Behind The Scoreboard - Claude Vinson

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Behind The Scoreboard
By Claude Vinson

Wow, no top seeds survive

That road to the Final Four really got bumpy for some of the travelers over the weekend. As a matter of fact it proved downright hazardous to the advancement health of the highly privileged. This translates to the fact that for the first time in two and a half decades there won’t be a number one seed dancing at the palace.

Before all loyal fans start calling me up to tell me that Duke and UConn are no longer contenders, in my defense might I add that I never said that either team was going to win it all, I merely made the statement that whoever won would have to go through them. And that is exactly what happened. LSU and George Mason went right through them!

Forget that trite attempt to save face; of course, I am chagrined. This has been a bumpy ride. Exciting, exhilarating, but bumpy.

The first of the “ones” to fall were the Duke Blue Devils. And this was disappointing in that I had secretly tagged Duke and Memphis to be the dream matchup on the West Regionals side. That would have been the re-match of the season.

Just about each and every season there is one entry identified as “Cinderella.” This year it is George Mason. The Patriots have wasted all higher seeds getting to the Final Four. Should they win it all, they would be the first 11 seed to do so.

It could happen. This tourney has had everything, from heroes to crying babies. Daryl Mitchell hitting the impossible shot that led to Duke’s downfall, Denham Brown making the shot that sent Washington home. And there were many others.

It is necessary to point out the obvious to you. There are two SEC teams on a collision course in Indianapolis – Florida and LSU. How unlikely is it that this thing could end with the Gators facing Glen “Big Baby” Davis? Has there been a case under the new NCAA system where two SEC teams met each other in the Terrible Two? That would be just SEC sweet!

Everyone is trying to figure out what caused the meltdown with the Memphis Tigers. No need to remind you all what my prediction was; I was really pulling for them. It appeared that Memphis couldn’t do anything right. There were comments that the officiating left a lot to be desired. And that could be true. But all the Tiger players said they just didn’t get it done.

There will always be another shot, besides look at all the history they made this season.

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