It was fun while it lasted. My NCAA bracket was looking pretty damn good. I had 12 of the Sweet 16 teams; that’s not that great. But, I had all 8 of the Elite 8 teams remaining. After the Sweet 16 round, I had 7 teams left, including my complete Final 4. If Ole Miss had pulled it out, I would have had all 8! Can’t believe you miss an easy ass layup late in that game… Anyways, I was pretty happy with how things were progressing.
I wasn’t turning in genius picks or anything; basically all the favorites were winning. Sure, I like to see the best play the best, but… this is March Madness; I want to see some underdogs rule! Well, in the first game on Saturday, Florida beat Texas Tech; I didn’t realize how much they were down… and how late it was. Turns out to be a pretty amazing comeback for the Gators, who became the first team to punch their Final Four ticket; I had them going. At this very point, I was feeling great. Then the Duke and Alabama game happened…
I know I’ve mentioned here my dislike for Duke. This year specifically, they played in a weak conference. The ACC was down, way down, so how could I put Duke at the very top of the rest of the teams across the country, especially teams from the best conference in basketball, the SEC. In steps the Crimson Tide; they were just in the Final Four last year. They had much of that same team back; surely they want to get back and take care of unfinished business. I just knew the level of competition they played all year, the gauntlet they had to run through in the SEC, would benefit them tonight. Well… I guess Alabama wouldn’t shoot 50% from 3 point land again; I didn’t think they would need to, but… it was ugly, really ugly.
My Alabama +6.5 points, my Alabama ML pick, and my bracket champion went up in flames on this Saturday evening to the hated Duke Blue Devils. Will I bet against them again in the Final Four? Too earlier to answer that question. What happened Bama? They got crushed by 20 points. 25% three point shooting is the start of the story. Only 6 points from Mark Sears tells us more. The Duke defense turns out, is pretty good, even against this offensive juggernaut from the SEC. The Blue Devils shot 46% from three point land. They outrebounded the Tide by 11, more assists, and more points in the paint. I thought Bama would make a run, so added in-game +10.5 play… and that went up in flames too. Clean sweep for my bracket buster of an evening.
In a year like this, when all the top seeds are advancing, you need to have the champion. Regardless of how good my bracket was up to this point, it’s shit now, because I will NOT have the winner; that’s the breaks. And I was mad I hadn’t turned it in for money this year… guess I saved myself some bucks there. Silver lining baby… all about it.
Leave a Reply