by ‘Gody. Can Wazzu play defense like they have next weekend (likely) against North Carolina? Derrick Low against Ty Lawson will be might fun to watch. Call me a dork, but I enjoy watching WSU play and move the ball so much, I hope they can keep it rolling for a few more games.

MIDWEST:

No. 1 Kansas 75, No. 8 Nevada-Las Vegas 56. Vegas hang tough early, but KU clearly had too much. The Jayhawks looked better than anyone else on Saturday, that’s for sure.

No. 3 Wisconsin 72, No. 11 Kansas State 55. Aaaand that’ll about do it for Michael Beasley as a college kid. Beasley and Bill Walker combined for 41 of K-State 55. What’s with the Badgers exploding for 72?! Team shot for 52 percent from the field and is in the Sweet 16 for only fourth time in the school’s history. I hope Walker sticks around for another year…

SOUTH:

No. 3 Stanford 82, No. 6 Marquette 81 (OT). Probably the game of the night, it was good to see Stanford get the win here. I normally don’t pull for the favorites unless my money’s on the line in a pool (which it was here, I have Stanford in the Elite Eight), but beyond that, Stanford seemed like they deserved the win. A tough shot that rolled the right way for Brook Lopez puts the two big doofuses and their team in the Sweet 16.

No. 5 Michigan State 65, No. 4 Pittsburgh 54. Loved this game for the fact that it was the bruiser we expected it to be and neither team ever really backed down—MSU just had more in the tank. Drew Neitzel stepped up when he needed to and Kalin Lucas played wise beyond his freshman status for the Spartans. Everyone loved Pitt, but they really weren’t as good as a team as some thought (many people I know had Pitt in the Final Four).

WEST:

–UPSET–No. 7 West Virginia 73, No. 2 Duke 67. And the Dookies go down. It might be even more surprising when you saw how little of a factor Joe Alexander was in the game. Perhaps it’s time to recruit a few more clutch playmakers in the post, Coach K.

No. 1 UCLA 53, No. 9 Texas A&M 49. Only five points in the final 10-plus minutes for the Aggies did them in. You kind of had the feeling that UCLA was going to pull this one out due to the clear home-court advantage, Kevin Love’s impeccable timing and A&M’s lack of Acie Law (THE FOURTH) in this year’s lineup. Brutal and heartbreaking for Mark Turgeon’s team, UCLA moves on. (Damn! That would’ve really helped my bracket!)

No. 3 Xavier 85, No. 6 Purdue 78. A fresh breath of air is Xavier, who is a mid-major that has made it to the Sweet 16 and upheld their seeding. Keep on rolling, Muskies!

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 @ 11:53 pm The Tournament
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