Elite East--I mean Eight

How scary did Louisville look Friday night? They dropped an NBA-like 103 points on the only wannabe Cinderella remaining, Arizona. Eight teams remaining, four of them in the Big East. It's sort of like we're about to watch another incarnation of the Big East conference tournament. If that's the case, I wouldn't mind seeing another six overtime thriller, though I'd prefer Pitt doesn't suffer the same fate as they did back in mid-March.

My stab at an upset stabbed me right in the back, as Gonzaga was never in it against an upstart Tarheel team. UNC was just two points shy of the century mark, and they now carry the ACC banner into the Elite Eight.

Michigan St. defeated Kansas in what really did become a battle of coaches. There must have been at least four timeouts called in the final two minutes. Whenever a team calls a timeout, much of the responsibility for the ensuing play must be placed on the coach, as he has the opportunity to draw up a play from scratch. In the end, Tom Izzo outscored Bill Self 7-2 in the final 1:48 to net a Spartan victory.

And Blake Griffin continues to raise his potential NBA stock value. He averaged 30.5 points and 15 rebounds in the first two tournament games, and proved he's nothing if not consistent with a 30 and 14 performance against overmatched Syracuse. That's right: a Big East team lost. Weird, I know.

Elite Eight conference breakdown:

Big East: 4
Big 12: 2
ACC: 1
Big Ten: 1

Who's got a date with the Elite Eight?

Really, Memphis. Really. Reeeaaally. Really?

I admitted in my predictions that I didn't know how good Memphis really was. They were rarely on TV this season, and they play in a conference with teams such as Southern Methodist and Rice (sorry, Andrew). If you go from Christmas through St. Patrick's Day without losing, you're good, no doubt. But it was nearly impossible to tell just how good a team like this was.

Well, we found out Thursday night. Missouri gave Memphis a good ol' Big 12 whoopin'. The Tigers (Mizzou, that is) put up 102 points on a Tiger team (Memphis, that is) that allowed just 58 points per game this season. Interestingly, Missouri coach Mike Anderson coached the last Conference USA team to beat Memphis--he was UAB's coach when they took down Memphis just 62 conference games ago.

So I put too much stock in unknown Memphis, picking them to take down UConn for a Final Four spot. But that's OK, because ...

The Big East continues to carry my bracket, with an assist from the overrated ACC. Villanova schooled Duke Thursday, and made it look easy. The Blue Devils continue to disappoint (unless you're me), as they have not made it to the Elite Eight since 2004. Now if only Gonzaga can make UNC suffer the same fate this evening ...

Pitt continued to look as though they have no interest whatsoever in winning the national championship, yet they pulled out another close victory. They seem destined to fall at some point if they keep this up (they've won by 10, 8 and 5 against weaker opponents), but I have to give them credit for grinding out victories to this point. And credit is also due to the Panthers for making it to their first ever regional final.

UConn handled Little 10 opponent Purdue with relative ease, transforming them into a perimeter team with the imposing presence of Hasheem Thabeet down low. Michigan State now carries the torch for the Big Ten, as they face Kansas in a sweet coaching match up--Tom Izzo vs. Bill Self. Sweet announcing match up as well--that's right, Gus Johnson will be doing this one, as well as the Louisville-Arizona game. Who wants a buzzer beater? I do! I do!

Exclamation points

Friday's early stories: big players coming up big, and the Big 12 doing the same.

Sherron Collins scored 32 points for Kansas in an 84-74 victory over North Dakota St. NDSU star Ben Woodside did all he could in the loss, dropping 37.

Dionte Christmas didn't disappoint either, putting up 29 in Temple's loss to Arizona St.

Chris Wright scored a career-high 27 as Dayton flew past West Virginia to pull off the 11/6 upset. Bob Huggins-led squads (Cincinnati and West Virginia) had been 13-1 against the Flyers, with 13 being more than the number of players who graduated under Huggins at Cincy.

DeJuan Blair had 27 points and 16 rebounds in Pitt's much-closer-than-it-should-have-been 72-62 victory over E. Tennessee St. Maybe this was a wake up call, maybe it was a sign I shouldn't have picked Pitt to win it all. Only time will tell.

And while no one on Stephen F. Austin came up big (hence a 15-point loss to Syracuse), I have to point out that "coming up big" would be impossible for guard Eric Bell, who is listed at just 5' 3"! Bell is (was) the smallest player in this year's tournament. He didn't score any points in Friday's loss, but he gave height-challenged people everywhere hope that they, too, one day, could possibly score zero points in an NCAA Tournament game. (toth: mc)

And the Big 12: Kansas, Texas A & M, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Oklahoma St. have all won either Thursday or Friday. 6-0 for the Big 12. The Big East is close behind at 5-1.