PiRate Ratings–College Football For November 17-21, 2020

The Best Week of College Football This Year — If the games are played

This Week’s PiRate Ratings Spreads

Week 12	November 24-28
Home	Visitors	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Kent St.	Akron	24.4	21.7	24.9
Bowling Green	Buffalo	-29.3	-28.6	-34.2
Ball St.	Northern Illinois	13.6	11.4	13.6
Eastern Michigan	Toledo	-6.5	-5.9	-5.7
Central Michigan	Western Michigan	5.3	2.9	4.9
Tulsa	Tulane	3.2	1.5	2.1
Wyoming	Utah St.	14.2	16.0	16.0
Louisville	Syracuse	18.1	16.3	16.6
Minnesota	Purdue	1.5	1.5	1.8
Air Force	New Mexico	19.0	18.8	19.3
Oregon	UCLA	18.0	17.7	19.8
Maryland	Michigan St.	-0.3	0.0	-1.3
Ohio St.	Indiana	19.8	18.1	19.7
Florida St.	Clemson	-28.1	-29.7	-30.5
Vanderbilt	Florida	-31.1	-31.4	-33.0
Coastal Carolina	Appalachian St.	3.0	4.5	3.5
SMU	Houston	1.4	2.3	1.7
Nebraska	Illinois	10.9	10.9	11.7
Arkansas	LSU	-10.4	-9.1	-12.6
Duke	Wake Forest	-5.3	-6.1	-6.8
Temple	East Carolina	1.4	1.5	1.4
Marshall	Charlotte	19.7	19.8	19.5
Army	Georgia Southern	1.9	2.6	1.6
Western Kentucky	Florida Intl.	2.7	3.4	2.4
North Texas	Rice	-11.0	-8.5	-10.5
Southern Miss.	UTSA	0.8	0.8	-0.6
Texas St.	Arkansas St.	-4.4	-4.7	-5.4
Florida Atlantic	Massachusetts	28.9	23.8	32.0
UCF	Cincinnati	-3.7	-3.1	-3.1
Northwestern	Wisconsin	-18.2	-15.8	-16.6
Kansas	Texas	-33.0	-32.3	-34.4
Penn St.	Iowa	0.9	0.0	-0.4
Oregon St.	California	-1.1	-1.0	-2.1
Troy	Middle Tennessee	12.9	14.0	13.4
Nevada	San Diego St.	-4.7	-5.0	-4.7
Alabama	Kentucky	22.5	23.8	23.9
Iowa St.	Kansas St.	5.1	5.1	5.0
Pittsburgh	Virginia Tech	-3.5	-3.0	-4.9
Louisiana Tech	UL-Monroe	15.0	15.8	16.4
South Alabama	Georgia St.	-3.9	-3.0	-3.9
Colorado St.	UNLV	10.3	9.9	10.9
Auburn	Tennessee	12.5	11.8	12.6
Fresno St.	San Jose St.	1.5	0.3	1.4
Georgia	Mississippi St.	20.4	20.1	20.7
Oklahoma	Oklahoma St.	4.9	5.3	5.6
NC St.	Liberty	3.7	1.6	3.0
Rutgers	Michigan	-5.9	-6.3	-8.2
South Carolina	Missouri	2.6	1.0	0.8
Miami (Fla.)	Georgia Tech	17.9	20.6	19.2
Washington	Arizona	9.9	10.4	11.5
USF	Navy	-6.3	-6.4	-6.5
Utah	USC	-4.4	-2.2	-2.5
Stanford	Washington St.	-1.2	-2.3	-3.1
Hawaii	Boise St.	-10.9	-11.0	-11.9
FBS vs. FCS
FBS	FCS	PiRate
Memphis	S. F. Austin	23.8
Louisiana	Central Arkansas	18.4
BYU	North Alabama	44.9
Virginia	Abilene Christian	34.1
Cancelled This Week	as of 11/15 7PM ET
UAB	vs. UTEP
Ohio U	vs. Miami (O)
Arizona St.	vs. Colorado

Additional Cancelled Games as of Wednesday, 11/18:

Texas A&M vs. Ole Miss

Marshall vs. Charlotte

Wyoming vs. Utah St.

Miami (Fla.) vs. Georgia Tech

Duke vs. Wake Forest

Louisiana Tech vs. UL-Monroe

Kansas vs. Texas

Louisiana vs. Central Arkanas

Colorado St. vs. UNLV

South Florida vs. Navy

Maryland vs. Michigan St.

Fresno St. vs. San Jose St.

Stanford vs. Washington St.

Florida St. vs. Clemson

Note: Pittsburgh vs. Virginia Tech are going to attempt to play while wearing protective masks. Hopefully, players will get adequate oxygen. Will grabbing the PPE Mask be a penalty?

This Week’s PiRate Ratings

#	Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg.	Conference
1	Ohio St.	132.0	130.9	134.4	132.4	BTen-E
2	Alabama	130.8	131.9	133.1	131.9	SEC-W
3	Wisconsin	128.2	126.1	129.4	127.9	BTen-W
4	Clemson	126.5	127.1	128.5	127.4	ACC
5	Florida	123.9	123.6	125.0	124.2	SEC-E
6	Notre Dame	123.1	122.6	123.0	122.9	ACC
7	Georgia	121.4	120.4	122.1	121.3	SEC-E
8	Texas A&M	119.9	119.9	120.2	120.0	SEC-W
9	Oregon	120.1	118.6	120.2	119.6	P12-N
10	Oklahoma	119.4	118.9	119.7	119.4	B12
11	Cincinnati	119.1	118.6	119.3	119.0	AAC
12	Auburn	116.6	115.3	116.6	116.2	SEC-W
13	L S U	115.7	114.8	117.3	115.9	SEC-W
14	Indiana	114.7	115.3	117.2	115.7	BTen-E
15	Iowa	115.1	114.8	116.9	115.6	BTen-W
16	BYU	115.4	115.2	115.9	115.5	Ind.
17	N. Carolina	114.9	115.2	115.7	115.3	ACC
18	Oklahoma St.	115.5	114.6	115.1	115.1	B12
19	U S C	115.6	113.0	114.4	114.4	P12-S
20	Texas	114.4	113.2	114.3	114.0	B12
21	Penn St.	113.6	112.3	113.9	113.3	BTen-E
22	UCF	112.9	113.0	113.6	113.2	AAC
23	Iowa St.	111.3	110.5	111.5	111.1	B12
24	Kentucky	110.8	110.7	111.7	111.1	SEC-E
25	Miami (Fla.)	109.6	111.6	110.0	110.4	ACC
26	Washington	109.9	108.6	110.6	109.7	P12-N
27	Northwestern	108.4	108.8	111.2	109.5	BTen-W
28	Nebraska	108.6	107.9	110.0	108.9	BTen-W
29	Utah	108.7	108.3	109.4	108.8	P12-S
30	Ole Miss	109.1	108.0	109.1	108.7	SEC-W
31	Kansas St.	108.2	107.4	108.5	108.0	B12
32	Virginia Tech	107.2	107.8	108.5	107.8	ACC
33	Arizona St.	107.8	107.3	107.8	107.6	P12-S
34	Boise St.	107.5	107.6	107.4	107.5	MWC-M
35	Michigan	106.8	106.0	108.2	107.0	BTen-E
36	Minnesota	106.2	106.7	107.6	106.8	BTen-W
37	W. Virginia	106.7	106.5	107.1	106.8	B12
38	Purdue	106.2	106.7	107.4	106.8	BTen-W
39	Louisville	106.8	106.6	106.0	106.4	ACC
40	Virginia	105.8	106.2	106.3	106.1	ACC
41	Tennessee	106.1	105.6	106.0	105.9	SEC-E
42	Washington St.	105.8	104.6	106.7	105.7	P12-N
43	T C U	106.3	104.3	106.2	105.6	B12
44	Baylor	105.5	104.9	105.0	105.1	B12
45	Wake Forest	104.4	105.2	105.2	105.0	ACC
46	Memphis	105.8	104.6	104.3	104.9	AAC
47	Missouri	104.4	104.3	105.6	104.8	SEC-E
48	S. Carolina	105.5	103.8	104.9	104.7	SEC-E
49	California	104.6	104.6	104.5	104.6	P12-N
50	Coastal Car.	103.5	104.2	104.2	104.0	SUN-E
51	U C L A	104.6	103.4	102.9	103.6	P12-S
52	Boston Coll.	103.1	103.4	103.8	103.4	ACC
53	Miss. St.	103.5	102.8	103.9	103.4	SEC-W
54	Arkansas	103.2	103.8	102.7	103.2	SEC-W
55	Marshall	102.8	103.1	102.4	102.7	CUSA-E
56	Tulsa	103.7	102.1	102.1	102.6	AAC
57	Louisiana	103.0	102.5	102.2	102.6	SUN-W
58	Pittsburgh	102.2	103.2	102.1	102.5	ACC
59	Tulane	102.5	102.6	102.0	102.4	AAC
60	SMU	102.5	102.1	101.8	102.2	AAC
61	Stanford	103.1	100.8	102.1	102.0	P12-N
62	NC State	101.6	102.0	102.1	101.9	ACC
63	Houston	102.7	101.3	101.6	101.9	AAC
64	Appal. St.	102.0	101.2	102.2	101.8	SUN-E
65	Buffalo	100.8	101.5	101.9	101.4	MAC-E
66	Oregon St.	101.5	101.6	100.3	101.1	P12-N
67	Arizona	101.9	100.2	101.1	101.1	P12-S
68	Liberty	99.4	101.9	100.6	100.6	Ind.
69	San Diego St.	99.9	101.1	100.6	100.5	MWC-W
70	Air Force	100.1	100.7	99.8	100.2	MWC-M
71	Colorado	100.3	101.3	98.5	100.0	P12-S
72	Illinois	99.7	99.0	100.4	99.7	BTen-W
73	Rutgers	99.4	98.2	98.5	98.7	BTen-E
74	Texas Tech	98.7	97.5	98.9	98.4	B12
75	Duke	98.1	98.2	97.4	97.9	ACC
76	Michigan St.	97.2	96.8	97.6	97.2	BTen-E
77	Wyoming	96.4	97.6	97.1	97.0	MWC-M
78	San Jose St.	96.0	97.8	96.0	96.6	MWC-W
79	Florida St.	96.9	96.0	96.5	96.5	ACC
80	Central Mich.	96.2	96.1	96.8	96.4	MAC-W
81	Fresno St.	96.0	96.7	95.9	96.2	MWC-W
82	U A B	95.7	96.2	95.1	95.7	CUSA-W
83	Maryland	94.9	94.8	94.3	94.7	BTen-E
84	Nevada	93.7	94.6	94.4	94.3	MWC-W
85	Western Mich.	92.4	94.6	93.5	93.5	MAC-W
86	Ohio	92.9	93.5	93.9	93.4	MAC-E
87	Georgia Tech	93.7	93.0	92.8	93.2	ACC
88	Navy	94.0	92.6	92.1	92.9	AAC
89	Army	92.3	93.8	92.2	92.8	Ind.
90	Georgia Sou.	92.4	93.2	92.7	92.8	SUN-E
91	Troy	92.0	93.3	92.4	92.6	SUN-E
92	Hawaii	92.7	92.6	91.6	92.3	MWC-W
93	Kent St.	92.6	92.2	92.0	92.3	MAC-E
94	Ball St.	92.3	91.5	92.3	92.1	MAC-W
95	Miami (O)	91.8	90.6	91.4	91.2	MAC-E
96	Toledo	90.7	92.0	90.3	91.0	MAC-W
97	Syracuse	90.2	91.7	90.8	90.9	ACC
98	Vanderbilt	91.3	90.6	90.4	90.8	SEC-E
99	E. Carolina	91.1	90.7	89.6	90.5	AAC
100	Temple	90.9	90.7	89.5	90.4	AAC
101	Colorado St.	90.0	90.8	90.0	90.3	MWC-M
102	Georgia St.	89.7	89.8	89.8	89.8	SUN-E
103	Fla. Atlantic	88.9	90.1	89.8	89.6	CUSA-E
104	W. Kentucky	88.7	89.1	88.2	88.7	CUSA-E
105	Arkansas St.	87.9	88.6	87.7	88.1	SUN-W
106	Rice	88.6	86.5	87.9	87.7	CUSA-W
107	Florida Int’l.	87.5	87.3	87.3	87.4	CUSA-E
108	La. Tech	85.8	86.7	85.9	86.2	CUSA-W
109	Charlotte	85.0	85.2	84.9	85.1	CUSA-E
110	USF	86.2	84.7	84.2	85.0	AAC
111	S. Alabama	84.3	85.3	84.4	84.7	SUN-W
112	Utah St.	84.6	84.1	83.6	84.1	MWC-M
113	New Mexico	83.7	84.5	82.9	83.7	MWC-M
114	Eastern Mich.	82.7	84.6	83.2	83.5	MAC-W
115	U T S A	81.7	82.0	81.9	81.9	CUSA-W
116	Texas St.	81.9	82.4	80.9	81.7	SUN-W
117	U N L V	81.3	82.5	80.6	81.4	MWC-W
118	Southern Miss.	81.0	81.3	79.9	80.7	CUSA-W
119	N. Illinois	80.2	81.6	80.2	80.7	MAC-W
120	Middle Tenn.	80.7	80.8	80.5	80.7	CUSA-E
121	Kansas	79.9	79.3	78.4	79.2	B12
122	North Texas	76.5	77.0	76.3	76.6	CUSA-W
123	UL-Monroe	72.3	72.4	71.1	71.9	SUN-W
124	Akron	69.7	72.0	68.6	70.1	MAC-E
125	Bowling Green	70.0	71.4	66.2	69.2	MAC-E
126	U T E P	68.2	70.6	68.1	69.0	CUSA-W
127	Mass.	62.0	68.3	59.8	63.4	Ind.

PiRate Ratings By Conference

American Athletic Conference
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	AAC	Overall
Cincinnati	119.1	118.6	119.3	119.0	5-0	7-0
UCF	112.9	113.0	113.6	113.2	4-2	5-2
Memphis	105.8	104.6	104.3	104.9	3-2	4-2
Tulsa	103.7	102.1	102.1	102.6	4-0	4-1
Tulane	102.5	102.6	102.0	102.4	2-4	5-4
SMU	102.5	102.1	101.8	102.2	4-2	7-2
Houston	102.7	101.3	101.6	101.9	3-2	3-3
Navy	94.0	92.6	92.1	92.9	3-2	3-4
E. Carolina	91.1	90.7	89.6	90.5	1-4	1-6
Temple	90.9	90.7	89.5	90.4	1-5	1-5
USF	86.2	84.7	84.2	85.0	0-6	1-7
AAC Avg.	101.0	100.3	100.0	100.4
Atlantic Coast Conference
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	ACC	Overall
Clemson	126.5	127.1	128.5	127.4	6-1	7-1
Notre Dame	123.1	122.6	123.0	122.9	7-0	8-0
N. Carolina	114.9	115.2	115.7	115.3	6-2	6-2
Miami (Fla.)	109.6	111.6	110.0	110.4	6-1	7-1
Virginia Tech	107.2	107.8	108.5	107.8	4-3	4-4
Louisville	106.8	106.6	106.0	106.4	1-6	2-6
Virginia	105.8	106.2	106.3	106.1	3-4	3-4
Wake Forest	104.4	105.2	105.2	105.0	3-3	4-3
Boston Coll.	103.1	103.4	103.8	103.4	4-4	5-4
Pittsburgh	102.2	103.2	102.1	102.5	3-4	4-4
NC State	101.6	102.0	102.1	101.9	5-3	5-3
Duke	98.1	98.2	97.4	97.9	1-6	2-6
Florida St.	96.9	96.0	96.5	96.5	1-6	2-6
Georgia Tech	93.7	93.0	92.8	93.2	2-4	2-5
Syracuse	90.2	91.7	90.8	90.9	1-6	1-7
ACC Avg.	105.6	106.0	105.9	105.8
Big 12 Conference
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	B12	Overall
Oklahoma	119.4	118.9	119.7	119.4	4-2	5-2
Oklahoma St.	115.5	114.6	115.1	115.1	4-1	5-1
Texas	114.4	113.2	114.3	114.0	4-2	5-2
Iowa St.	111.3	110.5	111.5	111.1	5-1	5-2
Kansas St.	108.2	107.4	108.5	108.0	4-2	4-3
W. Virginia	106.7	106.5	107.1	106.8	4-3	5-3
T C U	106.3	104.3	106.2	105.6	3-4	3-4
Baylor	105.5	104.9	105.0	105.1	1-5	1-5
Texas Tech	98.7	97.5	98.9	98.4	2-5	3-5
Kansas	79.9	79.3	78.4	79.2	0-6	0-7
Big 12 Avg.	106.6	105.7	106.5	106.3
Big Ten Conference
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average	BTen	Overall
Ohio St.	132.0	130.9	134.4	132.4	3-0	3-0
Indiana	114.7	115.3	117.2	115.7	4-0	4-0
Penn St.	113.6	112.3	113.9	113.3	0-4	0-4
Michigan	106.8	106.0	108.2	107.0	1-3	1-3
Rutgers	99.4	98.2	98.5	98.7	1-3	1-3
Michigan St.	97.2	96.8	97.6	97.2	1-3	1-3
Maryland	94.9	94.8	94.3	94.7	2-1	2-1
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average	BTen	Overall
Wisconsin	128.2	126.1	129.4	127.9	2-0	2-0
Iowa	115.1	114.8	116.9	115.6	2-2	2-2
Northwestern	108.4	108.8	111.2	109.5	4-0	4-0
Nebraska	108.6	107.9	110.0	108.9	1-2	1-2
Minnesota	106.2	106.7	107.6	106.8	1-3	1-3
Purdue	106.2	106.7	107.4	106.8	2-1	2-1
Illinois	99.7	99.0	100.4	99.7	1-3	1-3
Big Ten Avg.	109.4	108.9	110.5	109.6
Conference USA
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	CUSA	Overall
Marshall	102.8	103.1	102.4	102.7	4-0	7-0
Fla. Atlantic	88.9	90.1	89.8	89.6	4-1	4-1
W. Kentucky	88.7	89.1	88.2	88.7	2-3	3-6
Florida Int’l.	87.5	87.3	87.3	87.4	0-2	0-4
Charlotte	85.0	85.2	84.9	85.1	2-1	2-3
Middle Tenn.	80.7	80.8	80.5	80.7	2-4	2-6
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	CUSA	Overall
U A B	95.7	96.2	95.1	95.7	2-1	4-3
Rice	88.6	86.5	87.9	87.7	1-1	1-1
La. Tech	85.8	86.7	85.9	86.2	3-2	4-3
U T S A	81.7	82.0	81.9	81.9	3-2	5-4
Southern Miss.	81.0	81.3	79.9	80.7	1-3	2-6
North Texas	76.5	77.0	76.3	76.6	1-2	2-3
U T E P	68.2	70.6	68.1	69.0	0-3	3-4
CUSA Avg.	85.5	85.8	85.2	85.5
FBS Independents
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	Conf.	Overall
BYU	115.4	115.2	115.9	115.5	x	8-0
Liberty	99.4	101.9	100.6	100.6	x	8-0
Army	92.3	93.8	92.2	92.8	x	5-2
Mass.	62.0	68.3	59.8	63.4	x	0-2
Ind. Avg.	92.3	94.8	92.1	93.1
Mid-American Conference
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	Conf.	Overall
Buffalo	100.8	101.5	101.9	101.4	2-0	2-0
Ohio	92.9	93.5	93.9	93.4	1-1	1-1
Kent St.	92.6	92.2	92.0	92.3	2-0	2-0
Miami (O)	91.8	90.6	91.4	91.2	1-1	1-1
Akron	69.7	72.0	68.6	70.1	0-2	0-2
Bowling Green	70.0	71.4	66.2	69.2	0-2	0-2
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	Conf.	Overall
Central Mich.	96.2	96.1	96.8	96.4	2-0	2-0
Western Mich.	92.4	94.6	93.5	93.5	2-0	2-0
Ball St.	92.3	91.5	92.3	92.1	1-1	1-1
Toledo	90.7	92.0	90.3	91.0	1-1	1-1
Eastern Mich.	82.7	84.6	83.2	83.5	0-2	0-2
N. Illinois	80.2	81.6	80.2	80.7	0-2	0-2
MAC Avg.	87.7	88.5	87.5	87.9
Mountain West Conference
Mountain Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	Conf.	Overall
Boise St.	107.5	107.6	107.4	107.5	3-0	3-1
Air Force	100.1	100.7	99.8	100.2	0-2	1-2
Wyoming	96.4	97.6	97.1	97.0	1-2	1-2
Colorado St.	90.0	90.8	90.0	90.3	1-2	1-2
Utah St.	84.6	84.1	83.6	84.1	0-4	0-4
New Mexico	83.7	84.5	82.9	83.7	0-3	0-3
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	Conf.	Overall
San Diego St.	99.9	101.1	100.6	100.5	3-1	3-1
San Jose St.	96.0	97.8	96.0	96.6	4-0	4-0
Fresno St.	96.0	96.7	95.9	96.2	3-1	3-1
Nevada	93.7	94.6	94.4	94.3	4-0	4-0
Hawaii	92.7	92.6	91.6	92.3	2-2	2-2
U N L V	81.3	82.5	80.6	81.4	0-4	0-4
MWC Avg.	93.5	94.2	93.3	93.7
Pac-12 Conference
North Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	Conf.	Overall
Oregon	120.1	118.6	120.2	119.6	2-0	2-0
Washington	109.9	108.6	110.6	109.7	1-0	1-0
Washington St.	105.8	104.6	106.7	105.7	1-1	1-1
California	104.6	104.6	104.5	104.6	0-1	0-1
Stanford	103.1	100.8	102.1	102.0	0-2	0-2
Oregon St.	101.5	101.6	100.3	101.1	0-2	0-2
South Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	Conf.	Overall
U S C	115.6	113.0	114.4	114.4	2-0	2-0
Utah	108.7	108.3	109.4	108.8	0-0	0-0
Arizona St.	107.8	107.3	107.8	107.6	0-1	0-1
U C L A	104.6	103.4	102.9	103.6	1-1	1-1
Arizona	101.9	100.2	101.1	101.1	0-1	0-1
Colorado	100.3	101.3	98.5	100.0	2-0	2-0
P12 Avg.	107.0	106.0	106.5	106.5
Southeastern Conference
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	SEC	Overall
Florida	123.9	123.6	125.0	124.2	5-1	5-1
Georgia	121.4	120.4	122.1	121.3	4-2	4-2
Kentucky	110.8	110.7	111.7	111.1	3-4	3-4
Tennessee	106.1	105.6	106.0	105.9	2-4	2-4
Missouri	104.4	104.3	105.6	104.8	2-3	2-3
S. Carolina	105.5	103.8	104.9	104.7	2-5	2-5
Vanderbilt	91.3	90.6	90.4	90.8	0-6	0-6
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	SEC	Overall
Alabama	130.8	131.9	133.1	131.9	6-0	6-0
Texas A&M	119.9	119.9	120.2	120.0	5-1	5-1
Auburn	116.6	115.3	116.6	116.2	4-2	4-2
L S U	115.7	114.8	117.3	115.9	2-3	2-3
Ole Miss	109.1	108.0	109.1	108.7	3-4	3-4
Miss. St.	103.5	102.8	103.9	103.4	2-4	2-4
Arkansas	103.2	103.8	102.7	103.2	3-4	3-4
SEC Avg.	111.6	111.1	112.0	111.6
Sunbelt Conference
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	SBC	Overall
Coastal Car.	103.5	104.2	104.2	104.0	5-0	7-0
Appal. St.	102.0	101.2	102.2	101.8	4-0	6-1
Georgia Sou.	92.4	93.2	92.7	92.8	4-2	6-2
Troy	92.0	93.3	92.4	92.6	2-2	4-3
Georgia St.	89.7	89.8	89.8	89.8	2-4	3-4
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Avg	SBC	Overall
Louisiana	103.0	102.5	102.2	102.6	5-1	7-1
Arkansas St.	87.9	88.6	87.7	88.1	1-4	3-5
S. Alabama	84.3	85.3	84.4	84.7	2-3	3-5
Texas St.	81.9	82.4	80.9	81.7	1-5	1-9
UL-Monroe	72.3	72.4	71.1	71.9	0-5	0-8
Sun Avg.	90.9	91.3	90.8	91.0

Conference Ratings

#	League	Avg
1	SEC	111.6
2	BTen	109.6
3	P12	106.5
4	B12	106.3
5	ACC	105.8
6	AAC	100.4
7	MWC	93.7
8	Ind.	93.1
9	Sun	91.0
10	MAC	87.9
11	CUSA	85.5

The Games You Want To See This Week

So, it looks like many of you will be home for Thanksgiving this year, which means your turkey dinner will be served on your dining room table, and maybe that means that this weekend you will be cleaning your dining room table off from what it is normally used for, since nobody eats in their dining room any more. Maybe some of you do, but so many of us are lucky to eat with our spouses, children, grandchildren, parents, or friends, and when we do, it is more likely to be in the breakfast room or den than in the formal dining room.

So, while you are spending all day cleaning up, you just might want to have a television/computer/smart phone or two or five broadcasting games to take your mind off all the hard, boring Fall cleaning that you usually put off until March or April.

If college football can make it through a week without seeing another 15 games postponed or cancelled, you should get your fill of great games Saturday.

Take a look at what is on tap for this week.

12:00 PM Eastern Time Slot

ESPN2: Coastal Carolina vs. Appalachian St.: The Sun Belt East Division Title is up for grabs, and this should be worth watching. CCU is still undefeated, and a win over the Mountaineers could move up to as high as #12 in the nation, as they rank #15 tonight. Losses by BYU, Cincinnati, and Marshall could open the door for the Chanticleers to get the NY6 Bowl if they run the table.

FOX: Ohio State vs. Indiana: This sounds like a great basketball game in late February maybe looking for a top two or three seed in the Big Dance. But, now this is the big game of the year in the Big Ten East. The winner is almost a lock to make it to the Big Ten Championship Game, and the winner will also be in the top four in the nation and in line for a potential playoff bid. We have written at length in the past about the Cardiac Kids of 1967 at Indiana, and how that was one of our Captain’s favorite teams back then. This IU team just broke the mold of Cardiac Kids 2 with the thumping of Michigan St. Maybe, they will break the mold of what happened to them against Minnesota 53 years ago.

3:30 PM Eastern Time Slot

CBS: Texas A&M vs. Ole Miss: The Aggies lost to Alabama and beat Florida. They are still in contention for a Playoff spot. Ole Miss can score 40 points and gain 500 yards on just about anybody. It will be a fun shootout. CANCELLED

ABC: Northwestern vs. Wisconsin: Wow! How could the Big Ten planned any better than to follow up Ohio State and Indiana with this game? This will most likely decide the Big Ten West Title. Wisconsin has looked scary good in its two games, good enough to possibly be the second best team in college football to this point. Northwestern is 4-0 and has a couple of impressive wins, so don’t count out the Wildcats in this backyard brawl.

4:00 PM Eastern Time Slot

Iowa State vs. Kansas St.: Did you realize that the Cyclones are currently in first place in the Big 12? And, Kansas State is one game behind tied for third with Oklahoma and Texas? If Iowa State wins this game, they could almost wrap up one of the two Big 12 Championship Game spots, especially if Bedlam goes the way it usually goes.

7:00 PM Eastern Time Slot

CBSSN: Fresno State vs. San Jose State: Brent Brennan deserves a lot of credit for taking San Jose State and making them potentially the class of the Mountain West Conference amid all the chaos going on at CEFCU Stadium, where half of the stadium has been removed and left as a large hill while a multi-year remodel is ongoing. If he wins in Fresno this week, the Spartans will only have Nevada left in their path to the MWC West Title, and then they might get some respect from the pollsters.

7:30 PM Eastern Time Slot

ABC: Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma St.: Bedlam becomes a Big 12 Championship Game eliminator. Oklahoma seems to have righted the ship after losing to Kansas State and Iowa State, while Oklahoma State just lost to Texas. The loser basically has no path to second place in the league, while the winner will still have to win additional games to secure a top two spot.

10:30 PM Eastern Time Slot

ESPN: Utah vs. USC: USC has survived two miraculous comebacks when the Trojans trailed in the final minute of both games plays so far. As for Utah, they just want to play. The Utes are like the young comic on the old Johnny Carson Tonight Show, when after Bob Hope and Dean Martin carried on to the point where the comic had to be bumped and asked to come back another night, Utah has showed up at the Green Room twice only to not make it on the show. The Utes are the final team committed to playing this year to play their first game. Still, this game should go a long way in deciding the Pac-12 South title. For what it’s worth, 2-0 Colorado has already seen their game cancelled this week.

This Week’s College Football TV Schedule

Expect Mr. Covid To Alter This Week’s Schedule In A Possible Big Way

Tuesday, November, 10th
Time (ET)	Network	Home	Visitor	Comment
7:00 PM	CBSSN	Ohio U	Akron	Should be a large OU win
7:30 PM	ESPN2	Bowling Green	Kent St.	Should be even bigger Kent St. win
8:00 PM	ESPN	Buffalo	Miami (O)	Best MACtion of the evening
Wednesday, November, 11th
Time (ET)	Network	Home	Visitor	Comment
7:00 PM	CBSSN	Ball St.	Eastern Michigan	Winner has chance at winning season but not much
8:00 PM	ESPNU	Northern Illinois	Central Michigan	Should be worth watching
8:00 PM	ESPN	Western Michigan	Toledo	Best MACtion of the night
Thursday, November 12th
Time (ET)	Network	Home	Visitor	Comment
8:00 PM	FS1	Boise St.	Colorado St.	Steve Addazio has CSU believing they can win
Friday, November 13th
Time (ET)	Network	Home	Visitor	Comment
7:00 PM	CBSSN	Florida Intl.	Florida Atlantic	Rivalry game could be interesting
7:00 PM	FS1	Minnesota	Iowa	Iowa has lots of dissension–players leaving
7:30 PM	ESPN2	Cincinnati	East Carolina	Bearcats need big win for playoff chances
Saturday, November 14th
Time (ET)	Network	Home	Visitor	Comment
12:00 PM	ABC	Michigan St.	Indiana	The return of the IU Cardiac Kids! Another close win???
12:00 PM	FOX	West Virginia	TCU	WVU much better at home than on road
12:00 PM	ESPN	Missouri	Georgia	Just might be very close game
12:00 PM	ESPN2	Virginia Tech	Miami (Fla.)	Hurricanes still in ACC Championship race
12:00 PM	ESPNU	Troy	Coastal Carolina	CCU is in the crosshairs in trap game
12:00 PM	FS1	Nebraska	Penn St.	Could this be the Hot Seat Bowl?
12:00 PM	CBSSN	Marshall	Middle Tenn.	Coming up on the 50th anniversary of tragic accident
12:00 PM	BTN	Rutgers	Illinois	RUNJ a favorite in Big Ten game
12:00 PM	SECN	Kentucky	Vanderbilt	If you liked college football in 1958, watch this one
12:00 PM	ACCN	North Carolina	Wake Forest	Best ACC game of the weekend
3:30 PM	ABC	Boston College	Notre Dame	Deja vu 1993???
3:30 PM	ESPN	Tennessee	Texas A&M	In danger of being postponed from Covid
3:30 PM	ESPN2	Stanford	Colorado	Karl Dorrell’s new look Buffs can score
3:30 PM	FOX	Arizona	USC	Trojans try to wrap up Grand Canyon State title
3:30 PM	BTN	Maryland	Ohio St.	Might be interesting for a half
3:30 PM	ESPNU	Navy	Memphis	Expect 80 points or more
3:30 PM	CBSSN	Western Ky.	Southern Miss.	Only if you have a child playing in this game
3:30 PM	ACCN	Virginia	Louisville	Second attempt to play this basketball rivalry on turf
4:00 PM	FS1	Texas Tech	Baylor	Also-ran Lone Star State battle
6:00 PM	CBS	LSU	Alabama	Very doubtful this game gets played–LSU has 1 QB
7:00 PM	FOX	Washington St.	Oregon	Cougars actually have a running game too
7:00 PM	ESPN	Florida	Arkansas	Another potential Covid casualty
7:00 PM	ESPN2	Tulsa	SMU	Could become the best game of the weekend
7:00 PM	FSN	Georgia Tech	Pittsburgh	Must win game for Pitt to have winning season
7:30 PM	ABC	Michigan	Wisconsin	UM struggling on the field/UW struggling with Covid
7:30 PM	ESPNU	Central Florida	Temple	Probable blowout
7:30 PM	SECN	Ole Miss	South Carolina	Rebels looking good in this one
7:30 PM	BTN	Purdue	Northwestern	Ironically, this is now an important BiG West game
7:30 PM	ACCN	NC St.	Florida St.	Wolf Pack needs this one to be a bowl team
10:30 PM	FOX	UCLA	Utah	Chip Kelly has reached end of usefulness in Westwood
10:30 PM	ESPN2	Arizona St.	California	Can Sun Devils bounce back after having hearts broken
11:00 PM	FS1	Washington	Oregon St.	Don’t count Beavers out as Pac-12 North contender

The Big Ten Reverses Course

The Big Ten Conference has decided to resume football in 2020, reversing its decision to wait until the Winter/Spring of 2021. The league hopes to begin playing in late October and most likely play an 8-game schedule, concluding on December 19 with the Conference Championship Game.

This will pose big problems with the PiRate Ratings for two reasons, which I am sure the folks at Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maryland, Rutgers, Purdue, Iowa, and Northwestern didn’t consider when considering whether or not to return.

The PiRate Ratings will have to recalculate to a 90-team environment from a 76-team environment. Our ratings use sample size in the algorithm and maintain a mean rating of 100.0 (or 100.0 is par value). By the time the Big Ten commences playing, other teams will have played as many as seven game, and their updating criteria will be quite different from the teams just starting play. Even though the Big Ten will be self-contained and play only inside its own environment, for ranking and rating purposes, these teams must be compared on the same par value, which means in order to re-install the Big Ten’s original preseason ratings, the other 76 teams will have to be recalculated, and to be quite honest, not only have we yet to cross that bridge, we cannot find it on a map!

In addition to the recalculation, we will have to create new formats on our spreadsheets and input the new algorithmic formulae for 90 teams (or 76 + however many Big Ten teams play).

Note to Pac-12, MWC, and MAC officials: if you plan on reconsidering your league paradigm this year, please make those decisions known by Noon Saturday!

The Greatest NCAA Tournament That Never Was–The Sweet 16 Friday

After last night’s games, we are down to just 12 teams left, and before tonight’s action ends, we will have the Elite 8.  Then, by the end of  the weekend, we’ll be down to the Final Four.

Tonight’s Sweet 16 action involves games in the Midwest and West Regions.

MIDWEST REGION

 

Jabbar Destroys Duke

 

1968 UCLA	83
2015 Duke	57

 

The number one seed in the Midwest Region has reached the Region Finals with relative ease.  The 1968 UCLA Bruins quickly dispatched 2015 Duke with a 19-4 run to begin the game.

UCLA took a 20-point lead at 34-14 after back to back baskets by Kenny Heitz and Mike Lynn.  Once down by 20 points, Duke never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way.

By the time the UCLA reserves entered the game for good, the Bruins led 74-42.  Duke ended the game on a 15-9 run.

 

UCLA	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	C	14	23	0	0	3	5	7	9	16	1	1	5	3	1	31
Mike Lynn	F	3	6	0	0	4	6	1	4	5	3	3	0	1	3	10
Lynn Shackleford	F	2	5	0	2	2	2	1	5	6	2	2	1	2	3	6
Lucius Allen	G	3	8	2	5	5	6	0	2	2	4	3	0	3	1	13
Mike Warren	G	4	7	2	4	2	2	0	3	3	3	1	0	4	2	12
Jim Nielsen		0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kenny Heitz		2	5	1	3	1	2	0	1	1	2	2	0	1	1	6
Bill Sweek		0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neville Saner		1	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	2	2
Gene Sutherland		1	2	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	3
Team										3
Totals		30	61	6	17	17	23	11	26	40	16	12	7	15	13	83
Duke	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Jahlil Okafor	C	3	9	0	0	0	1	1	4	5	1	1	0	2	4	6
Justise Winslow	F	4	11	2	5	4	5	1	2	3	0	0	1	6	4	14
Quinn Cook	F	3	8	1	5	3	5	1	3	4	2	1	0	3	3	10
Matt Jones	G	5	10	3	6	0	0	0	5	5	1	2	0	4	4	13
Tyus Jones	G	4	12	1	4	3	4	0	3	3	5	2	0	3	2	12
Grayson Allen		1	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	3	1	2
Amile Jefferson		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	2	0
Marshall Plumlee		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	0	0	0	1	1	0
Nick Pagliuca		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team										3
Totals		20	52	7	20	10	15	6	21	30	9	6	1	23	21	57
Player of the Game	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
UCLA	50	33	83
Duke	33	24	57

 

 

Cougars Survive Incredible 3 OT Game–Hayes Is Magnificent

 

1968 Houston	122	3 OT
1976 Indiana	121

Elvin Hayes played 52 out of a possible 55 minutes, leading the 1968 Cougars to an incredible triple overtime win to advance to the Elite 8 against an historic rival for a shot at the Final Four on Sunday.

Hayes scored 49 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, connecting on 21-35 from the field and 7-11 at the foul line.   Forward Theodis Lee and guard Don “Duck” Chaney combined for 47 points backing up the Big E.

Indiana appeared to have the game won in the first overtime.  A basket and made foul shot by Bobby Wilkerson, followed by a three-pointer by Tom Abernathy gave the Hoosiers a 102-95 lead with 1:08 remaining.  In the final 68 seconds, Houston forced three turnovers on the Hoosiers.  Hayes hit two baskets, and a three-pointer by George Reynolds tied the game with 12 seconds remaining.   A desperation shot by Quinn Buckner at the buzzer was off target.

In the second overtime, Indiana led 111-108 and had the ball with 12 seconds to go.  Wilkerson went to the foul line with a chance to put IU up by five and missed both foul shot attempts.  Kenny Spain rebounded the ball for Houston and found Chaney open for the tying three-pointer at the buzzer.

In the third overtime, it was Houston’s turn to take the lead and watch Indiana mount a comeback.  With a 120-113 lead, the Hoosiers sent Cougar players to the foul line.  Hayes, Lee, and Chaney combined for 2-6 in the final Houston’s final three possessions.  Indiana crept back with a three-pointer by Wayne Radford and baskets by Scott May and Kent Benson to cut the Houston lead to 122-120.  After the Cougars turned the ball over, Hayed fouled Benson as Benson tried to tie the game up.  Benson hit the first shot and missed the second.  Lee rebounded and threw the outlet pass to Chaney to end the game.

Houston now faces a familiar opponent.  In reality in 1968, the Cougars beat the Bruins at the Astrodome in the Game of the Century, but UCLA blew the Cougars off the floor in the Final Four.  Very few people since realize that Reynolds did not play for Houston in the NCAA Tournament.  He has been eligible in this tournament.

Boxscore
Houston	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Elvin Hayes	C	21	35	0	0	7	11	6	12	18	2	1	4	4	3	49
Ken Spain	F	5	11	0	0	2	4	5	10	15	1	2	3	2	5	12
Theodis Lee	F	11	24	1	5	3	6	3	7	10	3	0	1	2	4	26
Don Chaney	G	7	17	3	8	4	7	2	6	8	8	3	0	5	3	21
George Reynolds	G	4	9	2	5	4	5	0	5	5	6	2	0	4	3	14
Tom Gribben		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Vern Lewis		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	1	3	0
Carlos Bell		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
Niemer Hamood		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Team										4
Totals		48	97	6	18	20	33	16	41	61	22	9	8	18	27	122
Indiana	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Kent Benson	C	10	18	0	0	4	5	2	9	11	2	0	2	2	4	24
Scott May	F	10	21	3	7	6	7	1	7	8	5	2	0	4	4	29
Tom Abernathy	F	8	14	5	11	2	2	2	5	7	2	0	1	3	2	23
Bobby Wilkerson	G	4	13	1	5	4	6	1	7	8	4	1	2	5	5	13
Quinn Buckner	G	4	9	1	3	3	4	1	3	4	6	3	0	3	4	12
Wayne Radford		3	7	1	2	2	3	0	1	1	2	0	0	1	3	9
Jim Wisman		0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
Rich Valavicius		2	3	2	3	0	0	1	2	3	0	1	0	0	3	6
Jim Crews		1	2	1	2	2	2	0	2	2	1	1	0	1	2	5
Mark Haymore		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
Jim Roberson		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Team										5
Totals		42	90	14	34	23	29	8	37	50	23	8	5	19	31	121
Player of the Game	Elvin Hayes

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	OT	OT	OT	Final
Houston	45	44	13	9	11	122
Indiana	41	48	13	9	10	121

WEST REGION

 

Undermined Miners Scare Bracket’s Overall Top Seed But Fall Short

 

The 1972 UCLA Bruins began the game looking like they would advance to the Elite 8 with very  little trouble.  Leading 39-20, UCLA went cold, while Texas Western ran their fast break and scored 12 straight points to cut the lead to 39-32.  After Jamaal Wilkes hit a three-pointer, TW scored the final seven points of the half to cut the lead to three points.

Texas Western actually took the lead briefly in the second half when Orsten Artis hit a jumper to put the Miners of 59-58.  UCLA held a slim 68-66 lead when the Bruins went on a 12-2 run to take an 80-68 lead.  TW couldn’t cut the lead under 10 points until the final possession.

 

Boxscore
UCLA	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Bill Walton	C	9	17	0	0	6	10	5	11	16	5	1	3	2	4	24
Jamaal Wilkes	F	7	14	3	7	2	2	3	8	11	0	0	1	1	2	19
Larry Farmer	F	2	5	1	2	0	0	1	4	5	1	1	0	2	3	5
Greg Lee	G	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	0	0	3	3	2
Henry Bibby	G	8	16	3	7	4	4	0	3	3	6	2	0	5	2	23
Tommy Curtis		4	9	2	5	1	2	0	1	1	3	1	0	4	2	11
Larry Hollyfield		2	6	1	3	0	0	0	4	4	0	0	0	2	4	5
Swen Nater		2	3	0	0	1	2	2	3	5	0	0	0	0	3	5
Team										4
Totals		35	72	10	24	14	20	11	36	51	17	5	4	19	23	94
Texas Western	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Nevil Shed	C	1	5	0	0	0	0	1	4	5	0	0	0	0	5	2
David Lattin	F	7	15	0	0	2	3	3	11	14	1	1	0	1	1	16
Harry Flournoy	F	4	7	0	0	0	0	2	7	9	2	1	1	2	4	8
Orsten Artis	G	5	14	3	9	3	4	0	2	2	4	3	0	3	3	16
Bobby Joe Hill	G	7	17	4	10	5	7	0	1	1	3	2	0	4	2	23
Willie Cager		4	8	1	2	5	6	1	3	4	1	1	0	1	2	14
Willie Worsley		1	5	1	4	3	5	0	0	0	3	2	0	2	1	6
Team										3
Totals		29	71	9	25	18	25	7	28	38	14	10	1	13	18	85
Player of the Game	Bill Walton

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
UCLA	42	52	94
Texas Western	39	46	85

 

 

Jordan Puts Tar Heels On His Back–Carolina Going To Elite 8

 

1982 North Carolina	83
1960 Ohio St.	72

 

The 1982 North Carolina Tar Heels needed someone to step up.  Trailing 61-52 midway in the second half, Michael Jordan took matters into his own hands connecting on 6-7 from the field after making just one of his first seven shots.  Three of those six made shots were three-pointers, and he added four foul shots.  His 19 points in the final 10 minutes brought Carolina back fro the brink.  Jordan’s three-pointer with the Buckeyes leading 68-66, gave the Tar Heels their first lead of the game.  Once Ohio State was forced to foul at the end, North Carolina hit seven of eight foul shots.  Ohio State could not connect from behind the arc in crunch time, as UNC pulled away in the last two minutes to win by 11.

 

Boxscore
North Carolina	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Sam Perkins	C	6	11	0	0	5	6	2	5	7	2	0	1	3	3	17
James Worthy	F	7	12	0	0	3	4	2	5	7	3	1	2	1	3	17
Matt Doherty	F	2	5	2	4	5	6	0	3	3	1	0	0	1	2	11
Michael Jordan	G	7	13	3	7	6	8	1	4	5	3	2	0	3	2	23
Jimmy Black	G	3	7	1	3	3	4	0	2	2	5	1	0	2	3	10
Jim Braddock		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	2	0
Chris Brust		1	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	0	0	0	1	2	2
Buzz Peterson		1	2	1	2	0	0	0	1	1	2	1	0	1	0	3
Warren Martin		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	0
Team										3
Totals		27	53	7	16	22	28	6	24	33	17	6	4	13	18	83
Ohio St.	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Jerry Lucas	C	9	16	1	2	5	6	3	8	11	3	0	2	2	3	24
Joe Roberts	F	3	8	0	0	1	2	1	3	4	1	0	0	3	4	7
John Havlicek	F	7	14	2	5	4	5	2	7	9	4	3	0	1	4	20
Larry Siegfried	G	4	11	2	6	3	4	0	2	2	3	1	0	3	2	13
Mel Nowell	G	2	5	1	3	1	2	1	1	2	2	1	0	3	3	6
Dick Furry		1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	2
Richie Hoyt		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0
Bob Knight		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	0
Team										3
Totals		26	56	6	16	14	19	7	22	32	13	5	2	15	20	72
Player of the Game	Michael Jordan

 

Coming Tomorrow: The East and South Regional Finals

East: 1974 North Carolina St. vs. 2019 Virginia

South: 1970 UCLA vs. 2018 Villanova

The Greatest NCAA Tournament That Never Was–The Sweet 16 Thursday

We are down to 16 teams in our greatest teams between 1960 and 2019. Let’s get right to the results for the Sweet 16 Games in the East and South Regions.  The Midwest and West Regions play on Friday.

 

EAST REGION

 

Wolf Pack Pull Away In Second Half

 

1974 North Carolina St.	82
1978 Kentucky	70

After a close first half, the 1974 North Carolina State Wolf Pack pulled away from the 1978 Kentucky Wildcats with a 14-5 run over four minutes that increased a two-point lead to 11.

David Thompson scored 9 of his 21 points during this run, and additionally, in this four-minute segment of the game, he forced Mike Phillips to foul him twice, and he stole the ball away from Rick Robey.

Kentucky led for most of the first half, after the Wildcats started the game connecting on seven of their first 11 shots from the field.  N.C. State turned up the defensive pressure and finished the half on a 10-3 run to take a one-point lead at the half.

After an opening seven minutes of the second half that saw the lead change hands five times, the Wolf Pack went on their run to take command of the game, and they cruised to victory.

 

Boxscore
North Carolina St.	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Tom Burleson	C	8	14	0	0	5	8	3	12	15	1	0	2	2	3	21
Tim Stoddard	F	3	7	0	0	2	2	1	6	7	0	1	1	1	4	8
David Thompson	F	8	17	2	6	3	4	4	4	8	2	1	0	3	3	21
Mo Rivers	G	4	8	2	4	1	2	0	2	2	4	2	0	3	3	11
Monte Towe	G	5	12	3	7	4	4	0	1	1	5	2	0	4	3	17
Phil Spence		2	4	0	0	0	0	2	4	6	0	0	0	1	3	4
Greg Hawkins		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	2	0
Team										3
Totals		30	62	7	17	15	20	10	30	43	13	6	3	15	21	82
Kentucky	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Rick Robey	C	7	15	0	0	2	4	1	4	5	0	0	0	4	2	16
Mike Phillips	F	3	7	0	0	1	2	2	7	9	0	0	1	1	4	7
Jack Givens	F	5	13	2	7	5	7	1	3	4	2	1	0	3	2	17
Truman Claytor	G	1	4	1	3	2	2	1	2	3	1	2	0	2	3	5
Kyle Macy	G	3	8	2	6	6	6	0	1	1	4	1	0	2	2	14
James Lee		2	5	0	0	1	2	1	3	4	0	0	0	1	2	5
Jay Shidler		2	4	2	4	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	1	1	6
LaVon Williams		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	1	1	0	0	2	0
Team										3
Totals		23	57	7	20	17	23	6	23	32	10	5	1	14	18	70
Player of the Game	Tom Burleson

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
N.C. State	38	44	82
Kentucky	37	33	70

 

 

Cavaliers’ Defense Shuts Down Hot Shooting Hoosiers

 

2019 Virginia	67
1987 Indiana	60

 

After blistering the nets in their first two NCAA Tournament games, the 1987 Indiana Hoosiers could not solve 2019 Virginia’s Pack Line Defense and shot just 35.3% from the field and 28.6% from behind the arc.

Indiana’s poor shooting night began immediately, as the Hoosiers missed on their first six attempts from the field.  They were only down 8-2 when Rick Callaway made IU’s first basket.

By the time the Hoosiers connected on their next basket, a three-pointer by Steve Alford, they trailed 12-5.

Virginia maintained the lead for the remainder of the game, never leading by less than six points.  The Cavaliers enjoyed an eight-point halftime lead, and they extended the lead to as much as 14 points in the second half at 48-34.

Indiana mounted its only charge of the game with a 13-6 run to cut the lead to 54-47, but UVa extended the lead back to 10 on a three-pointer by Kyle Guy.

Down the stretch, Virginia hit all six of their foul shots when Indiana players sent them to the line.

 

Boxscore
Virginia	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Mamadi Diakete	C	6	11	0	0	2	3	3	4	7	1	0	3	2	2	14
De’Andre Hunter	F	3	8	1	3	0	0	1	5	6	2	0	0	1	4	7
Guy Jerome	F	4	11	1	3	2	2	0	3	3	2	1	1	2	4	11
Kyle Guy	G	5	13	2	5	3	4	0	2	2	3	1	0	1	3	15
Kihei Clark	G	2	4	1	2	5	5	0	3	3	3	2	0	0	2	10
Braxton Key		2	4	0	1	4	5	1	5	6	1	0	0	1	3	8
Jack Salt		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	4	0	0	2	0	2	2
Jay Huff		0	2	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	0
Team										2
Totals		23	55	5	16	16	19	5	27	34	12	4	6	8	21	67
Indiana	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Dean Garrett	C	4	9	0	0	2	4	1	7	8	1	0	2	1	3	10
Daryl Thomas	F	4	10	0	0	4	4	3	4	7	2	0	1	2	2	12
Rick Callaway	F	3	10	0	0	2	3	2	5	7	2	2	1	4	3	8
Keith Smart	G	3	10	2	7	5	5	0	6	6	1	0	0	1	3	13
Steve Alford	G	3	9	2	6	7	7	0	3	3	2	1	0	3	2	15
Steve Eyl		1	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	5	0	0	0	0	2	2
Joe Hillman		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0
Kreigh Smith		0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Team										1
Totals		18	51	4	14	20	23	7	29	37	10	3	4	12	17	60
Player of the Game	Kyle Guy

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Virginia	31	36	67
Indiana	23	37	60

 

SOUTH REGION

 

’70 Bruins Too Strong For ’64 Bruins

 

1970 UCLA	104
1964 UCLA	93

The 1970 UCLA Bruins are beginning to look like a Final Four contender after winning their third consecutive game by double digits in Simulated March Madness.  In their three tournament wins, their average margin of victory has been 19 points per game.

Even though the 1964 team forced 24 turnovers, the 1970 doubled the 1964 team in rebounding, and blocked 10 of the smaller 1964 team’s shots.

A hot start by their top guards, Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich, allowed the 1964 team to keep the game close throughout the first half.  The 1970 team grabbed the lead six minutes into the game on back-to-back shots by Sidney Wicks and John Vallely.

The 1964 team tied the game at 29-29 on a steal by Keith Erickson, and a pass to Goodrich, who then passed across to Jack Hirsch for the basket.  The 1970 then took the lead for good on a basket by Curtis Rowe and then a basket and a foul shot by Henry Bibby.

 

Boxscore
1970 UCLA	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Steve Patterson	C	6	12	0	0	1	2	3	6	9	1	0	2	4	3	13
Sidney Wicks	F	8	15	0	0	6	7	6	13	19	3	1	5	3	4	22
Curtis Rowe	F	9	16	2	3	8	8	4	11	15	2	2	3	3	4	28
John Vallely	G	6	13	3	7	4	7	0	5	5	4	0	0	6	3	19
Henry Bibby	G	5	9	2	4	5	6	0	3	3	4	2	0	4	3	17
John Ecker		0	0	0	0	1	2	1	2	3	0	0	0	2	4	1
Jon Chapman		1	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	1	4	2
Bill Seibert		1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	2
Team										4
Totals		36	68	7	15	25	32	14	42	60	17	5	10	24	26	104
1964 UCLA	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Fred Slaughter	C	4	10	0	0	1	3	1	3	4	2	2	0	2	5	9
Keith Erickson	F	4	13	1	5	2	3	2	4	6	3	4	0	1	4	11
Jack Hirsch	F	5	12	1	4	3	4	2	2	4	1	1	0	0	5	14
Walt Hazzard	G	8	16	4	9	5	7	1	2	3	3	2	0	2	3	25
Gail Goodrich	G	9	20	5	12	6	9	0	3	3	4	3	0	3	3	29
Kenny Washington		2	4	0	0	0	2	1	5	6	1	2	1	0	4	4
Doug McIntosh		0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	2	1
Kim Stewart		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Team										3
Totals		32	77	11	30	18	29	7	20	30	15	14	1	8	29	93
Player of the Game	Sidney Wicks

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
1970 UCLA	54	50	104
1964 UCLA	37	56	93

 

 

Big Comeback Sends Villanova To The Elite 8

 

2018 Villanova	78
1992 Duke	72

 

The Duke Blue Devils looked invincible for 24 minutes of their Sweet 16 game against Villanova.  Duke led by as much as 16 points in the first half, before going to the dressing room up by nine at the break.

The Blue Devils increased their halftime lead from nine to 15 to start the second half, and with 16 minutes remaining, they led 48-33.  At that point, the Wildcats began to make their move.  A three-pointer by Jalen Brunson, and then a putback basket by Eric Paschall cut the lead to 48-38.

Trailing 59-50, The Wildcats then held Duke scoreless for almost four minutes, while they scored nine straight points to tie the game at 59-59.  The game remained close until the final moments, when with Villanova nursing a four-point lead, Duke fouled multiple times, while VU connected on 8 of 8 to extend the lead to 78-69.  A Bobby Hurley three-pointer on Duke’s final possession made the game look a little closer.

 

Boxscore
Villanova	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Omari Spellman	C	6	12	2	5	0	0	2	4	6	3	1	2	2	3	14
Eric Paschall	F	2	7	1	3	3	4	2	5	7	1	2	2	1	4	8
Michael Bridges	F	3	7	2	4	4	6	0	4	4	1	0	0	3	2	12
Phil Booth	G	3	7	1	2	6	6	0	2	2	3	1	0	2	2	13
Jalen Brunson	G	8	14	3	6	4	5	0	3	3	4	0	0	4	3	23
Donte DiVincenzo		2	5	2	5	0	0	1	4	5	2	0	0	2	2	6
Collin Gillespie		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	1	1	1	1	3	0
Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree		1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	2
Team										2
Totals		25	54	11	25	17	21	5	25	32	15	5	5	15	20	78
Duke	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Christian Laettner	C	5	11	1	3	4	6	1	7	8	1	0	2	3	4	15
Brian Davis	F	2	6	0	1	0	0	2	3	5	2	1	0	1	2	4
Grant Hill	F	6	13	0	0	5	6	2	3	5	3	0	2	2	1	17
Thomas Hill	G	3	7	1	3	3	4	1	5	6	2	2	0	3	5	10
Bobby Hurley	G	5	12	3	7	4	4	0	1	1	3	2	0	3	2	17
Antonio Lang		2	3	0	0	0	0	1	4	5	1	0	1	2	2	4
Cherokee Parks		2	4	0	0	1	2	2	2	4	0	0	0	2	2	5
Marty Clark		0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Team										3
Totals		25	57	5	15	17	22	9	25	37	13	5	5	16	19	72
Player of the Game	Jalen Brunson

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Villanova	29	49	78
Duke	38	34	72

Four more Sweet 16 Games Will Be Revealed Friday.

 

 

 

The Greatest NCAA Tournament That Never Was–Round Three Sunday

Welcome back to the See BS Studio.  I’m  Bernie Johnson along with my colleagues Charles Ruffley, Clark Post, and Kenny Jones, and we’re ready to bring you the final eight games of the Round of 32.  By the end of the day, the Sweet 16 will be set.

Let’s go out to the Midwest Region, where the number one-seed UCLA Bruins of 1968 will battle the eight-seed 1962 Cincinnati Bearcats.  It should be a great matchup inside between two great centers.  So, take it away Brad Messler, Steve Blabbin, and Evan Dryburn.

 

MIDWEST REGION

 

Balanced Bruin Offense With 5 In Double Figures–UCLA Runs Away From Bearcats

 

1 UCLA 1968	75
8 Cincinnati 1962	59

After a close first half, in which the Bearcats never trailed by more than five points, UCLA pulled away with a 14-3 run in the second half and stayed 12 points or more ahead the rest of the way.

Two free throws by Tom Thacker and a three-pointer by Tony Yates gave Cincinnati their only lead of the day at 27-26 late in the first half, but UCLA countered with a three-pointer by Lynn Shackleford and an offensive putback by Kareem Abdul Jabbar to give the Bruins the lead for good.

 

Boxscore
UCLA	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	C	6	11	0	0	4	6	4	8	12	2	0	4	3	2	16
Mike Lynn	F	4	7	0	0	2	2	2	7	9	1	1	0	0	3	10
Lynn Shackleford	F	6	13	2	4	3	4	1	4	5	3	2	0	1	1	17
Lucius Allen	G	5	12	1	3	2	4	0	2	2	2	4	0	5	3	13
Mike Warren	G	4	10	2	5	4	5	0	1	1	6	3	0	3	2	14
Jim Nielsen		0	1	0	0	1	2	2	3	5	0	0	1	1	3	1
Kenny Heitz		1	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	2	0	2	1	2
Bill Sweek		1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	2	2
Team										3
Totals		27	57	5	13	16	23	9	28	40	15	12	5	16	17	75
Cincinnati	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Paul Hogue	C	3	7	0	0	1	2	1	8	9	2	0	1	3	4	7
George Wilson	F	1	4	0	0	0	0	1	4	5	1	0	0	1	4	2
Ron Bonham	F	5	14	0	0	3	5	2	3	5	4	1	0	3	2	13
Tom Thacker	G	4	12	2	8	4	5	1	4	5	2	3	0	5	3	14
Tony Yates	G	5	10	3	6	3	4	0	1	1	3	1	0	6	3	16
Tom Sizer		2	6	2	6	1	2	1	3	4	0	1	0	2	5	7
Team										3
Totals		20	53	7	20	12	18	6	23	32	12	6	1	20	21	59
Player of the Game	Mike Warren

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
UCLA	34	41	75
Cincinnati	31	28	59

 

 

Blue Devils Come From Behind With Big Finish To Knock Off Rival Tar Heels

 

4 Duke 2015	76
5 North Carolina 2017	66

 

After a close first half, North Carolina pulled ahead by 11 points at 49-38 after Joel Berry and Luke May hit back to back three pointers, and then a steal by May that led to a basket by Justin Jackson, gave the Tar Heels their biggest lead.  Duke then began mounting a steady comeback, cutting the lead to eight at 52-44, to five at 56-51, and finally down to just two points at 62-60.  After the teams traded one made foul shot to make it 63-61 Carolina, Matt Jones tied the game at 63-63, and then Tyus Jones drove into the lane to hit a basket and draw a foul on Theo Pinson.  After Jones made the foul shot, Duke led 66-63.  The Tar Heels could manage just one three-point basket, while they sent the Blue Devils to the foul line.  Duke hit 7 of 8 at the charity stripe to salt the game away.

 

Boxscore
Duke	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Jahlil Okafor	C	6	12	0	0	0	1	2	5	7	1	0	0	1	4	12
Justise Winslow	F	4	11	1	5	2	3	1	4	5	2	2	2	1	3	11
Quinn Cook	F	4	10	1	4	0	0	1	6	7	3	0	0	3	1	9
Matt Jones	G	6	9	4	6	0	0	1	3	4	2	1	0	2	2	16
Tyus Jones	G	1	3	0	0	8	10	0	2	2	1	3	0	2	3	10
Grayson Allen		2	5	1	3	3	4	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	8
Amile Jefferson		2	4	0	0	2	2	1	2	3	3	1	2	0	2	6
Marshall Plumlee		2	5	0	0	0	0	2	1	3	0	0	0	1	2	4
Team										2
Totals		27	59	7	18	15	20	8	24	34	13	8	4	11	18	76
North Carolina	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Kennedy Meeks	C	1	3	0	0	3	4	1	6	7	2	1	2	4	2	5
Isaiah Hicks	F	2	5	0	0	1	2	3	6	9	1	0	2	2	1	5
Justin Jackson	F	6	15	2	7	3	5	2	4	6	3	0	0	1	2	17
Theo Pinson	G	1	3	0	1	2	2	1	1	2	4	1	0	3	5	4
Joel Berry	G	6	14	3	8	3	4	1	5	6	2	2	0	6	2	18
Tony Bradley		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Nate Britt		0	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	2	0
Luke May		5	9	2	4	3	3	0	2	2	1	1	0	1	2	15
Seventh Woods		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Team										3
Totals		22	53	7	21	15	20	9	25	37	13	5	4	18	18	66
Player of the Game	Matt Jones

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Duke	34	42	76
N. Carolina	36	30	66

 

 

Indiana Solves The Arkansas Press And Dominates On The Glass

 

Indiana looked to be vulnerable in the first half as Arkansas forced nine turnovers with their full court press, and the Razorbacks led by as much as 10 points.  In the second half, The Hoosiers did not turn the ball over in the backcourt one time and committed just five frontcourt turnovers.  Meanwhile, Indiana outrebounded Arkansas in the second half 24-9 to win going away.  Scott May scored 19 of his game high 28 points in the final half.

 

3 Indiana 1976	82
6 Arkansas 1994	71

 

Boxscore
Indiana	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Kent Benson	C	9	14	0	0	2	4	4	5	9	2	0	2	2	3	20
Scott May	F	9	16	3	5	7	8	2	6	8	5	1	0	3	1	28
Tom Abernathy	F	4	8	3	6	3	4	1	4	5	1	0	1	1	3	14
Bobby Wilkerson	G	2	6	0	2	1	2	2	7	9	3	3	2	4	4	5
Quinn Buckner	G	2	5	0	1	2	4	1	4	5	4	2	0	2	2	6
Wayne Radford		1	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	1	0	0	1	3	2
Jim Wisman		0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	0
Rich Valavicius		2	3	1	1	2	3	0	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	7
Team										4
Totals		29	56	7	16	17	25	10	30	44	19	6	6	14	18	82
Arkansas	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Dwight Stewart	C	1	4	0	2	1	2	2	2	4	2	0	0	1	5	3
Corliss Williamson	F	5	9	0	0	1	2	1	5	6	3	1	0	0	3	11
Ken Biley	F	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Scotty Thurman	G	6	15	4	11	5	6	2	1	3	2	1	0	3	5	21
Corey Beck	G	2	6	0	1	0	0	0	2	2	4	3	0	2	2	4
Darnell Robinson		4	9	0	0	0	2	2	3	5	0	0	0	1	2	8
Clint McDaniel		2	7	1	4	3	4	0	3	3	0	0	0	1	3	8
Lee Wilson		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	2
Divar Rimac		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alex Dillard		3	6	3	6	3	4	0	0	0	2	1	0	1	2	12
Ray Biggers		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team										4
Totals		25	61	8	24	13	20	7	19	30	13	6	0	9	24	71
Player of the Game	Scott May

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Indiana	37	45	82
Arkansas	42	29	71

 

 

15-seeded Cougars Advance To Sweet 16 In Exciting Game

 

15 Houston 1968	108
10 UCLA 1975	101

In what turned out to be the most exciting game of the day, Houston and UCLA staged one of the finest offensive performances in Simulated NCAA Tournament History by combining for 209 points.

The pace of the game was fast from the onset, as the teams were tied 25-25 just eight minutes into the game.  Elvin Hayes was virtually unstoppable all day, and a 12-point scoring burst in the final six minutes of the opening half gave the Cougars a six-point halftime lead.

The teams traded the lead for most of the second half with UCLA’s last lead coming at the six minute mark at 87-86.  Houston enjoyed a quick 10-3 run to make it 96-90, and the Bruins could not overcome the run.

 

Boxscore
Houston	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Elvin Hayes	C	15	25	0	0	9	13	8	14	22	2	0	5	4	3	39
Ken Spain	F	7	15	0	0	4	7	2	10	12	1	2	2	2	3	18
Theodis Lee	F	4	9	1	3	4	6	1	5	6	3	1	1	1	5	13
Don Chaney	G	7	13	4	8	5	6	1	4	5	7	3	0	3	4	23
George Reynolds	G	4	12	2	6	2	3	0	1	1	5	1	0	5	4	12
Tom Gribben		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	3	0
Larry Cooper		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	0	1	0	1	2	0
Carlos Bell		1	3	0	0	1	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	3	3
Vern Lewis		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	1	0
Team										3
Totals		38	77	7	17	25	37	13	38	54	20	8	8	19	28	108
UCLA	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Richard Washington	C	5	11	0	0	3	4	3	6	9	0	0	1	2	5	13
Dave Meyers	F	8	14	0	0	7	10	3	8	11	1	0	1	1	4	23
Marques Johnson	F	10	22	2	6	4	6	2	7	9	3	2	1	4	3	26
Pete Trgovich	G	7	15	3	8	3	4	0	4	4	4	3	0	2	4	20
Andre McCarter	G	1	6	1	4	2	3	0	1	1	6	1	0	5	5	5
Ralph Drollinger		3	7	0	0	1	2	2	3	5	1	0	2	1	3	7
Raymond Townsend		2	5	2	4	1	2	0	1	1	3	1	0	1	5	7
Jim Spillane		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Wilbert Olinde		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Team										5
Totals		36	80	8	22	21	31	10	30	45	18	7	5	16	35	101
Player of the Game	Elvin Hayes

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Houston	61	47	108
UCLA	55	46	101

 

 

WEST REGION

 

Overall Top Seed Romps Again

 

1 UCLA 1972	94
8 Connecticut 2004	61

 

The top seed in the tournament looked infallible for most of the game, as the Bruins began the game with a 16-1 lead before the Huskies could hit their first basket.  UCLA began to empty the bench in the first half once the lead swelled past 30 points, which allowed UConn to make its only run of the day cutting a 42-12 lead to 44-19 at the half.

After a 20-10 run to start the second half, the Bruins led by 35 points, when they started to remove the starters.  Until Emeka Okafor hit an old-fasioned three-pointer on the final possession, UCLA backup center Swen Nater had matched him point for point.  Nater played just 12 minutes to Okafor’s 33.

Boxscore
UCLA	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Bill Walton	C	7	11	0	0	3	5	5	9	14	4	2	4	2	3	17
Jamaal Wilkes	F	6	9	2	3	4	4	1	6	7	1	1	1	1	3	18
Larry Farmer	F	5	7	2	3	1	2	2	5	7	1	3	1	1	2	13
Greg Lee	G	3	7	1	3	3	4	0	3	3	2	1	0	3	3	10
Henry Bibby	G	3	8	2	5	5	6	0	2	2	5	2	0	2	2	13
Tommy Curtis		2	5	1	3	1	2	0	1	1	3	1	0	2	1	6
Larry Hollyfield		2	6	1	3	0	0	1	1	2	1	1	0	1	2	5
Swen Nater		3	5	0	0	2	3	2	3	5	0	0	1	0	2	8
Vince Carson		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	2
Andy Hill		0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Jon Chapman		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gary Franklin		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
Team										3
Totals		33	64	9	21	19	26	11	32	46	18	11	7	13	21	94
Connecticut	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Emeka Okafor	C	4	8	0	0	3	6	2	7	9	1	0	2	1	4	11
Josh Boone	F	3	7	0	0	0	2	2	4	6	0	1	0	3	2	6
Rashad Anderson	F	4	11	3	9	3	4	1	5	6	2	2	0	2	4	14
Ben Gordon	G	5	16	3	12	4	4	0	2	2	3	1	0	5	3	17
Taliek Brown	G	3	8	0	0	2	5	0	2	2	3	1	0	3	4	8
Denham Brown		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	2	0
Hilton Armstrong		1	2	0	0	1	2	1	2	3	1	0	0	3	3	3
Charlie Villanueva		1	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	2
Shamon Tooles		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Team										2
Totals		21	57	6	22	13	23	7	24	33	10	5	2	18	24	61
Player of the Game	Bill Walton

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
UCLA	44	50	94
UConn	19	42	61

 

 

Smaller, Quicker Miners Steal Way To Victory

 

12 Texas Western 1966	71
13 Louisville 1986	59

Louisville, a team known for an excellent full court press through the years, fell victim to the man to man press by Texas Western.  The Miners stole the ball 16 times in the game, while forcing 25 Cardinal Turnovers.

After an early 8-5 Louisville lead, back to back steals by Bobby Joe Hill led to a basket and two foul shots to give the Miners their first lead at 9-8.

Later in the half, after Louisville recovered to take a 24-22 lead, steals by Willie Worsley and Orsten Artis led to easy baskets to put TW up 26-24.  A missed three-point attempt by Milt Wagner, led to a fast break basket for the Miners when Harry Flournoy grabbed the rebound and found Artis, who then passed to Willie Cager for the layup.  Up 28-24, The Miners led the rest of the way.

Louisville cut the lead from eight to three with eight minutes to play, but a 8-0 run put the game away.

 

Boxscore
Texas Western	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Nevil Shed	C	3	6	0	0	2	3	4	4	8	0	0	1	1	2	8
David Lattin	F	4	11	0	0	2	3	2	3	5	2	2	0	3	2	10
Harry Flournoy	F	4	10	0	0	3	5	4	9	13	1	0	2	2	1	11
Orsten Artis	G	3	9	2	5	3	4	0	2	2	4	4	0	4	3	11
Bobby Joe Hill	G	4	11	2	6	3	4	0	1	1	3	4	0	3	2	13
Willie Cager		4	7	2	3	4	5	2	3	5	2	3	1	2	2	14
Willie Worsley		1	4	1	2	1	2	0	0	0	2	3	0	2	1	4
Team										3
Totals		23	58	7	16	18	26	12	22	37	14	16	4	17	13	71
Louisville	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Pervis Ellison	C	6	13	0	0	2	4	2	4	6	0	0	2	4	4	14
Billy Thompson	F	5	11	0	0	0	0	1	5	6	3	1	0	2	2	10
Herbert Crook	F	3	8	0	2	2	3	1	3	4	1	1	1	5	5	8
Jeff Hall	G	3	6	2	4	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	3	3	8
Milt Wagner	G	3	7	1	3	4	5	0	2	2	4	2	0	5	2	11
Tony Kimbro		2	4	1	2	1	2	1	2	3	2	1	0	3	4	6
Kevin Walls		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	8	0	0	0	1	1	0
Mark McSwain		1	2	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	0	0	0	2	2	2
Team										2
Totals		23	51	4	11	9	14	6	27	35	12	5	3	25	23	59
Player of the Game	Harry Flournoy

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Texas Western	33	38	71
Louisville	26	33	59

 

 

Siegfried’s Three Sinks Marquette

 

3 Ohio St. 1960	72
11 Marquette 1977	70

 

Larry Siegfried connected on a three-point shot in Ohio State’s final possession to give the Buckeyes their only lead in the second half, and then a last-gasp shot by Bernard Toone missed and was rebounded by Joe Roberts to send Ohio State to the Sweet 16.

Marquette was able to slow the pace down, using up 24 to 28 seconds on the shot clock per possession and limiting Ohio State’s offensive rebounding strength.  With Bo Ellis scoring 11 of his 13 points in the first half, the Warriors led by a bucket at the break.

Butch Lee kept Marquette’s offense moving in the second half, as the Warriors kept the lead between four and seven points until the three minute mark.

After a 6-6 foul shooting mark in the first half, Marquette players missed several crucial foul shots down the stretch, as the Warriors could only hit 7 of 12 free tosses.  Ohio State rebounded the ball on all the missed foul shots, and they scored on five consecutive possessions to cut a 68-61 lead to 70-69.  After a Jim Boylan turnover, Ohio State tried to get the ball inside to Jerry Lucas or in the mid post to John Havlicek, but Marquette’s zone defense plugged the middle, forcing Siegfried to take the three-pointer as the shot clock expired.

 

Boxscore
Ohio St.	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Jerry Lucas	C	9	14	0	1	2	2	3	7	10	2	0	1	2	3	20
Joe Roberts	F	3	9	0	0	0	0	2	5	7	1	0	0	1	4	6
John Havlicek	F	6	12	2	4	4	5	2	6	8	3	2	0	1	2	18
Larry Siegfried	G	5	11	3	6	5	8	1	4	5	4	1	0	3	2	18
Mel Nowell	G	2	6	1	3	3	4	0	1	1	3	1	0	5	3	8
Dick Furry		1	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	1	0	0	2	2	2
Team										3
Totals		26	55	6	14	14	19	9	25	37	14	4	1	14	16	72
Marquette	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Jerome Whitehead	C	5	12	0	0	1	2	3	4	7	1	0	1	2	4	11
Bo Ellis	F	5	11	0	0	3	5	1	8	9	2	2	2	1	3	13
Bill Neary	F	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	2	2
Butch Lee	G	6	13	4	10	5	6	0	1	1	2	1	0	4	3	21
Jim Boylan	G	2	6	1	3	2	2	0	2	2	5	2	0	2	2	7
Bernard Toone		4	7	0	0	2	3	2	5	7	0	0	0	2	2	10
Gary Rosenberger		2	3	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	6
Team										2
Totals		25	55	7	16	13	18	6	22	30	11	5	3	12	17	70
Player of the Game	Larry Siegfried

 

 

Tar Heels Win Overtime Thriller

 

10 North Carolina 1982	86	OT
2 Kansas 2008	78

 

Darnell Jackson missed the front end of a 1 and 1 foul opportunity, and James Worthy’s field goal tied the game up at in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime.  In overtime, the Carolina Trio of Worthy, Sam Perkins, and Michael Jordan took the game over to give the Tar Heels a ticket to the Sweet 16.

Reserve forward Chris Brust came off the bench and hit two crucial baskets when Kansas had begun to stretch the lead.  Brust’s two baskets sandwiched one by Matt Doherty in a 6-1 Tar Heel mini-run that cut the KU lead to two points.  Moments later, Perkins fouled Jackson, and Jackson missed the foul shot that allowed Carolina force overtime.

Boxscore
North Carolina	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Sam Perkins	C	8	15	0	0	4	6	3	6	9	0	0	2	2	3	20
James Worthy	F	8	13	0	0	7	8	3	8	11	2	0	2	2	2	23
Matt Doherty	F	2	5	2	4	2	2	0	2	2	1	1	0	1	3	8
Michael Jordan	G	4	9	2	5	8	9	2	5	7	4	1	1	1	2	18
Jimmy Black	G	1	4	1	4	2	3	0	2	2	5	2	0	3	3	5
Jim Braddock		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	2	0
Chris Brust		2	3	0	0	2	4	1	3	4	0	0	0	2	3	6
Buzz Peterson		1	2	1	2	3	4	0	1	1	2	1	0	1	2	6
Team										3
Totals		26	51	6	15	28	36	9	28	40	15	5	5	13	20	86
Kansas	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Darnell Jackson	C	8	14	0	0	3	5	3	4	7	2	0	1	2	4	19
Darrell Arthur	F	5	7	0	0	2	3	1	6	7	1	0	0	1	4	12
Brandon Rush	F	1	4	1	4	2	2	3	3	6	3	1	0	3	5	5
Russell Robinson	G	5	12	3	8	3	4	0	2	2	4	2	0	2	3	16
Mario Chalmers	G	5	15	3	11	5	6	0	1	1	2	1	0	1	4	18
Sherron Collins		2	6	1	4	1	2	1	4	5	1	0	0	1	5	6
Sasha Kaun		1	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	4	2
Rodrick Stewart		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Cole Aldrich		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Team										2
Totals		27	61	8	27	16	22	8	21	31	13	4	1	10	33	78
Player of the Game	James Worthy

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	OT	Final
North Carolina	33	37	16	86
Kansas	36	34	8	78

 

The Sweet 16

 

East Region–Thursday

 

1974 North Carolina St. vs. 1978 Kentucky

2019 Virginia vs. 1987 Indiana

South Region–Thursday

 

1970 UCLA vs. 1964 UCLA

2018 Villanova vs. 1992 Duke

 

Midwest Region–Friday

 

1968 UCLA vs. 2015 Duke

1976 Indiana vs. 1968 Houston

 

West Region–Friday

 

1972 UCLA vs. 1966 Texas Western

1960 Ohio St. vs. 1982 North Carolina

 

 

 

 

 

The Greatest NCAA Tournament That Never Was–Round Three Saturday

Good Saturday morning sports fans.  This is Greg Humble in the studio along with my colleagues here at See BS–Charles Parkly Clark Post, and Kenny Jones. We’re just moments away from a great slate of Saturday games, and at the end of the day four teams will punch their tickets to the Sweet 16.

We’re going to start everybody out with the top-seed in the East, the 2001 Duke Blue Devils taking on the eight seed Kentucky Wildcats of 1978.  Let’s send it out to our See BS crew, Ian Falcon, Jim Snorkel, and Jamie Herdall.

 

EAST REGION

Wildcat Inside Muscle Too Much For The Region’s Top Seed

 

9 Kentucky 1978	89
1 Duke 2001	80

Unassociated Press: The 8-Seed 1978 Kentucky Wildcats took advantage of a huge rebounding edge to hold off the top seed in the East, the 2001 Duke Blue Devils.  The Wildcats enjoyed a huge 51-30 rebounding advantage with the Blue Mist’s Twin Towers both recording double figure boards.

Kentucky broke open a close game midway through the second half.  With a 56-53 lead, the Wildcats went on a 16-5 run to take a commanding 72-58 lead.  Duke frantically mounted a comeback with three-pointers from Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy, and Nate James to cut the lead to 76-70, but the Wildcats chose to keep the ball in the hands of Kyle Macy down the stretch, and Duke was forced to foul one of the all time great foul shooters.

 

Boxscore
Kentucky	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Rick Robey	C	5	8	0	0	4	6	3	8	11	2	0	4	2	2	14
Mike Phillips	F	2	5	0	0	2	3	2	10	12	0	0	3	4	3	6
Jack Givens	F	5	11	1	3	4	5	1	5	6	3	0	0	1	1	15
Truman Claytor	G	2	6	1	4	0	0	1	1	2	2	2	0	2	1	5
Kyle Macy	G	4	9	3	7	10	11	0	1	1	5	0	0	3	2	21
James Lee		4	8	0	0	1	2	2	4	6	0	0	0	2	3	9
Chuck Aleksinas		2	3	0	0	0	0	2	4	6	0	0	2	2	2	4
Jay Shidler		4	7	4	7	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	1	12
LaVon Williams		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	2
Fred Cowan		0	0	0	0	1	2	1	2	3	0	0	1	1	2	1
Team										3
Totals		29	59	9	21	22	29	12	36	51	15	3	10	18	18	89
Duke	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Carlos Boozer	C	5	9	0	0	2	3	2	5	7	0	0	0	1	5	12
Shane Battier	F	7	18	1	3	4	6	1	4	5	2	2	1	1	3	19
Mike Dunleavy	F	5	15	2	7	2	2	0	1	1	3	1	0	2	2	14
Nate James	G	3	5	2	4	0	0	1	2	3	3	2	0	0	5	8
Jay Williams	G	4	10	3	8	3	4	1	1	2	4	1	0	1	3	14
Chris Duhon		1	4	0	1	1	2	1	0	1	2	1	0	0	2	3
Casey Sanders		2	3	0	0	2	3	1	4	5	0	0	0	1	4	6
Matt Christensen		2	6	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	1	0	0	0	2	4
Team										4
Totals		29	70	8	23	14	20	7	19	30	15	7	1	6	26	80
Player of the Game	Kyle Macy

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Kentucky	46	43	89
Duke	44	36	80

 

 

Tiny Towe Blitz’s Cardinals Press To Lead Pack To Impressive Win

 

4 North Carolina St. 1974	96
12 Louisville 1980	82

 

Unassociated Press: Five foot, six inch guard Monte Towe proved to be impossible to trap by the vaunted Louisville 2-2-1 press defense.  Time and time again, he broke the press and drove until he found an open teammate, forcing Louisville to call the press off.  By the time the Cardinals stopped pressing, the Wolf Pack had turned the ball over twice, but they scored easy baskets or went to the foul line enough times to take a 10-point lead in the first 12 minutes of the game.

A three-minute stretch to end the first half found N.C. State turning the ball over in their own halfcourt four times, while Louisville warmed up from the field and cut the lead to two points.

The Wolf Pack maintained the lead throughout the second half, and once they held a five point lead, they forced Louisville to foul down the stretch, where Towe was 8 of 8 at the charity stripe in the final minutes to preserve the win.

1974 North Carolina State now faces 1978 Kentucky in the Sweet 16 in what should be an incredible matchup, as the two teams have similar styles.  David Thompson and Jack Givens should be worth the price of admission.

Boxscore
North Carolina St.	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Tom Burleson	C	9	14	0	0	4	6	2	11	13	1	0	3	4	3	22
Tim Stoddard	F	3	5	0	0	2	2	1	8	9	0	0	1	1	2	8
David Thompson	F	6	11	1	2	9	12	3	6	9	2	1	2	3	2	22
Mo Rivers	G	1	3	1	3	0	0	0	1	1	2	1	0	2	4	3
Monte Towe	G	3	7	2	5	11	11	0	1	1	8	3	0	3	1	19
Mark Moeller		3	5	1	1	0	0	1	2	3	0	0	0	1	3	7
Steve Nuce		1	3	0	0	3	4	2	2	4	1	0	0	0	2	5
Phil Spence		2	4	0	0	2	2	0	1	1	0	1	0	2	1	6
Greg Hawkins		1	2	0	0	1	2	0	1	1	1	0	0	2	2	3
Bill Lake		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Buurma		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bruce Dayhuff		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Craig Kuszmaul		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dwight Johnson		0	1	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Team										3
Totals		29	55	5	12	33	41	9	33	45	15	6	6	18	20	96
Louisville	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Wiley Brown	C	4	8	0	0	2	4	3	2	5	0	1	0	1	5	10
Rodney McCray	F	4	10	1	4	4	5	2	3	5	1	3	0	3	3	13
Derek Smith	F	5	11	0	0	1	2	4	7	11	0	0	1	2	5	11
Darrell Griffith	G	6	17	3	9	4	5	3	3	6	2	1	0	4	4	19
Jerry Eaves	G	2	6	1	5	2	2	1	2	3	5	1	0	2	2	7
Poncho Wright		3	8	1	3	2	3	0	1	1	1	2	0	0	5	9
Roger Burkman		2	7	2	7	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	6
Tony Branch		2	5	0	0	1	1	1	2	3	1	1	0	1	5	5
Daryl Cleveland		1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Greg Deuser		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	0
Marty Pulliam		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Steve Clark		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team										3
Totals		29	75	8	28	16	22	14	21	38	11	9	1	13	37	82
Player of the Game	Monte Towe

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
N. C. State	47	49	96
Louisville	45	37	82

 

Cavaliers Put Hoyas To Sleep With Slow Pace

 

3 Virginia 2019	60
14 Georgetown 1984	52

Unassociated Press: The 2019 Virginia Cavaliers slowed the game down to 59 possessions, forcing Georgetown to pass away from Patrick Ewing, and then trapping Ewing when he caught the ball in the post.  The tactic worked, as Ewing could only take seven shots in 35 minutes of action.

This had the look of a game where both teams would struggle to score 40 points, as neither team could solve the other’s defense.  Eight minutes into the game, Georgetown led 7-6.  At this point, Braxton Key entered the game for Virginia and gave the Wahoo offense a shot in the arm with six quick points to give the Cavaliers a 16-13 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.

Virginia held the Hoyas to 34.6% shooting in the second half, as Ewing could only score one basket in the final stanza.

Boxscore
Virginia	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Mamadi Diakete	C	1	4	0	0	1	2	2	5	7	1	0	1	2	1	3
De’Andre Hunter	F	5	12	0	0	4	4	2	3	5	2	0	0	1	1	14
Guy Jerome	F	2	6	1	4	0	0	1	5	6	2	0	0	0	1	5
Kyle Guy	G	2	5	1	3	0	0	0	1	1	3	1	0	1	3	5
Kihei Clark	G	4	11	2	3	2	3	0	2	2	3	0	0	2	1	12
Braxton Key		6	10	2	4	5	6	2	6	8	1	1	0	1	2	19
Jack Salt		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	4	0	0	0	0	2	2
Team										3
Totals		21	50	6	14	12	15	7	26	36	12	2	1	7	11	60
Georgetown	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Patrick Ewing	C	4	7	0	0	1	2	2	7	9	0	0	2	0	1	9
Reggie Williams	F	3	8	0	0	0	0	1	4	5	1	1	0	0	3	6
Fred Brown	F	3	9	1	6	0	1	1	3	4	2	1	0	1	2	7
David Wingate	G	3	8	2	5	1	2	1	4	5	1	1	1	2	2	9
Michael Jackson	G	4	12	2	7	4	5	0	2	2	2	0	0	1	1	14
Michael Graham		1	2	0	0	1	2	1	2	3	0	0	0	1	2	3
Horace Broadnax		2	6	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	0	1	4
Gene Smith		0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0
Bill Martin		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team										1
Totals		20	53	5	19	7	12	7	24	32	9	4	3	5	12	52
Player of the Game	Braxton Key

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Virginia	33	27	60
Georgetown	29	23	52

 

Hoosiers Limit Mistakes, Play Excellent Defense In Impressive Win

 

10 Indiana 1987	78
2 North Carolina 2005	63

Unassociated Press: The Hoosiers committed just seven turnovers while limiting North Carolina to 40.7% shooting.  Indiana opened a 15-point lead in the first half, and North Carolina never cut the lead to single digits, getting to within 10 points three times.

The Tar Heel starting front court was held to 10-26 shooting, while the Hoosiers’ front court was 17-34.

This sets up an interesting Sweet 16 game between 1987 Indiana and 2019 Virginia Thursday night.

 

Boxscore
Indiana	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Dean Garrett	C	6	11	0	0	2	4	2	7	9	1	0	0	2	3	14
Daryl Thomas	F	9	14	0	0	4	6	1	6	7	3	2	0	1	2	22
Rick Callaway	F	4	9	1	3	3	4	0	7	7	2	1	1	1	2	12
Keith Smart	G	3	7	1	3	2	2	0	2	2	2	2	0	0	1	9
Steve Alford	G	5	12	3	6	5	6	0	1	1	5	0	0	1	2	18
Steve Eyl		1	4	0	0	1	2	1	1	2	0	1	0	2	2	3
Joe Hillman		0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	1	0
Team										3
Totals		28	59	5	13	17	24	4	24	31	16	6	1	7	13	78
North Carolina	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Sean May	C	8	19	0	0	3	4	1	8	9	0	0	2	2	3	19
Jawad Williams	F	2	5	1	3	0	0	1	6	7	1	0	0	0	1	5
Jackie Manuel	F	0	2	0	2	2	3	1	5	6	2	1	0	3	4	2
Rashad McCants	G	4	9	4	9	3	4	2	4	6	1	1	0	5	3	15
Raymond Felton	G	7	16	3	7	2	2	2	2	4	3	2	0	2	4	19
Marvin Williams		0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	1	0
Melvin Scott		1	2	0	0	1	2	0	2	2	2	0	0	1	3	3
David Noel		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Team										4
Totals		22	54	8	21	11	15	8	28	40	10	5	2	13	21	63
Player of the Game	Daryl Thomas

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Indiana	41	37	78
N. Carolina	29	34	63

 

SOUTH REGION

 

Top Seed Falls To Quick Bruin Quintet

 

8 UCLA 1964	97
1 Kentucky 1996	89

 

Unassociated Press: UCLA’s great backcourt duo of Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich combined for 61 points, and the UCLA full-court press was just as devastating as Kentucky’s matchup press.

Kentucky led for most of the first half and the first six minutes of the second half.  With the Wildcats ahead 61-54, the Bruins reeled off 14 point in the next three minutes to take a 68-66 lead.  After Kentucky tied the score at 68-68, back-to-back three point field goals by Hazzard gave UCLA the lead for good.

Boxscore
UCLA	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Fred Slaughter	C	2	6	0	0	2	5	3	8	11	4	2	0	5	3	6
Keith Erickson	F	4	9	0	0	2	3	2	9	11	6	3	0	2	3	10
Jack Hirsch	F	3	8	1	4	1	2	2	5	7	1	1	1	4	4	8
Walt Hazzard	G	9	22	3	10	8	11	1	6	7	2	2	0	3	2	29
Gail Goodrich	G	10	17	5	8	7	9	0	1	1	4	2	0	3	2	32
Kenny Washington		3	6	0	0	2	3	4	2	6	0	1	2	3	3	8
Doug McIntosh		2	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	1	1	1	3	4
Kim Stewart		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
Team										4
Totals		33	72	9	22	22	33	13	34	51	17	12	4	21	22	97
Kentucky	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Walter McCarty	C	4	9	0	2	3	5	2	6	8	0	0	1	4	4	11
Antoine Walker	F	7	15	1	2	2	3	1	8	9	0	2	0	1	3	17
Derek Anderson	F	3	7	0	1	0	0	1	4	5	2	1	0	2	5	6
Tony Delk	G	5	13	3	7	4	5	1	3	4	3	2	0	4	2	17
Anthony Epps	G	2	6	1	4	2	3	0	1	1	6	1	0	5	5	7
Ron Mercer		5	8	2	3	3	4	2	3	5	3	2	0	1	2	15
Mark Pope		1	3	0	2	2	2	1	4	5	0	0	1	1	4	4
Jeff Sheppard		2	4	2	4	2	2	0	1	1	1	1	0	2	1	8
Wayne Turner		2	5	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	3	4
Allen Edwards		0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Team										3
Totals		31	72	9	27	18	24	8	31	42	16	9	2	21	30	89
Player of the Game	Walt Hazzard

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
UCLA	44	53	97
Kentucky	48	41	89

Bruin Muscle Proves Too Much For Cardinals

 

4 UCLA 1970	100
5 Louisville 2013	82

Unassociated Press:  The trio of Steve Patterson, Sidney Wicks, and Curtis Rowe flexed their muscles, scoring almost at will at times in the paint and getting multiple offensive rebounds with putbacks.

After beginning the game matching baskets, the score was knotted at 17-17 with 12 minutes to go in the first half.  UCLA opened a 12-point lead in the next eight minutes, and Louisville could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

When the Cardinals cut the lead to seven at 69-62, a Bruin 9-2 run moved the lead out to 14, and Louisville began to rush their offense, committing crucial turnovers that allowed the lead to ballon to 21 points at one point.

The 1970 Bruins now face the 1964 UCLA Bruins in a game of contrasts between 1964’s speed and 1970’s muscle.

 

Boxscore
UCLA	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Steve Patterson	C	6	13	0	0	2	3	2	6	8	1	1	1	2	2	14
Sidney Wicks	F	9	15	0	0	6	8	5	11	16	0	3	4	3	3	24
Curtis Rowe	F	6	11	0	0	4	6	3	9	12	2	2	2	1	1	16
John Vallely	G	6	12	3	6	3	3	0	2	2	5	1	0	4	2	18
Henry Bibby	G	6	14	3	8	5	7	0	3	3	9	1	0	3	2	20
John Ecker		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	3	2
Kenny Booker		1	3	0	1	1	2	1	2	3	0	0	0	1	2	3
Terry Schofield		1	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	1	3
Bill Siebert		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Andy Hill		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0
Team										3
Totals		36	71	7	16	21	29	11	35	49	20	9	7	17	18	100
Louisville	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Gorgiu Dieng	C	7	15	0	0	2	4	2	4	6	1	0	1	2	4	16
Chane Behanen	F	3	8	0	0	1	2	1	6	7	2	0	0	1	5	7
Wayne Blackshear	F	4	11	2	6	2	3	2	6	8	3	1	1	5	4	12
Russ Smith	G	4	9	3	7	6	7	0	4	4	1	2	0	3	3	17
Peyton Siva	G	5	12	2	5	3	3	0	3	3	2	1	0	4	2	15
Luke Hancock		2	4	1	2	0	0	2	1	3	0	0	0	1	4	5
Montrezl Harrell		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	1	0	0	0	1	2
Stephan Van Treese		2	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	2	2	4
Kevin Ware		1	3	1	3	1	2	0	0	0	2	2	0	1	2	4
Team										2
Totals		29	69	9	23	15	21	7	28	37	14	6	2	19	27	82
Player of the Game	Sidney Wicks

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
UCLA	52	48	100
Louisville	37	45	82

 

Grant Hill Puts Blue Devils’ Hopes On His Shoulder To Bring Duke Back To Victory

 

6 Duke 1992	78
14 Kansas 1997	73

 

Unassociated Press: In a game with many twists and turns, Duke blew a 10-point first half lead and trailed by as many as nine points in the second half until Grant Hill took control of the game, scoring 14 of his game high 20 points in the final 11 minutes of the game.

Kansas went on a 24-7 scoring run that covered the last six minutes of the first half and first four minutes of the second half to take a 49-42 lead.  After Duke cut the lead to three several times, the Jayhawks scored six straight points to take a 59-50.  That’s when Hill went to work, scoring 14 of Dukes’ final 28 points.

 

Boxscore
Duke	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Christian Laettner	C	7	13	0	0	5	7	3	5	8	0	0	1	2	3	19
Brian Davis	F	2	5	0	0	0	0	1	7	8	2	1	0	1	1	4
Grant Hill	F	6	11	2	3	6	6	0	5	5	4	1	0	3	2	20
Thomas Hill	G	5	9	2	4	3	4	0	2	2	2	2	0	2	1	15
Bobby Hurley	G	3	7	1	3	4	4	0	1	1	5	0	0	2	0	11
Antonio Lang		1	2	0	0	1	2	1	2	3	1	0	0	1	2	3
Cherokee Parks		2	4	0	0	2	3	2	3	5	0	0	1	0	3	6
Marty Clark		0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	0
Team										3
Totals		26	52	5	11	21	26	7	26	36	14	4	2	12	13	78
Kansas	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Scot Pollard	C	8	15	0	0	3	4	1	6	7	2	0	0	2	4	19
Raef LaFrentz	F	7	12	0	0	1	2	2	5	7	3	0	2	1	2	15
Paul Pierce	F	8	14	0	0	3	5	2	3	5	2	2	1	0	3	19
Jerod Haase	G	2	5	2	5	0	0	0	3	3	2	1	0	3	4	6
Jacque Vaughn	G	2	6	2	5	2	2	0	2	2	4	2	0	1	4	8
Ryan Robertson		1	3	1	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	4
Billy Thomas		0	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	1	2	0
T.J. Pugh		1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2
Team										3
Totals		29	60	5	14	10	15	6	20	29	14	6	3	8	24	73
Player of the Game	Christian Laettner

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Duke	37	41	78
Kansas	31	42	73

 

 

Wildcats Hot For Three Minutes, But It’s Enough To Advance

 

2 Villanova 2018	64
7 Florida 2007	51

 

Unassociated Press: Villanova couldn’t buy a basket for 3/4 of the game, but then neither could the Gators as both teams had trouble finding the range.  Then, a brief barrage of baskets on 4 of 7 shooting that included a couple of three-point shots broke open a close game to allow ‘Nova to pull away to a safe lead.  Leading just 39-38 in the second half, an 11-0 run gave The Wildcats a 12-point lead.  Florida never could mount a move at this point, and Villanova cruised to victory.

Villanova advances to Thursday’s Sweet 16 round against 1992 Duke.

 

 

Boxscore
Villanova	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Omari Spellman	C	3	6	0	0	2	3	2	4	6	0	0	1	3	2	8
Eric Paschall	F	4	7	0	0	4	4	1	8	9	1	0	2	1	1	12
Michael Bridges	F	5	12	2	5	0	2	3	5	8	0	2	0	2	3	12
Phil Booth	G	3	9	1	4	3	4	1	3	4	3	1	0	5	2	10
Jalen Brunson	G	3	7	2	6	4	5	0	2	2	2	1	0	2	4	12
Donte DiVincenzo		3	9	1	4	2	2	1	3	4	1	0	0	1	2	9
Collin Gillespie		0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	0
Team										5
Totals		21	51	6	19	16	22	8	26	39	7	5	3	14	16	64
Florida	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Joakim Noah	C	6	11	0	0	3	5	2	8	10	2	0	2	1	2	15
Al Horford	F	5	10	0	0	2	4	3	6	9	0	0	3	1	4	12
Corey Brewer	F	3	12	1	7	3	3	1	5	6	1	2	1	2	3	10
Lee Humphrey	G	2	9	1	4	0	0	0	2	2	3	0	0	3	4	5
Taurean Green	G	1	7	0	5	2	4	0	1	1	2	0	0	5	2	4
Walter Hodge		1	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	2	0	1	0	1	3	2
Chris Richard		1	1	0	0	1	2	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	1	3
Dan Werner		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0
Team										2
Totals		19	52	2	17	11	18	7	25	34	9	4	6	14	20	51
Player of the Game	Eric Paschall

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Villanova	26	38	64
Florida	23	28	51

Sweet 16 Schedule For East and South Regions

 

East 

4 – North Carolina St.  1974 vs. 9 – Kentucky 1978

3 – Virginia 2019 vs. 10 – Indiana 1987

South 

4 – UCLA 1970 vs. 8 – UCLA 1964

2 – Villanova 2018 vs. 6 – Duke 1992

 

Coming Tomorrow–Third Round Action From the Midwest and West Regions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Greatest March Madness That Never Was

Due to the cancellation of the 2020 Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament, we cannot issue our great Bracketnomics 505 Course for 2020.  2020 figured to be the year where we debuted many new pieces to our bracket-picking formula, as we spent well dozens of days researching and back-testing data, as well as research what we call the morphing of the game, where one style of play became more successful over another style of play, and where one metric proved more accurate in predicting March Madness success over other metrics.   

Alas, all that research must now go into hibernation until such a time that an NCAA Tournament can be played.  If the tournament re-schedules to May, June, July, or August, we will not issue a Bracketnomics tutorial, since this will be totally uncharted water.  We hear that the NCAA is trying to salvage something by possibly conducting a 16-team tournament much like the old NIT where all 16 teams gather in one venue.  This was the last gasp plan before the tournament was  completely cancelled, and there is talk that the top 16 teams, which would have been the top four seeds in each region could still be put into one venue for five days, just like 16 teams played at Madison Square Garden.

Our unique plan would be to play a tournament like this outdoors in a warm weather and dry climate where rain would not be a factor.  Games have been played outdoors in the past, including in the Olympics.

In place of the real tournament, The PiRate Selection Committee has seeded 68 of the greatest  teams in modern day history in the “Greatest NCAA Tournament That Never Was.”

This simulated tournament will consist of 44 past National Champions and the best teams that fell a little short.  The only rules in our selection system is that no single school can have teams picked from consecutive seasons.  That means that we could not award all three of Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s UCLA teams bids.  And, because the 1968 team rates the highest of the three, we did not select the 1967 and 1969 Bruins in order to get the great 1968 team.

Additionally, because we wanted National Champions first and foremost, great teams like the 1975 Indiana Hoosiers and 1991 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels were ineligible for the tournament, since the 1976 IU and 1990 UNLV teams received automatic bids.

 
Four regions with 17 teams in each region have been seeded and games have been scheduled, starting Tuesday night with two first round games in Dayton, Ohio.

These games will be played via a tabletop game created by our Captain and inspired by the Avalon Hill/Sports Illustrated Professional Game called Statis-Pro Basketball.  If you want to take a peak at this out of print game, go to the following link:  https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4453/statis-pro-basketball

The Captain is the utmost sports boardgame geek.  Games like the one above and Strat-O-Matic Baseball led to his falling in love with statistics.  The Captain cracked the ratings codes for many of these games, including Statis-Pro,  and he decided to create his own college version of the game.  He even added three-point shooting to the game with the addition of a few simple rules, and voila, he had created a homemade board game that supplied him (and friends) with many hours of great fun.  Teams were made from the 1960’s through the 1980’s and later into the 1990’s.  After many years of use, when Mrs. PiRate placed the ring on his finger, the game was put away in a storage closet in the Captain’s basement.  When the Coronavirus claimed almost all sports as its victims, the Captain’s Lady thought it might be a good idea for him to play out a tournament by using the old game and reporting the results on this website.

The first thought was to make 68 teams from the 2020 season based on regular season conference champions and at-large teams that his bracketology showed to be the right 68.  There was a problem with that, because he could not make 68 new teams from 2020 and play this tournament beginning Tuesday, as it would be April before he could make 68 teams.  So, since he had dozens of the greatest teams from 1960 to about 1997, he only needed to update the set of teams from 1998 to 2019, which he spent most of Thursday and Friday and some of Saturday night making.  The 68 teams have been chosen and are ready to begin “The Greatest NCAA Basketball Tournament Never Played.”

The Selection Committee, otherwise known as the Simple Rating System at Sports Reference, has chosen and seeded the field.  Let’s get to it.

First, we began with the East Region. These games will be played in Hartford, Connecticut, on Thursday and will not be broadcast on CBS.  Our PiRate Ratings Network is “See BS.”

The number one seed in the East Region is—————- 

The 2001 Duke Blue Devils.   Coach Mike Krzyzewski has a roster stacked with talent, including Shane Battier, Jay Williams, and Mike Dunleavy.

Duke will play the winner of the 16-seeded play-in game Tuesday night between the 1984 North Carolina Tar Heels, with eight McDonald’s All-Americans on the roster, and the 1970 St. Bonaventure Bonnies.  Just so you know, Bob Lanier will be healthy for all NCAA Tournament games St. Bonaventure plays. In real life, Lanier’s injury in the Eastern Regional Final cost his team any chance to compete against Jacksonville in the National Semifinal Game.

The number eight seed is the 1979 Michigan State Spartans featuring the great Magic Johnson. They will play the nine-seed Kentucky Wildcats of 1978.  This was Wildcats’ coach Joe B. Hall’s lone national title with a team featuring Jack “Goose” Givens and the Twin Towers of Rick Robey and Mike Phillips.

The number four seed is the 1974 North Carolina State Wolf Pack, with Norm Sloan coaching the great David Thompson along with tiny Monte Towe and huge Tom Burleson. NC State will play the number 13 seed 1999 Duke Blue Devils, one of the at-large non-national champions.  This Blue Devil team had eight McDonald’s All-Americans, including Trajan Langdon, Shane Battier, and Elton Brand.

And, the final game in this Hartford pod features the number five-seed 1999 Connecticut Huskies.  UConn was led by Richard Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin.  The Huskies will be  playing the number 12-seed Louisville Cardinals of 1980 with the great Darrell Griffith leading the way.

Now, let’s go to the bottom half of the bracket in the East Region. These games will take place in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the Greensboro Coliseum on Friday.

The number three-seed Virginia Cavaliers of 2019, the team that avenged the embarrassment of being the first number one seed to lose to a 16-seed in 2018 by winning the national championship in 2019.  The Wahoos will take on the number 14-seed Arkansas Razorbacks of 1991, another at-large team that failed to win the national championship.  This Razorback squad featured three big stars in Todd May, Lee Mayberry, and Oliver Miller.

The next game features the number six-seed Villanova Wildcats of 2016 playing the number 11-seed Georgetown Hoyas of 1984, two hot rivals that won national championships. In this simulation, trying not to have multiple teams from the same school in each region was more important than having teams from the same conference playing each other, and that is why two Big East teams are playing in their first game.

Let’s move on. The number seven-seed UCLA Bruins of 1995 will play the number 10-seed Indiana Hoosiers of 1987, the team that won the title on a last second shot by Keith Smart.  And, rounding out the East Region, the number two-seed North Carolina Tar Heels of 2005 will take on the number 15-seed Ohio State Buckeyes of 1962, a heavy favorite that lost their national championship game that year to in-state rival Cincinnati, in a game played by the previous two national champions.

East Region

Play-in Round for #16 Seed
North Carolina 1984 vs. St. Bonaventure 1970

1-Duke 2001 vs. 16-UNC/St. Bonaventure
8-Michigan St. 1979 vs. 9-Kentucky 1978
4-North Carolina St. 1974 vs. 13-Duke 1999
5-Connecticut 1999 vs. 12-Louisville 1980
3-Virginia 2019 vs. 14-Arkansas 1991
6-Villanova 2016 vs. 11-Georgetown 1984
7-UCLA 1995 vs. 10-Indiana 1987
2-North Carolina 2005 vs. 15-Ohio St. 1962

Now, let’s look at the South Region. These next four games will play Thursday at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee. The top seed in the South is the 1996 Kentucky Wildcats. Rick Pitino finally won his first national championship with a team loaded with talent that could go 10-deep without the Wildcats missing a beat.

 

The Big Blue will play the winner of the play-in round Tuesday night between the 1974 Maryland Terrapins and the 1970 Florida State Seminoles. Maryland did not make the NCAA Tournament, and partly because one of the top three teams in the nation was just the number two team in the ACC, the NCAA expanded to 32 teams in 1975 and began to allow two teams from each conference to make the tournament. The 1970 Seminoles were definitely one of the top teams in the nation, but they were on probation and ineligible for the tournament that year. In our simulation world, a great team with the terrific Dave Cowens is getting a ticket to this dance.

 

The next game in this pod features the number eight-seed UCLA Bruins of 1964, featuring Walt Hazzard, Gail Goodrich, and Keith Erickson. They will face the nine-seed Indiana Hoosiers of 1981 with the great Isaiah Thomas in what should be an excellent study in contrasts.

 

Moving on, the number four-seed is the 1970 UCLA Bruins, the semi-surprise champion in Westwood after Kareem Abdul Jabbar graduated. They will play the number 13-seed Oklahoma Sooners of 1988, another at-large non-champion.

 

Rounding out this pod, the number five-seed is the 2013 Louisville Cardinals, and they will take on the 12-seed North Carolina State Wolf Pack of 1983, the Cinderella champion of the great Jim Valvano.

 

The other half of the pod in the South Region will take place in Chicago on Friday at the United Center. The number three-seed North Carolina Tar Heels of 2009 will play the number 14-seed Kansas Jayhawks of 1997, another at-large power that did not win the national championship. Coach Roy Williams of the Tar Heels will go up against Coach Roy Williams of the Jayhawks.

The number six-seed is the 1992 Duke Blue Devils, and Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s second ever champion will take on the number 11-seed Connecticut Huskies of 2014, a team that almost lost their first tournament game in real life and won it in overtime before reeling off five more victories.

The number seven-seed is the 2007 Florida Gators, the better of Billy Donovan’s consecutive national champions. Florida will play the number 10-seed Syracuse Orangemen on 2003.

And,  rounding out the South Region, the number two-seed Villanova Wildcats of 2018 will play the number 15-seed Illinois Fighting Illini of 2005, another at-large team that came up a few minutes short in the title game.

Half the field is now chosen. Are you hoping your favorite team will make this dance? If they won the national championship, and it isn’t a consecutive season from another national championship, they will be in the field, but there are still eight at-large teams that will be in one of the final two regions.

 

South Region

Play-In Round for 16-seed
Maryland 1974 vs. Florida St. 1970

1-Kentucky 1996 vs. 16 Maryland/Florida St.
8-UCLA 1964 vs. 9-Indiana 1981
4-UCLA 1970 vs. 13-Oklahoma 1988
5-Louisville 2013 vs. 12-North Carolina St. 1983
3-North Carolina 2009 vs. 14-Kansas 1997
6-Duke 1992 vs. 11 Connecticut 2014
7-Florida 2007 vs. 10-Syracuse 2003
2-Villanova 2018 vs. 15-Illinois 2005

Let’s go to the Midwest Region. These four games will be played on Friday at the KFC Yum Center in Louisville, Kentucky. The top seed in the Midwest is the 1968 UCLA Bruins, the best of the three seasons when Kareem Abdul Jabbar was in Westwood. The Bruins will face the winner of Wednesday’s play-in round game in Dayton between the 2008 Memphis Tigers and the 1973 Providence Friars. This Providence team will have a healthy Marvin Barnes, unlike the team that lost to Memphis State in the Final Four.

 

The number eight seed is the 1962 Cincinnati Bearcats, the repeat national champion that beat in-state rival Ohio State for the second year in a row. Cinti will take on the number nine-seed Loyola of Chicago Ramblers of 1963, the closest opening round game that was actually played in a national championship.

 

The number four seed in the Midwest is the 2015 Duke Blue Devils, Coach K’s most recent national champion. Duke plays the number 13-seed Connecticut Huskies of 2011 led by the incredible Kemba Walker.

 

The number five seed is the 2017 North Carolina Tar Heels, and Roy Williams’ squad will face the 12-seed Villanova Wildcats of 1985, one of the biggest upset winners in national championship game history.

 

Now moving on to the bottom half of this region’s bracket, these four games will take place Thursday in Kansas City. The number three seed is the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers, Coach Bob Knight’s first title team and the last team to go undefeated. Their opponent is the number 14-seed Stanford Cardinal of 2001, another of the at-large teams that did not win the national championship.

 

The number six seed is the 1994 Arkansas Razorbacks, and Arkansas will take on the number 11-seed Kansas Jayhawks of 1988, the surprise national champion led by the great Danny Manning.

 

The number seven seed is the 1998 Kentucky Wildcats, the team led by Coach Tubby Smith. The Big Blue will face the 10-seed UCLA Bruins of 1975, Coach Wooden’s final national champion.

 

Rounding out the Midwest Region, the number two seed Michigan Wolverines of 1989 will play the number 15-seed Houston Cougars of 1968, another at-large team that did not win the national title, featuring the Big E, Elvin Hayes, and Donald “Duck” Chaney.

 

Midwest Region

Play-In Round for 16-seed
Memphis 2008 vs. Providence 1973

1-UCLA 1968 vs. 16-Memphis/Providence
8-Cincinnati 1962 vs. 9-Loyola (Chi.) 1963
4-Duke 2015 vs. 13-Connecticut 2011
5-North Carolina 2017 vs. 12-Villanova 1985
3-Indiana 1976 vs. 14-Stanford 2001
6-Arkansas 1994 vs. 11-Kansas 1988
7-Kentucky 1998 vs. 10-UCLA 1975
2-Michigan 1989 vs. 15-Houston 1968

 

That’s three regions down and just one to go. Here’s the seeding for the West Region. These next four games will take place at the Key Arena in Seattle on Friday. The number one seed and the top seed in the entire tournament is the 1972 UCLA Bruins, led by Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes, and Henry Bibby. They will face the winner of Wednesday’s play-in game in Dayton between 16-seeds 1972 North Carolina and 1983 Houston, two teams that fell a tad short in the Final Four.

 

The number eight seed Connecticut Huskies of 2004 led by Emeka Okafor will face the nine-seed Arizona Wildcats of 1997, Coach Lute Olson’s lone national champion.

 

The number four seed is the 2000 Michigan State Spartans, the last Big Ten team to win the title. Sparty will face the number 13-seed 1986 Louisville Cardinals with Never Nervous Pervis Ellison.

 

The number five seed is the 2012 Kentucky Wildcats, John Calipari’s national championship team. Kentucky will play the 12-seed Texas Western Miners of 1966, a team that spoiled another Kentucky team’s hopes and dreams.

 

And in the last pod, these games that will be played Thursday at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah.  The number three seed is the 1960 Ohio State Buckeyes with Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek, and Larry Siegfried. The Buckeyes will square off against the number 14-seed Cincinnati Bearcats of 1960, an exact match from the 1960 Final Four. This is the Cinti team led by one of the all-time greats in the Big O, Oscar Robertson.

 

The number six seed is the 1990 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, the team that holds the record for largest margin of victory in the National Championship Game. The Rebels will face the number 11-seed Marquette Warriors of 1977, Coach Al McGuire’s only national champions that came in his final year of coaching.

 

The number seven seed is the 2002 Maryland Terrapins, and the Terps will face the 10-seed 1982 North Carolina Tar Heels, featuring the great Michael Jordan, along with James Worthy and Sam Perkins.

 

And, finally, rounding out the field of 68, the two seed is the 2008 Kansas Jayhawks, and Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, KU faces the 15-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs of 2017, the last of our at-large field.

 

West Region

Play-in Round For 16-seed
North Carolina 1972 vs. Houston 1983

1-UCLA 1972 vs. 16-UNC/Houston
8-Connecticut vs. 9-Arizona 1997
4-Michigan St. 2000 vs. 13-Louisville 1986
5-Kentucky 2012 vs. 12-Texas Western 1966
3-Ohio St. 1960 vs. 14-Cincinnati 1960
6-UNLV 1990 vs. 11-Marquette 1977
7-Maryland 2002 vs. 10-North Carolina 1982
2-Kansas 2008 vs. 15-Gonzaga 2017

 

Who were the teams that just barely missed out on getting into this dance?

The First Four Out were in order, the 1975 Kentucky Wildcats, the 1986 Duke Blue Devils, the 1993 Michigan Wolverines, and the 1969 Purdue Boilermakers.

The Next Four Out were the 2007 Ohio State Buckeyes, the 1996 Massachusetts Minutemen, the 1960 California Golden Bears, and the 1989 Seton Hall Pirates.

We’ll be back Tuesday Night with the results of the first two games in Dayton.

 

Tuesday Night:
East Region: 1984 North Carolina Tar Heels vs. 1970 St. Bonaventure Bonnies

South Region: 1974 Maryland Terrapins vs. 1970 Florida State Seminoles

PiRate Ratings Contingency Plans For College Basketball

Hello to all college basketball fans.  This is a little premature, but it is starting to become apparent that the 2020 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament might be postponed or cancelled.

 

It is our personal belief that the tournament should be re-scheduled for summer, maybe July, and then create a tournament where all 353 teams will be involved so that all fans can return to the game.  Have the bottom 194 teams play on the higher-rated home court to get from 353 to 256 teams and then play the next four rounds on the higher seeded teams’ home courts.  This will get the field down to the Sweet 16, and then the final four rounds could be played as the Sweet 16 was planned earlier this year.

If the tournament is postponed and not played in March, we are going to host our own March Madness of 68 of the best teams in modern college basketball history.  We will take all the great teams between 1960 and 2019 and pick our own 68-team bracket and then play the games with stats and post them here.

We have a college basketball strategy board game available (created by our captain), and he already has made cards for the great teams between 1960 and 1990.  He has the codes for rating the players and can even estimate the three-point shooting percentages for teams that played prior to 1987.

Included in this tournament would be all the great UCLA teams of the 1960’s and 1970’s, multiple Indiana, Duke, Kentucky, and North Carolina teams, and even a couple of greats that did not win the title, like UNLV in 1991, Houston in 1968, and Indiana in 1975.

So, if you don’t have real games to watch next week, come here for the next best thing.  John Wooden and Dean Smith are ready to come out of the old basketball court in rural Iowa to coach again!

PiRate Ratings College Basketball For March 4, 2020

Wednesday’s Games

 

Home	Visitor	Spread
Arkansas	LSU	2.8
Auburn	Texas A&M	12.7
Butler	St. John’s	7.6
Central Florida	SMU	-0.2
Charlotte	North Texas	-3.9
Colorado St.	Wyoming	14.3
Creighton	Georgetown	8.9
Eastern Illinois	Jacksonville St.	4.8
Fresno St.	Air Force	4.0
George Mason	Saint Louis	-2.8
George Washington	Fordham	5.7
Georgia	Florida	-2.2
Georgia Tech	Pittsburgh	6.7
Incarnate Word	Houston Baptist	2.8
Indiana	Minnesota	2.9
Iona	Quinnipiac	5.5
Kansas	TCU	18.2
La Salle	Massachusetts	3.3
Long Island	Fairleigh Dickinson	4.8
Louisiana Tech	Florida Intl.	9.2
Marist	Canisius	0.2
Marshall	Florida Atlantic	5.6
Miami (Fla.)	Virginia	-1.4
Middle Tennessee	UTEP	-2.4
Monmouth	Fairfield	8.0
New Mexico	San Jose St.	10.5
Nicholls	McNeese	5.9
Northwestern St.	New Orleans	3.4
Notre Dame	Florida St.	-2.7
Oklahoma St.	Kansas St.	6.2
Old Dominion	UTSA	4.6
Ole Miss	Missouri	4.3
Providence	Xavier	3.1
Rhode Island	Dayton	-4.1
Rider	Manhattan	7.6
Robert Morris	St. Francis (NY)	8.6
Sacred Heart	Mount St. Mary’s	8.6
Seton Hall	Villanova	4.3
Siena	Niagara	10.7
Southeast Louisiana	Central Arkansas	-3.4
Southern Miss	Rice	-0.5
St. Bonaventure	Saint Joseph’s	11.8
St. Francis (PA)	Bryant	6.5
Temple	Tulsa	2.0
Tennessee St.	Morehead St.	6.1
Texas A&M-CC	Sam Houston St.	-2.8
UC Irvine	Cal St. Northridge	12.8
Virginia Tech	Clemson	0.9
Wisconsin	Northwestern	13.5

 

Key TV Games on Wednesday

 

Time (EST)	Network	Home	Visitor
6:30 PM	FS1	Providence	Xavier
7:00 PM	SECN	Arkansas	LSU
8:00 PM	ESPN+	Kansas	TCU
8:30 PM	FS1	Seton Hall	Villanova
9:00 PM	CBSSN	Rhode Island	Dayton

 

Conference Tournament Section

 

Tuesday’s Results

 

Atlantic Sun Tournament
Quarterfinals
Winner	Score	Loser	Score
Liberty	55	NJIT	49
Stetson	82	North Alabama	72
Lipscomb	68	Florida Gulf Coast	63
North Florida	91	Jacksonville	88

 

Semifinals	March 5	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
1 Liberty (28-4)	4 Stetson (16-16)	7:00 PM	ESPN+
2 North Florida (21-11)	3 Lipscomb (15-15)	7:00 PM	ESPN+

 

 

Big South Tournament
1st Round
Winner	Score	Loser	Score
USC Upstate	69	High Point	59
UNC-Asheville	72	Campbell	68
Charleston Southern	81	Presbyterian	64

 

Quarterfinals	March 5	at #1 Seed Radford
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
2 Winthrop (21-10)	7 USC Upstate (13-19)	12:00 PM	ESPN3
3 Gardner-Webb (15-15)	6 UNC-Asheville (15-15)	2:00 PM	ESPN3
1 Radford (20-10)	8 Charleston Southern (14-17)	6:00 PM	ESPN3
4 Longwood (14-17)	5 Hampton (13-18)	8:00 PM	ESPN3

 

 

Horizon League Tournament
1st Round
Winner	Score	Loser	Score
Illinois Chicago	93	IUPUI	59
Youngstown St.	63	Milwaukee	57
Oakland	80	Cleveland St.	59

 

Quarterfinals	March 5	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
3 Green Bay (16-15)	6 Oakland (14-18)	8:00 PM	ESPN+
4 Illinois Chicago (15-17)	5 Youngstown (18-14)	8:00 PM	ESPN+

 

Patriot League Tournament
1st Round
Winner	Score	Loser	Score
Bucknell	65	Holy Cross	62
Lehigh	78	Loyola (MD)	75

 

Quarterfinals	March 5	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
2 American (16-13)	7 Bucknell (13-19)	7:00 PM	Pat League Network
3 Boston U (18-13)	6 Navy (14-15)	7:00 PM	Pat League Network
4 Army (15-14)	5 Lafayette (18-11)	7:00 PM	Pat League Network
1 Colgate (23-8)	8 Lehigh (11-20)	7:00 PM	Pat League Network

 

 

Tournaments Beginning Wednesday

 

Mountain West Tournament
1st Round	March 4	Las Vegas (Thomas & Mack Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
8 Fresno St. (11-18)	9 Air Force (11-19)	3:00 PM	Mountain West Net.
7 New Mexico (18-13)	10 San Jose St. (7-23)	5:30 PM	Mountain West Net.
6 Colorado St. (20-11)	11 Wyoming (7-23)	8:00 PM	Mountain West Net.

 

 

Northeast Tournament
Quarterfinals	March 4	at Higher Seed’s Home Court
Home	Visitor	Time (ET)	TV
1 Robert Morris (17-14)	8 St. Francis (NY) (13-17)	7:00 PM	http://necfrontrow.com/
2 St. Francis (PA) (20-9)	7 Bryant (15-16)	7:00 PM	http://necfrontrow.com/
3 Sacred Heart (19-12)	6 Mount St. Mary’s (11-20)	7:00 PM	http://necfrontrow.com/
4 Long Island (14-17)	5 Fairleigh-Dickinson (11-18)	7:00 PM	http://necfrontrow.com/

 

 

Ohio Valley Tournament
1st Round	March 4	Evansville, IN (Ford Center)
Team	Team	Time (ET)	TV
5 Tennessee St. (17-14)	8 Morehead St. (13-18)	7:30 PM	ESPN+
6 Eastern Illinois (16-14)	7 Jacksonville St. (13-18)	9:30 PM	ESPN+