Please note that I will not discuss conference championship games. Well, maybe some highlights, but not the games themselves. Today is beautiful and clear here in Houston as I type up this daytime report. Will things be beautiful for your favorite team? I'll be here to let you know who won all the non-championship games. I will only highlight on team that won conference championships in the postseason thread.
We begin with Duke's attempt to get revenge over North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
--- Duke is Not a Bunch of Losers... as North Carolina May Find Out ---
* #14 Duke at #8 North Carolina (RIVALRY GAME: Battle for Tobacco Road)
Either you love North Carolina... or you love Duke. Whatever the choice, choose wisely. Choose wisely because you'll have to live with that decision when these two teams throw down. Duke and ACC flat out
don't like each other. UNC hates Duke. Duke hates UNC. But how do you settle it? You do it in the sport they play best- basketball. Duke first. Let's face it. Duke football is terrible. The football team lost to Richmond (a great 1-AA/FCS football team) and countless other teams this past season. Duke knows how to win in just about every other sport except football. Take it from a guy who closely follows more football than basketball- Duke's game is basketball. Basketball is the thing the Blue Devils know best. They made a living off of it and have developed a vast array of players ranging from Christian Laettner to Shane Battier to J.J. Redick. Now let's meet the other team in blue. North Carolina blue is also usually not a football program. However, North Carolina can actually WIN football games unlike Duke's abysmal program. North Carolina doesn't lose on a consistent basis. They've had some tough losses. It is a school whose basketball team has seen stars like Vince Carter, Rasheed Wallace (or 'Sheed to some people), and a fellow named... Michael Jordan. The Tar Heels look to further ruffle Duke's feathers. So let's see if they did just that. At 2:31 left in the game, North Carolina was leading 75-59 prior to Duke's free throws. He made both of them. So it's 75-61 after cashing in two free throws from the foul line. The "two minute warning" saw Duke combat UNC's run with a run of their own. A Blue Devil long bomb made things a bit more level. Henderson elbowed Tyler Hansbrough at around 14.5 left in the game. Hansbrough painted a portion of the Tar Heel blue key area with blood. He would lose some blood from his nose and had to go into the locker room. I think they even said that he left a trail of blood behind. The coaches huddled up and thought it could have been a flagrant foul. Needless to say, the fans in Chapel Hill were upset as Hansbrough had a new career high single-game rebound total of 18. Then controversy erupted. Gerald Henderson was ejected from the game. The fans in the stands weren't at all happy with Henderson as he got a Flagrant Foul, a Combatant Foul, and suspended one game. But was it intentional? I didn't think it was intentional given the fact that Duke was getting beaten down. It wasn't like Duke was trying to pull a "Malice at the Palace" deal. One of the CBS announcers didn't like the call because it didn't seem like an flagrant foul. The referrees (or the "zebras") didn't think so. This wasn't the story. The real story was that North Carolina beats Duke. But I'm sure the boys in Tar Heel Blue would certainly wish their teammate, Tyler Hansbrough, well. (86-72; #8 NORTH CAROLINA)
*** SIDE NOTE ***
Visit the postseason thread for information regarding North Carolina's women's team. Congratulations to North Carolina's women's team. They won 60-54 over North Carolina State as NCSU's women's coach presumably has cancer.
DID YOU KNOW...
...that North Carolina swept Duke for the first time in 11 years?
DEBATE QUESTION: Was Gerald Henderson's elbow of Tyler Hansbrough intentional, unintentional, or a no call?
This was an unintentional deal to me. So was another incident in another sport.
(Extra) Intentional or Unintentional?
Playing in almost any sport means that there's going to be all kinds of contact. Take today in Mexico City, Mexico. Juan Pablo Montoya in the #42 Dodge Charger tagged his teammate, Scott Pruett, on his right-rear panel. Juan Pablo Montoya didn't mean to tag him like he did. But it was intentional "just racin'" contact. It's something NASCAR understands very well. It's the sort of thing you come to expect in sports- the fact that contact is inevitable. Something you probably learn in Psychology or Criminal Justice involves motive. It's the reason why in the event of court cases and such that motive is usually questioned. Given the fact that North Carolina was handily beating Duke at home, was there ANY sort of motive to take down North Carolina's top dog by Henderson? Or let's look back to this past football season. Remember the game when Florida International went to play against the Miami Hurricanes? We all know what happened. Florida International would lose the game in a 35-0 count, but in the 3rd Quarter, Miami-based Florida International University went out and initiated a brawl against the University of Miami. The motive was clear in this game by FIU- they were losing and started to attack Miami straight up in frustration. They couldn't beat Miami on the field, so they had to beat them in something else. Contact is going to be eminent. It's the risk you take when competiting. Or take me. I'm thinking of working in the field of journalism. What if I get called up to do some report in a war-torn Middle East? I'm actually looking to be in the sports journalism aspect. Maybe even be in the motorsports announcing deal. So I'd have the risk that I'd deal with some unruly people in some rough places. All I'm getting at here is that contact happens. Let's just say that... you know what you signed up for if you play sports.
--- Kentucky Wants Revenge, But Will Have to go to Gainesville to Get It ---
* Kentucky at #4 Florida
One Saturday night on ESPN in Rupp Arena, Kentucky seemed down and out until they were inches away from Overtime. Kentucky needed to keep fending off other teams to try to get it done. Kentucky heads to Florida as
FoolKiller watches intently. My matchup is Joakim Noah vs. Joe Crawford. Florida will need Noah and the rest of their boys to take down Kentucky. The Gators are slithery reptiles that know how to win games. They are the SEC's brightest beacon for a National Championship. The beacon isn't as bright as Kentucky because Kentucky looks out over all of the other teams (execpt UCLA) like the Statue of Liberty. Lexington may not be the capital of Kentucky, but it is the capital of SEC basketball. They've laid down the law and have shown power of attorney in their 20 wins (including one over my hometown Houston Cougars). The Wildcats are the House of Representatives that make magic happen on the floor. And it's Tubby Smith that's the Governor of this proud program. The game was on CBS Sports. The commenting crew is a bit of "College Hoops 2K7" as
Verne Lundquist(?) and the colorful Bill Raftery called this game. I only seen the first few minutes and parts of the Second Half. Kentucky led 6-0 very early all until Florida pulled away. Florida won in a close game in Lexington. But in Gainesville, this wasn't even close. (85-72; FLORIDA)
*** SIDE NOTE ***
(1) One of the Florida players was talking smack against Kentucky by calling them the "kitty cats." He still managed to back up his words. His name is undisclosed because I forgot who the guy was and that I choose to make it undisclosed.
(2) Al Horford becomes the 41st player in UF history to rack up 1,000 points.
DID YOU KNOW...
...that Kentucky's RPI is 10th in the nation?
--- Louisville Wants Inside Track on Big East Tourney ---
* Seton Hall at #19 Louisville
It's not easy playing in the Big East. I do admit that I often make typos in typing "East." There's a difference in pressing the "T" key and the "Y" key in spelling out "East." Because if you press "Y" instead of "T," you get "Big Easy." It's not easy to win in this conference with teams like Pittsburgh and Georgetown. The Big East doesn't have as much luster as in past years. Syracuse and Connecticut have struggled. Marquette is still the ultimate dark horse. Former National Champion, Cincinatti still can't really break into the upper echeleons of Big East men's hoops. St. John's was once a proud program, but not really anymore.
Louisville came into this game with a purpose, and just simply blown out Seton Hall. Not the kind of way to return to South Orange, New Jersey if you're Seton Hall. (86-71; #19 LOUISVILLE)
--- Clemson is Overrated? See if Clemson Could Shut Up Critics ---
* Clemson at #21 Virginia Tech (75--74; Clemson) *upset!*
--- (Extra, Division 2, Men) Winona State Ties Division 2 Winning Record ---
There's domination. Then there's DOMINATION. Winona State is 30-0 after beating Southwest Minnesota State 80-70. The Winona State Warriors of Division 2 basketball can rewrite the record books by winning just one game in the North Central Regional this Saturday. The record Winona State is tied with is that of Langston University in Oklahoma. Langston had two consecutive perfect seasons starting in the 1943-1944 season and the 1944-1945 season. They would also win the first five games of the 1945-1946 season. Winona State could really change history if they win their 53rd (or more) in a row. Now THAT is dominance. See why true basketball fans try to follow all three divisions of NCAA hoops? (Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news?slug=ap-winonast-record&prov=ap&type=lgns )
Now take a look at these scores and see if your favorite team won or if your least favorite team lost:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2007-03-04&refresh=0
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaw/scoreboard?d=2007-03-04&refresh=0
Stay tuned to my postseason thread as I have more teams to report on.
