The first day of the 2006 men’s tournament featured a bit of everything. There were blowouts, close calls for some tall seeds, some ‘nightmares’ and, as always, surprises. The NCAA defines a major upset when the winner is seeded five or more spots below the loser.
Using that definition, Montana and Texas A&M’s (both 12 seeds) wins over Nevada and Syracuse (both 5 seeds) fit the bill, as does Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s (11 seeds) win over sixth-seeded Oklahoma. . Alabama’s victory (10) over Marquette (7) falls short.
My free game for Friday is Southern Illinois over West Va at 2:45 ET. I just missed out on a 3-1 NCAA run on Thursday, when Wilmington blew an 18-point second-half lead against George Washington. I have a great Friday in store, including my 20* NCAA First Round Game of the Year. Check out the buy picks page to see all of my BKB plays on both CBB and NBA for Friday.
As far as points-margin upsets go, only Montana’s win over Nevada stands out. The Wolf Pack opened a seven point favorite in that game and was staked at 5 1/2. Oklahoma was a three- or three-and-a-half-point favorite over Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette a two-point option over Alabama, so neither of those results should be considered a huge surprise. In the case of the Texas A&M/Syracuse game, Syracuse opened a one-point option but A&M closed with a one- or half-point favorite.
The Texas A&M and Montana upsets came in the now famous (or infamous) 5/12 matchups. Washington (also a fifth seed), avoided the curse by beating 12th-seeded Utah State, 75-61. The last of the four 5/12 matchups will be played tonight at 7:10 ET, when Pittsburgh takes on Kent State. Pitt, the fifth seed, is favored by 6 1/2 points.
Duke was the only one of the four No. 1 seeds in action Thursday and the Blue Devils did little to dispel the idea that they are nothing more than a two-man team. Redick and Williams each scored 29 points, accounting for all but 12 of Duke’s points in an uninspiring 70-54 win over Southern. The three remaining No. 1 seeds (U Conn, Villanova and Memphis) play on Friday.
Three tall seeds, No. 2 Tennessee. No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 4 Boston College were lucky to win Thursday. Tennessee needed a lopsided shot by Lofton with 2.9 seconds left to get past 15th-seeded Winthrop. Gonzaga, a third seed, needed a late comeback and a 35-point effort from Adam Morrison to get past Xavier (14), 79-75. The win extended the Bulldogs’ winning streak to a nation-best 19 games, but it should be noted that the team is just 7-12 ATS in those wins.
As for BC, the Eagles trailed Pacific (13) 71-65 with just under three minutes to go, but somehow forced overtime. Pacific also took a six point lead into the first overtime, but again BC tied it up. In the second overtime, the Eagles outscored the Tigers 14-2, leaving the Pacific punters (at plus eight) shaking their heads.
It wasn’t fun having NC-Wilmington either. The Seahawks trailed by 2 1/2 or 3 points to George Washington, but led 64-46 with 11:11 remaining in regulation. GW used a 19-0 run to help send the game into overtime and then Wilmington blew an 85-81 lead with 2:06 remaining, before trailing 88-85!
Day one also had its share of beatings, as Wichita State began the day with an easy 86-66 win over Seton Hall, Florida had little trouble with South Alabama (76-50) and UCLA posted the biggest margin of victory in the day, beating Belmont by 34 points (78-44).
The Big East set a record Sunday when it received eight offers, but yesterday was not a good day for its schools. In addition to losing Seton Hall and Syracuse, Marquette lost to Alabama (90-85), giving the Big East a 0-3 lead on Thursday. Alabama’s victory gave the SEC a perfect 4-0 day (Fla, LSU and Tenn also won), while the ACC (Duke and BC), Big-10 (Illinois and Indiana) and Pac-10 (UCLA and Washington) it was all 2-0.
There are 32 more first-round games on Friday (all on CBS), starting with Davidson vs. Ohio State (12:15 ET) and ending with the last scheduled game, UAB vs. Kentucky around 9:45 ET.
The NIT is ringing as well, though it’s hardly getting much ink. After the home teams finished 4-4 SU (3-5 ATS) in eight games of the tournament’s first round on Tuesday, the home teams dominated the day in the first round. On Wednesday, the home teams finished 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS and last night, they were perfect 4-0 SU and ATS! It should be noted that the four visiting teams last night were playing their second game in three days, while the home team was playing for the first time.
The first of the NIT’s four No. 1 seeds played last night, as Michigan beat UTEP, 82-67. Two more No. 1 seeds play tonight, Louisville hosts Delaware State at 7:00 ET (cards are 16-point favorites) and Cincinnati hosts NC-Charlotte at 8:00 ET (Bearcats are favored by 6 1/2 points).
Back in tonight’s action, the four away teams will play their second game while the home teams play for the first time. Tonight, however, the visitors have an extra day of rest. The final No. 1 seed from the NIT (Maryland) plays tomorrow for the first time, four days after the tournament began!
Miami rallied from a 25-point deficit last night against the Celtics (who trailed 59-34 in the second quarter) to win, 107-104. He matched the league’s biggest comeback this year. Miami has now won 13 of 14 games and is 22 games over .500 at a season-high 43-21. However, the Heat are in no danger of catching the Pistons, as they are eight and a half games behind Detroit in the Eastern Conference.
Seattle beat Philly last night (does anyone care?) and, despite Kevin Garnett’s 22nd straight double-double (he owns a league-high 51 on the year!), the T-wolves lost to the Warriors, 105-97. It marks Minnesota’s seventh straight loss (tying New Orleans for the longest current losing streak), their eighth straight road loss, and their 21st loss in their last 24 road games!
Tonight’s NBA schedule contains 11 games, highlighted by Ron Artest’s return to Indianapolis (Kings at Pacers) and a big Western Conference matchup, the Suns at Spurs. The Kings lost their first two games under Artest, but have since gone a remarkable 15-5 SU and 16-3-1 ATS! At 33-31, the Kings are now in seventh place in the playoffs outside the West, just two games behind Memphis. As for the Pacers, they sit in the sixth playoff spot in the East, 4 1/2 games inside the “cut line.” The game ends at 7:05 ET and the Kings are favored by 1 1/2 points with a total of 194.
The Spurs recently beat the Suns in Phoenix 117-93, but Nash missed that game, as did Barbosa. Phoenix comes into this game winning 14 of its 16 and with a record of 19-10 (19-9-1 ATS) on the road. The Spurs are 23-5 since losing to Detroit on Jan. 12 and are 28-4 at home this year, though just 17-15 ATS. San Antonio is favored by 5 1/2 points (205 1/2).
Ness Notes is available at 1:00 ET Monday through Friday. Larry’s lead story, “32-to-16,” will air Saturday and Sunday.