Rank... Top 10 Surprises of the NCAA Tournament... So Far

The Final Four teams are set. Wow are they all lucky. This has been a wild ride that this tournament has taken us on. Far more upsets than anyone could have predicted. Some truly breakout performances by individual players. Loads of drama. This edition of Rank breaks down the top 10 biggest surprises of the NCAA Tournament going into the final four.

10.Ohio State

Coming into this years tournament Ohio State was the overwhelming favorite. It seemed like every expert picked them to at least be in the title game. Then, as it seems every year, the top dog made an early exit. After dominating their first two games they lost a nail biter in the sweet sixteen to the 4 seed Kentucky Wildcats. The loss was so bitter that freshmen sensation Jared Sullinger said he would return for his sophomore year. We'll see if that stays true.

9. Marquette

When you play in the Big East you have a big game every week. That takes nothing away from what they accomplished. 11 seeds are suppose to lose in the first round and they certainly are not suppose to make it out of round two. Somehow Marquette beat 6 seed Xavier and 3 seed Syracuse.They got blown away by North Carolina, but were still very impressive to get there.


8.Jimmer Fredette

Most will wonder why Jimmer is on this list. Well the reason is that no one expected him to continue to put up big numbers in the tournament. They all said Jimmer didn't play any good teams during the year. Well he averaged over 30 points per game in his 3 tournament games. That is incredible. I wish Jimmer the best of luck at the next level, he is a great kid.

7. Pitt

Pitt is on this list for the same reason as Ohio State. The only difference is they are an even greater disappointment. Pitt was in every experts final four, but just like every year they fell short of expectations. They lost to Butler in the second round, albeit a despicable game as I said in Pitt vs Butler and the Officials. A 1 seed should never fall short of the Sweet Sixteen, no matter who they play.

6. Richmond

The Spiders were pretty lucky in their match-ups. In the first round they got to face a grossly overrated 5 seed, Vanderbilt. In the second round they played 13 seed Morehead State. Winning both those games advanced Richmond into the Sweet Sixteen where they met 1 seed Kansas. Kansas dominated the game and bullied Richmond, but Richmond still made it there. For a 12 seed to make it to the Sweet Sixteen is always impressive.

5. Arizona

Some people would argue that a 5 seed making it to the Elite 8 is not a surprise. The way Arizona did it is impressive. Arizona was a popular pick to be upset in the first round, by Memphis. After beating Memphis they slid past Texas by one point. Then after back to back narrow victories no one expected them to beat Duke. So of course the underdog went out and beat Duke by 16. What may be even more impressive about Arizona's run is that their star player, Derrick Williams, may have raised his draft stock from a mid-first round pick to a top 3 pick.

4. Florida State

They pulled two surprising upsets. First over 7 seed Texas A&M. Then they blew away the heavily favored 2 seed Notre Dame. What made FSU's run even more impressive was that these games were not nail biters. They dominated both opponents. Even though they came up a point short against VCU they earned a lot of respect for all the ACC teams.

3. Morehead State

One of the most surprising upsets of all time. Morehead State only beat one team in this years tournament but it was impressive. They knocked off the 4 seed Louisville Cardinals. 13 seeds almost never beat 4 seeds, especially when it is a school like Morehead State against Louisville. It took a 3 pointer with only four seconds left, but Morehead State pulled the upset of the tournament.

2. Butler

The Bulldogs have made themselves Cinderella in back to back years. It is impressive enough when a school like Butler makes one Final Four appearance, but two in a row is amazing. Brad Stevens deserves a ton of credit for the job he has done with his program. They beat a 1,2, and 4 seed in route to the Final Four. Winning each game in a dramatic fashion. The Bulldogs are the real deal. It will be interesting to see where the program goes in the coming years.

1. VCU

"They don't belong in the tournament!" That is what I heard from every so called college basketball expert when the brackets were announced. Well you were all wrong. VCU proved that when they won their play-in game against USC. Then they shocked Georgetown by 18. Followed that up with spanking Purdue. Then they won a nail biter over Florida State. In the Elite 8 they shocked the world by beating 1 seed Kansas by double digits. That is right an 11 seed that had to use a play-in game just to be in the tournament is now in the Final Four. I for one hope VCU wins the whole thing. I wouldn't bet against them, at this point how can you?

Killing Time

Last Saturday Vitali Klitschko defended his heavyweight belt with an absurd first round stoppage of Odlanier Solis. It was ridiculous, a simultaneous punch and knee injury saw Solis toppling over like some stricken beast of the plains. A great or notable event? Of course not, but normally I would have taken some cruel enjoyment from the spectacle.

Two Saturdays ago Sergio Martinez stopped Sergei Dzinziruk and managed to retain his middleweight title. It was a stunning and beautiful performance. The defining punch – a short and sneaky straight left– was set up by a lowered hands/clowning moment. It was a machismo display of physical superiority and personal disdain that is my athletic ideal. It was lovely.

But I was left empty.

I’ve been trying to understand why. I watch all the fights, always. I am aware and I watch, but still, it’s somehow, so… preamble. I feel like it’s all preliminary.

That’s the thing about boxing, it’s not really supposed to be like that. Every fight is important, each moment a potential answer. It doesn’t require the highest levels as long as the participants are game and the deeply personal is there. The fighter’s insides are visible when it’s great, and a body doesn’t always need to be elite to be capable of communicating meaning and courage.

But something has been missing to me, that feeling of presence and life and importance in the ring. I think I know what it is.

Pacquiao-Mayweather.

I’m tired of it, too, but hear me out.

Have you ever had a thing so big in your life that nothing feels (and here I mean that engrossing fullness of a life in the present) without the resolution of that thing? I’m sure you have. Perhaps it was the fate of a loved one, the birth of a child, or the tangled pain of a relationship at loose ends; but you must know what I’m talking about?

I’m speaking of that huge mewling hole in the heart that makes every other relationship/event/activity that happens seem unimportant and pale in comparison to the big thing.

She is/was meant for me, you understand? It’s something one knows or feels and all the rest is distraction or palaver and filler in between the moment when I will realize my final destiny of being with or not being with her. A resolution is needed whether it be through actual physical flame and irrevocable end or final and complete commingling. But it’s that in-between that’s so deadly perilous.

Because everything else is less bright in the present. Every kiss is replacement, every joy a distraction from the real thing, the ultimate irreconcilable which casts a pall over a man’s life.

A soldier waiting to be recalled to war, an ill man seeking doctor's verdict, or a lover separated but not unfettered from his true belief. During that period even beauty and grace and joy itself are rendered tasteless and unfulfilling. Every meal a man might have is turned to dust and ash because the mouth is awaiting that one taste alone.

Entire religions and philosophies have been built around overcoming this irreconcilable, but I’ve never had the gift of distance. It gets to me, like an infection, and it’s a cruel thief of life.


And I’m afraid that’s what Mayweather/Pacquiao has become. That ultimate must happen/must resolve that renders everything else shadow and play.

Manny will fight Shane Mosley, and he will probably win. Perhaps after that he will fight Andre Berto, or Juan Manuel Marquez. These will be great battles, potentially rich victories, but they won’t be answers.

Sergio Martinez will continue his remarkable ascent. Amir Khan and Timothy Bradley will fight for a real title at junior welterweight.

But I’m afraid Mayweather/Pacquiao will always be there in the background, a presence and haunting that says to me, “Why yes, she is a very attractive and commendable lady you are kissing at the moment, she even smells of loveliness, but we all know that the great SHE is still out there. This - though pleasant - is just killing time.”

So unfair, so unhealthy, but even if you try to argue with the voices in your head they have the advantage of always having the last word. Floyd Mayweather’s refusal to fight, their inability to fight each other is inflecting everything else with a feeling of not the real.

And it’s one thing if we know it will never happen. The Klitschko brothers' fantasy meeting differs not only because they aren’t as compelling, but because we know the score and can look and move on.

But the great Mayweather/Pacquiao has no such qualifiers, all we have to keep it from us is politics, money, and the impossibility of compromise.

I’m going to try to be better and enjoy the meals and the kisses and all the intervening activities which are life, or in this case, is boxing as a sport. But I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to quiet that part of my head that will know that the big unresolved still exists, the biggest unanswerable from which I must have resolution but don’t. It’s why cruelty and honesty are often blessings.

Because truth or blame isn’t the thing. Does anyone anymore really care about whether the excuse is money, steroids, or just a willful indifference to a cultural need? I don’t. Pacquiao is not fighting Mayweather – right now – and it throws everything else out of balance.

Because we’re waiting for not just a fight, but an answer, something to tell us where what we are watching fits on the big lists. It’s the one that needs to happen and doesn’t, and it’s turning everything else to gray.

I still expect the fight to happen. It might take place too late and provide an unsatisfying conclusion, but I still expect the two to meet. Money almost always speaks.

It’s just this intervening time that’s the victim. All the other heroes out there shadowed by the big thing. Time will heal it, or perhaps another compelling champion will rise, but I’ll remember this time in boxing as the missing years. When Pacquiao and Mayweather not only sabotaged one another, but the rest of the sport as well.

Cookie Monster Strikes Again

Mario Lemieux is in the middle of a campaign to remove head shots, dirty plays, and limit fighting. Matt Cooke is apparently on a campaign to make his boss look like two-face. I throw my full support behind Mario. As many of my readers know I expect and hope for the NHL to take serious measures to remove fighting from the sport, but that is a post for another day.

Every time Mario takes a public stand against fighting and dirty play he gets his third line goon, Matt Cooke, thrown in his face. With good reason. Cooke has always been a tough guy, he plays hard and hits hard. That is exactly what this league has always wanted and embraced. Over the past year Cooke has crossed the line from tough guy to goon.

When he put this hit on Marc Savard I defended him. I will not make that mistake again.


That was just the beginning of the slippery slope for Cooke though. Since then everyone has been analyzing  everything Matt Cooke does on the ice. In the Ranger game today Matt Cooke threw an elbow that finally cost his team. He was given a 5 minute misconduct. Surprisingly Chris Kunitz scored a shorthanded goal to put the Penguins in front. Not surprisingly the Rangers scored the next 4 goals of the game and won 5-2. Hopefully this will result in at least a 10 game suspension, anything short of that is an embarrassment to the NHL.

The real question is what should the Pittsburgh Penguins do about this? The team is, as it has been since 1984, Mario Lemieux's team. He has made it very clear he does not want things like this in the league and he is disgusted by these types of players. If your boss was adamantly against something you would not do it. If you did you would be fired. Well maybe something like that needs to happen to Matt Cooke. I realize Ray Shero is the man who makes the decisions on who is on the roster, not Mario. However, Mario signs Ray Shero's checks. It may be time for Mario to pull a power move and tell Ray its time for Cooke to go. That could mean being traded in the off-season, being a healthy scratch when he returns from suspension, or sent to the AHL where they are expected to play like goons.  Working in this world is simple. There is a single rule that spans all types of careers. Keep your boss happy and you keep your job, make him look bad and you won't. Matt Cooke is making his boss look like a hypocrite and that is just something you do not do.

Here is an interesting look at most of Matt Cooke's questionable hits. It makes you think he might be the dirtiest player in the game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0waePHWjVGY

Pitt vs Butler and the Officials

Lets get this straight. The last two calls were both correct. Obviously Howard got fouled with 0.8 seconds left. I am talking about the entire game, especially the first half.

The first 30 minutes of that game Butler got every call. I am fairly certain when the wind blew they thought Matt Howard was fouled. How many times did they show the "elbow" hit Howard's face replay? Three times. In none of those replays did an elbow contact Howard. Every time the ball went inside Pitt was either called for a block on defense or a charge on offense. Do you know why? Butler could not handle Pitt inside so they would appear to be bullied. The classic case of a big guy standing next to a small guy. Butler did not have proper body positioning to draw the fouls. It was simply officials that did not want a physical game. They made sure it would not be. If this game were played with Big East officials the Panthers would have won by 15.

I am not sour about the loss. Butler played exactly as they needed to. They shot lights out from behind the arch. However if you watched them play defense. There was more holding than a high school football game. Ashton Gibbs had 11 points on only 7 field goal attempts. Not because Butler shut him down, but because his jersey was grabbed on every screen he ran through. Pitt only got 18 free throw attempts, that is pretty low for one the leading free throw teams in the nation.

There are some positives to take away from this season, heading into next year. Pitt will have one of the best shooting back courts in the country, Gibbs and Woodall. Talib Zanna and Donte Taylor will be more polished and ready to dominate the boards. Gary McGhee and Brad Wanamaker will both not be here, nothing personal. I just think they are two of the most overrated players in the country. We also have two of the top ten incoming centers in the country.

The most important thing for this program going into next year: Jamie Dixon needs to learn how to coach in the tournament. This is the most underachieving program I have ever seen in when it comes to the NCAA Tournament.

Tournament Time

Its Bromer Sports first NCAA tournament and we are jumping right into it. We are putting on a special treat for all of our readers. We are going to hold a bracket challenge which everyone is invited and encouraged to join. It is free to join and a prize will be awarded to the first place winner of the bracket.

The bracket information is listed below:

Site Link: http://bromer.mayhem.cbssports.com/e

Name: Bromer Sports

Password: ncaa

If you have trouble joining the bracket just send an email to bromer@mayhem.cbssports.com and I will send you a private invitation to the bracket.  

Invite any and all of your friends to join. The more people the more fun it shall be. 

As soon as a prize is selected I will let everyone know exactly what it is. Right now I am leaning towards a gift card. 

 

Goonism is dead.

Mike Milbury once called former Penguins head coach "Badger" Bob Johnson a professor of goonism. In those days Milbury was just a whiner because that is how hockey was played in the early 90's. Well the game has changed  over the last 20 years and the league has taken many steps to put a stop to goonism.

Apparently the Islanders Trevor Gillies has not gotten the message. Gillies is the goon that mocked Eric Tangradi after he was injured and has now made himself into a complete joke. Gillies is not a hockey player, so don't mistake him for one. He is simply a scrub that thinks he can make a name for himself by throwing dirty hits and fighting injured players.



Well after this incident against the Penguins he served a 9 game suspension. The league thought that was long enough to send a message. Apparently it was not. His first game back was tonight against Minnesota and he just happened to earn a game misconduct for hitting a defenseless player from behind.

The league needs to send a serious message now. The only reason the Islanders have Gillies on the roster is to strike fear in other teams. He adds no hockey talent to their lineup. I would suspend him for one year. He shows no signs of remorse or of changing his playing style after the 9 games he missed. If you don't let him know this kind of thing is serious you could have another Todd Bertuzzi situation. The league cannot afford a black eye like that again. If you take a stand now you may be able to put an end to all of these dirty hits we see in the game today. I'm sure Gary Bettman will not though, further proving why he is the worst commissioner in professional sports today.