It's still my favorite time of the year

Well, I've had a little less than a week to drag myself out of the deep dark depression that I found myself in about 9:30 PM last Friday evening. Yes, Vandy lost, but 16 teams are still fighting for their chance at the National Championship.

Here are my thoughts on the games I watched tonight:

Xavier 79 West Virginia 75 (OT)
Xavier shot well from behind the arc (57.9%) and West Virginia couldn't hit a free-throw down the stretch. Tough break for Huggy Bear in his first season coaching his alma mater. Xavier looks good, but will face a tough UCLA team on Saturday night.

North Carolina 68 Washington State 47
Yeah, UNC won by 21 against 4-seed Washington State. This team looks pretty darn good right now. Louisville's size could give Psycho-T problems.

Louisville 79- Tennessee 60
This was by far the most interesting match up of today's games. Louisville lead by as much as 16 in the first half, before a persistent Volunteer squad closed the deficit to one early in the second half. Tennessee shot a frigid 34% for the game, and both Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith saw limited action due to foul trouble. Louisville also dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Vols 42-24. Sloppy play plagued both teams early before each side settled down in the second half. J.P. Prince saw considerable action at the point for the second straight game. Jordan Howell did not see action in his final game as a Volunteer. Chris Lofton scored 15 in his last game at UT, shooting at uncharacteristic 3-15 from the field. This loss takes Tennessee to 0-8 all-time in the Regional Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. Louisville returns to the Elite-8 for the first time since 2005, and the second time under coach Rick Pitino. The red-hot 'Cards appear to match up favorably against a smaller UNC squad.

My picks for tomorrow's games:

Davidson over Wisconsin
Why not? Stephen Curry was phenomenal in the first two rounds. The Wildcats have tremendous momentum, but Madison is only a 7-hour drive from Ford Field in Detroit, the site of the Midwest Regional Final.

Texas over Stanford
Tejas has looked strong so far. If A.J. Abrams maintains his level of play, and Texas handles Stanford inside the Longhorns should dispatch The Cardinal with ease.

Kansas over Villanova
Villanova has benefited from weak competition thus-far. The JayChickens may make UNC's 21 point drubbing of Washington State tonight look gracious.

Memphis over Michigan State
Simple Concept
This vs This


In other news,
The Lady 'Dores arrived in Spokane today where they await their Saturday showdown with top-seeded Maryland.

Freshman Curt Casali hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th inning to give Vanderbilt a 12-1o win on Thursday. Ryan Flaherty drew a two-out walk before Casali came up to bat. Dominic de la Osa hit his second homerun in as many days as he drove in 2 in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game. Taylor Hill pitched a scoreless 12th inning to pick up the win.

The 'Dores also defeated Belmont on Wednesday afternoon 7-3 with home runs from Flaherty and de la Osa. Brett Jacobson started and went a season high 7 innings for Vanderbilt, giving up three runs on seven hits, with four strikeouts and two walks. Jacobson improved his record to 1-2 on the year.


I'll post again tomorrow night with reactions to the tournament games as well as the result from the first game of this weekend's series at Hawkins Field against visiting Arkansas. Mike Minor will take the mound for the 'Dores as they look to rebound from dropping 2 of 3 in Tuscaloosa last weekend.

As Always,
Go 'Dores!