It's all over

Well, for the past two NCAA tournaments, some have asked, "Who will be this year's George Mason?" Davidson is starting to look like the correct answer. They're 2:53 away from their third upset victory and a berth in the Elite 8.
Wisconsin is playing terribly and Davidson, again, is playing very, very well. Stephen Curry has outscored UW in the second half, which is a testament both to Wisconsin's suddenly pathetic offense and the fact that Curry is crazy good.
With Davidson up 16 with less than two minutes left, the Badgers are about done.
I'm too depressed to continue blogging.

Krueger out.

Stephen Curry in the NBA?

Obviously this kid is good. He's taken down Gonzaga and Georgetown, and now he's on the brink of leading his team to the Elite Eight. He's can create his own shot, and he can shoot the lights out, but will he be an impact player at the next level? At 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, I'm not so sure. Remember, J.J. Reddick was a great scorer, too.

At the very least, he's exposing the Big 10 for what it is: A middle-of-the-pack major conference with a ton of pretenders year after year.

I'm officially nervous

With 15:57 left, Davidson is leading Wisconsin 46-38. Stephen Curry only has 15 points and actually is having a pretty cold shooting night (5-for-14). The Badgers are not playing to their strength, which is size. They're out-rebounding the Wildcats, but aren't taking the ball to the basket enough on offense.

Halftime

Wisconsin and Davidson are tied 36-36 at halftime. Time to switch over to the Texas-Stanford game. And, of course, this game is in commercials, too. Somebody get Rick some blood pressure medication. Now we're back and Texas is up 23-16. My Final Four is looking pretty good.
If I were the beer-drinking type, now would be a perfect time to open another.

So much for UW defense

Wisconsin is renowned for its suffocating defense that allows, if memory serves, about 52 points a game. Davidson already has 33, which worries me a bit. Davidson's Stephen Curry looks like he's about 10 years old, but he's one heck of a scorer.
So far, though, the rest of the Wildcats are keeping the game close.

Players on bench look really short

At first I thought it was an optical illusion of some sort, but the benches at Ford Field, where the Midwest Regional semifinals are being played, are below court level. The court is raised and the benches look like an orchestra pit. Very strange.
I can't wait for the first player to chase a ball out of bounds and go diving into the 12th row.

Badger time

OK, let's go through the pregame checklist:
Clean long sleeve Wisconsin T-shirt: Check.
Leftover fajitas: Check.
12-pack of Heineken (strictly for any guests who might stop by): Check.
Frozen Homer Simpson mug (for sodas): Check.
And we're underway from Detroit with Wisconsin taking on this year's tournament sweetheart Davidson. Four minutes gone and Davidson leads 7-5. Don't expect that to last.

More from Rick

"Like Scott, I was rooting for Siena, even though Villanova advanced to the Sweet 16.
My brother-in-law went to Siena back in the days when I think there was a jump ball after every basket.

How about coach Fran McCaffrey getting a look from PC? The guy's turned the Saints around, has a great graduation rate, was head coach at UNC-Greensboro and Lehigh and recruiting coordinator at Notre Dame in between.

He was a heady point guard at Penn, and, as a Philly native, knows the metro Catholic schools on the East Coast where PC needs to recruit. He'll be 49 in May. That's a baby, right Scott and Josh?"

Low seeds going to the Sweet 16

No matter who wins the Villanova-Siena game or the Western Kentucky-San Diego game, two low seeds are going to the Sweet 16 and will be the team that pulls at the heartstrings of fans across America. No matter what, the winners will be the team that everyone roots for, because everyone likes to see the underdog. Personally, I'd like to see Siena (because I'm a big fan of Albany, N.Y., for some reason) but I have Villanova in the Sweet 16, and San Diego (because any team that beats UConn is a friend of mine!)

Bite my tongue

Not hours after I commented how the Big East was running away with the fictional conference championship in the NCAA tournament, three teams went down, including Pittsburgh, a finalist in my bracket. Ouch. Marquette and Notre Dame, both of which looked good in the first round, had little bit in losses to Stanford and Washington State, respectively. Thanks to a wonderful Easter dinner, I didn't see much of the Pittsburgh game against Michigan State, but I'd be interested in seeing how the Panthers were beaten by more than 10 points.

From the keyboard of Rick

Rick is still having trouble with posting, so he's sending me posts via e-mail. I got this one a little late, but better than never.

"Great to see Johnston resident Joe Mazzulla, a former Bishop Hendricken standout, star for West Virginia against Duke.

Dan Mazzulla, his father, goes about 6-foot-4 or so, a few inches taller than his son, and starred for Johnston as a physical forward in the early 1980s.He's coach of the boys soccer and girls basketball teams at Johnston and is one of the funniest guys around, yet played with a toughness that has been passed down to his son."