The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The NCAA basketball tournament starts Thursday (well, technically tonight with the 1st Four).  This is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (I have that Christmas carol running through my head which Staples also uses for very funny, if you are a parent, Back to School shopping commercial) – I love college basketball and the week of conference tournaments and the NCAA tournament is one of my favorite times of the year.  It is also one of my most least productive times of the year.

BigEastReligionI graduated from Villanova (hence the VU logo for my avatar) and am bullish on the Wildcats this year.  I think they can play with anyone in the country save Kentucky.  Living in North Carolina, I am particularly intrigued by the potential match up on Saturday with NC State.  VU has not done well in the tournament since their 2009 Final 4 run.  I am hoping the recent string of early exits ends this year.

If you’re wondering why updates to Email Users and Google Forms are so slow coming out, it is because I am a bit preoccupied and wasting lots of time reading the analysis from all of the college hoop pundits.  I am also going over my brackets for the various pools I am in.  Once the tournament is over, particularly after Villanova loses, my attention will return to my various projects and updates will become a bit more predictable.

 

Villanova survives a scare with George Mason

I had hoped to catch the Villanova game on ESPNU yesterday afternoon but wasn’t able to get home until well into the second half.  I guess it was a good thing since each time I checked the score on my phone the Cats were behind.  Down by 9 at the half?  What happened?

When I got home and turned the game on the Cats were down by 5 and in heavy foul trouble.  Yarou was nowhere to be seen so I assumed he had fouled out already.  Turns out he was sick and didn’t play.  I caught the game from about the 8:00 mark in the second half – just in time to see Stokes and King foul out.  Wonderful.  George Mason looked good – they were composed and clearly not intimidated by VU.

In my opinion Villanova was very lucky to win this game.  They missed a lot of easy shots and numerous free throws and just got outplayed but stayed close enough to GMU to have a chance.  GMU missed some free throws at the end which could have closed out the game.  What a surprise to see Armwood hit the 3 to put Villanova ahead.  Clutch shot by who player who wasn’t expected to even be in the game at all.

The best play I saw from Villanova in the brief time I watched was the final play of the game.  The defense was phenomenal and George Mason didn’t even get a shot off.

Villanova will have to play much better today than they did yesterday or they will lose to Dayton.  I hope to be home in time to catch the game this afternoon.  These early afternoon start times are tough!

College Basketball Season is here!

College basketball season is finally here and and my Villanova Wildcats are entering the season ranked between 3 and 8 nationally.  Pretty lofty rankings but not surprising based on their Final 4 run last season and the stellar recruiting class they brought in this year.  After a couple of easy wins to open the season, the Wildcats face their first real test in Puerto Rico this weekend.

I am looking forward to this season as Villanova should be on TV frequently which is a good thing since living in ACC country means the TV schedule is usually dominated by ACC teams.