March 25, 2005

Yowza!

Wisconsin 65
North Carolina State 56

Michigan State 78
Duke 68

No, it doesn't mean the Big 10 is better than the ACC. But it does mean that the Big 10 is a lot better than all the sports pundits have been saying all year. And gee, maybe Illinois is pretty damn good after winning both the Big 10 Conference title and the Big 10 Conference Tournament. Hey, maybe one of my all Big 10 brackets might do ok after all!

DOWNDATE: UNC avoids an ACC Black Friday by 1 point. Somehow, if Illinois won a game by 1 point against a team who had just lost their best player to a torn ACL, I think I'd be hearing a lot about how vulnerable Illinois is. Hey, I'm just sayin'. And the Kentucky - Utah game was perhaps the ugliest Elite 8 game I can remember seeing. Jeez, Utah could have won easily if they would have made some free throws or layups.

DOUBLE DOWNDATE: Here's the bracket status with the record and teams in the Elite 8:

Kirkwood Illiniwek: 37-19 (3)
Kirkwood Illlini: 34-22 (3)
St. Louis Illini: 35-21 (3)
St. Louis Illinois: 42-14 (6)
St. Charles Austin: 39-17 (3)

The St. Louis Illinois entry has Illinois, Arizona, UNC, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Kentucky correct -- with Illinois, UNC, and Michigan State moving on, which seems reasonable. They are now tied for 22,853rd place out of 2,800,000 entries in ESPN's Tourney Challenge. That's not too bad.

Posted by Charles Austin at March 25, 2005 10:07 PM
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