Since 1919
TAMPA, Fla. “”mdash; There’s really only one way for an NCAA Tournament run to end well.
For each of the other 67 losing teams in every one of the 67 games played across the country, there is a scene like one deep within the St. Pete Times Forum on Saturday evening.
TAMPA, Fla. ““ In college basketball, few things last.
The players stick around for four years, five max. The good ones leave in less than three.
TAMPA, Fla. “”mdash; No. 7 seed UCLA will face No. 2 Florida in a NCAA Tournament third-round matchup on Saturday at 11:45 a.m. PT.
Though none of the players in this game will have faced each other before in their collegiate careers, the two programs have a rather substantial recent history.
UCLA, under coach Ben Howland, and Florida, under coach Billy Donovan met twice in the Final Four last decade. The Gators won both games, the first was for the 2006 national title and the second came in the 2007 NCAA Semifinal.
Below you can find a multimedia chronicle of what happened, who was involved and why it mattered.
TAMPA, Fla. “”mdash; Shame on you.
Ah, Selection Sunday.
What a fabulous way to start March Madness, right?
Or was that 17-point loss to Oregon in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament not how you think the UCLA basketball team should have began its postseason?
It’s hard to say the loss was shocking because that implies that there was some kind of energy within the Staples Center on Thursday night.
The Bruin bench was quieter than a nursing home for the entire second half and their affiliated fans were too busy making new plans for Friday night to pretend UCLA was going to make another miraculous comeback.
No, the Bruins worst loss in their 14 years of participation in the conference tournament was more of a slow drain of hope.
Drip, drip, drip.
That was your expectations for an enjoyable NCAA Tournament run pooling at your feet.
Scoop Dreams columnist Eli Smukler checks in this week with his predictions for the Pac-10 Tournament, which runs today through Saturday at Staples Center. You can find the last week of Power Rankings here.
OPENING ROUND
No. 8 Stanford v. No. 9 Oregon State
Season Series: 1-1
It’s safe to say that these two young teams are in the worst shape of any entering this tournament. The Cardinal has lost five of its last six Pac-10 games and the Beavers have lost seven of eight. What makes it interesting though is that OSU’s one win in the last month came against Stanford at home. Despite that, Stanford shooting machine Jeremy Green is the difference maker here. He has the ability to take his team to a higher level, like he did in the Cardinal’s upset of No. 2-seed ASU last year at Staples.
PICK: STANFORD
No. 7 Oregon vs. No. 10 Arizona State
Season Series: 2-0 ASU
A few weeks ago this would have been a no-brainer. Oregon was the conference’s surprise darling and ASU was the surprise trash dump. Since then though, the Ducks are on a four-game slide during which they’ve given up 83 points per game. The Sun Devils, however, are actually on a mini-win streak that started with a 20-point roll over Oregon last Thursday.
PICK: ASU
