The first two rounds of the 2007 NCAA Basketball Tournament produced just 4 actual upsets in 48 games.
Don’t tell Duke, Notre Dame, Wisconsin or Washington State that it was a good tournament. They were all eliminated and humiliated by lesser lights with Hollywood’s biggest klieg lights focused on them.
Perhaps the hardest pill to swallow belonged to #6 seed Duke, who fell to #11 Virginia Commonwealth, 79-77.
Virginia Commonwealth’s Eric Maynor was the best player on the court and he showed it with a 15-foot jumper with 1.8 seconds remaining to seal the win. He finished the night with 22 points, 6 in the final 1:24. Maynor is just a sophomore.
The game was closed as VC never led by more than 2 points. They overcame a 13-point deficit in the first half and also trailed by 11 points in the second half.
The Virginia Commonwealth eliminated George Mason, the tournament’s surprise team last year, to win the Colonial Athletic Association title 65-59 and qualify for the tournament. Maynor also sealed that win by scoring 9 of his 20 points in the final two minutes.
Duke lost a first-round game for the first time since 1996, ending the Blue Devils’ 16-game appearance streak at 9. Only North Carolina’s 13-game appearance streak is better.
Legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski only had two seniors this year; His team was the most inexperienced in his 27 years at Duke, one of the most powerful programs in the nation.
Notre Dame, a #6 seed, had high hopes entering this year’s tournament, their first appearance since 2003, as the Irish won the most games, 24, since their 1974 season, but #11 seed Winthrop he had bigger dreams when he dropped the Irish 74-64 with a 37-10 run that bridged the first and second halves.
Winthrop entered the tournament with a 29-4 record with his only losses coming to North Carolina, Wisconsin (in overtime), Maryland, and Texas A&M, all teams entering the tournament with a combined record of 117-27.
Winthrop was clearly small but he was no slouch. Winthop was eliminated by Oregon 75-61 in Round 2.
Winthrop could very well be a trivia question. Few of those who follow NCAA basketball would know that the small Rock Hill (SC) school is part of the Big South Conference, which is only big for the teams that make it up.
Part of the greatness of the NCAA format is that every team that wins its conference tournament gets an automatic bid to participate in March Madness that forces teams to advance by winning or see their season end abruptly.
Washington State, which was chosen to be at the bottom of the Pac 10 in preseason polls, rose under new first-year head coach Tony Bennett to become one of the nation’s big surprises. The #3 seeded Cougars posted a 26-8 record and finished as runners-up in the Pac 10 season standings.
After defeating #14 Oral Roberts 70-54 in Round 1, Washington State found they couldn’t hit three open shots in the final moments of their game with #6 Vanderbilt and lost 78-74 in double overtime. .
Wisconsin, seeded number 2, surpassed the no. 15 Texas A&M Corpus Christi 76-73 before running into No. 7 UNLV and lose 74-68. UNLV became part of the Sweet 16 by polishing off Wisconsin after beating #10 Georgia Tech 67-63.
In six other games that hardly qualified as upsets, three #9 seeds beat the #8 seeds and three #5 seeds beat the #4 seeds. They were all pretty much the same. All 5 seeds (Butler, Southern California and Tennessee) made it to the Sweet 16. All 9 seeds (Purdue, Michigan State and Xavier) did not.
Here are the matchups from Round 3 of the 2007 NCAA Tournament for the Sweet 16:
Midwest Region:
#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler – Friday
#3 Oregon vs #7 UNLV – Friday
West Region:
#1 Kansas vs. #4 Southern Illinois – Thursday
#2 UCLA vs #3 Pittsburgh – Thursday
Eastern Region:
#1 North Carolina vs #5 Southern California – Friday
#2 Georgetown vs. #6 Vanderbilt – Friday
South Region:
#1 Ohio State vs. #5 Tennessee – Thursday
#2 Memphis vs #3 Texas A&M – Thursday
So who will make it the Elite 8?
Consider three cold hard facts of life:
1) When you know that no team less than the #4 seed has won the championship for 18 straight years, you might want to eliminate #5 Butler, #7 UNLV, #5 Southern California, #6 Vanderbilt and # 5 Tennessee.
That leaves #1 Florida, #1 Kansas, #1 North Carolina, #1 Ohio State, #2 UCLA, #2 Georgetown, #2 Memphis, #3 Oregon, #3 Pittsburgh, #3 Texas A&M and #4 Southern Illinois.
2) Only three of the #1 seeds are likely to advance to the Final Four, as only 70% of the #1 seeds advance to the Elite Eight.
So find out who will be eliminated on Thursday or Friday: Florida, Kansas, North Carolina or the state of Ohio.
3) Surprisingly, exactly one or two #1 seeds have made it to the Final Four 18 of the last 22 years.
You realized. Good luck, you’ll need it.
2007 NCAA Tournament Results for Round 1:
Midwest Region:
#1 Florida eliminated #16 Jackson State 112-69
#2 Wisconsin eliminated #15 Texas A&M Corpus Christi 76-63
#3 Oregon eliminated #14 Maimi (Ohio) 58-56
#4 Maryland eliminated #13Davidson 82-70
#5 Butler eliminated #12 Old Dominion 57-46
#6 Notre Dame was upset by #11 Winthrop 74-64
#7 UNLV eliminated #10 Georgia Tech 67-63
#8 Arizona lost to #9 Purdue 72-63
West Region:
#1 Kansas eliminated #16 Niagara 107-67
#2 UCLA eliminated #15 Weber State 70-42
#3 Pittsburgh eliminated #14 Wright State 79-58
#4 Southern Illinois eliminated #13 Holy Cross 61-51
#5 Virginia Tech eliminated #12 Illinois 54-52
#6 Duke was upset by #11 Virginia Commonwealth 79-77
#7 Indiana eliminated #10 Gonzaga 70-57
#8 Kentucky eliminated #9 Villanova 67-58
Eastern Region:
#1 North Carolina eliminated #16 Eastern Kentucky 86-65
#2 Georgetown eliminated #15 Belmont 80-55
#3 Washington State eliminated #14 Oral Roberts 70-54
#4 Texas eliminated #13 New Mexico State 79-67
#5 Southern California eliminated #12 Arkansas 77-60
#6 Vanderbilt eliminated #11 George Washington 77-44
#7 Boston College eliminated #10 Texas Tech 84-75
#8 Marquette lost to #9 Michigan State 61-49
South Region:
#1 Ohio State eliminated #16 Central Connecticut State 78-57
#2 Memphis eliminated #15 North Texas 73-58
#3 Texas A&M eliminated #14 Pennsylvania 68-52
#4 Virginia eliminated #13 Albany 84-57
#5 Tennessee eliminated #12 Long Beach State 121-86
#6 Louisville eliminated #11 Stanford 78-58
#7 Nevada eliminated #10 Creighton 77-71 (OT)
#8 Brigham Young lost to #9 Xavier 79-77
2007 NCAA Tournament Results for Round 2:
Midwest Region:
#1 Florida eliminated #9 Purdue 74-67
#4 Maryland lost to #5 Butler 62-59
#3 Oregon eliminated #11 Winthrop 75-61
#2 Wisconsin was upset by #7 UNLV 74-68
West Region:
#1 Kansas eliminated #8 Kentucky 88-76
#4 Southern Illinois eliminated #5 Virginia Tech 63-48
#3 Pittsburgh eliminated #11 Virginia Commonwealth 84-79 (OT)
#2 UCLA eliminated #7 Indiana 54-49
Eastern Region:
#1 North Carolina eliminated #9 Michigan State 81-67
#4 Texas loses to #5 Southern California 87-68
#3 Washington State was defeated by #6 Vanderbilt 78-74 (2OT)
#2 Georgetown eliminated #7 Boston College 62-55
South Region:
#1 Ohio State eliminated #9 Xavier 78-71 (OT)
#4 Virginia lost to #5 Tennessee 77-74
#3 Texas A&M eliminated #6 Louisville 72-69
#2 Memphis eliminated #7 Nevada 78-62
