In typical fashion, of all days for my cable boxes to not be working, today is that day. For some reason, there is a strange glitch and my 60 in HD screen box isn't working, as is the one in my basement, where I usually have a game on while watching my son. The only one that works is in my bedroom and the TV in my office works straight from the wall. Guess when the first appointment Time Warner could give me is? Next Tuesday! So that means I get no package games for the rest of the weekend, unless I want to sit in bed, which I will be doing Friday night at 7 for the KU game. What a joke!!Anyways, in yesterday's action, the big news was that Syracuse is done. Jim Boeheim should wake up every single day and that God that Carmelo Anthony came to his school for one year. Had that not happened, wouldn't people be calling for his head at this point? Nobody's teams seem to under-achieve more than Boeheim's. This season, his team was young and lost SG Eric Devendorf to a torn ACL, but the amount of leads they choked away was appalling. That 2-3 zone is tired and lazy. And as Bud Poliquin put it in today's Syracuse Post-Standard, in the biggest game of the year, Boeheim's team fell flat.
Notice that West Virginia, Pittsburgh, and Marquette all took care of their business when they needed to. Today's Big East quarterfinals is a quadruple header that you don't want to miss:
No. 1 Georgetown vs. No. 8 Villanova (ESPN, noon)
No. 4 UConn vs. No. 5 West Virginia (ESPN, 2:30 p.m.)
No. 2 Louisville vs. No. 7 Pittsburgh (ESPN, 7 p.m.)
No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 6 Marquette (ESPN, 9:30 p.m.)
Seven NCAA Tournament locks with Villanova on the cusp of being the 8th, especially if they can knock off Georgetown this afternoon. Remember, The refs handed the Hoyas their win over Villanova earlier this season on a phantom foul call with less than a second remaining 75 feet away from the hoop.
The Atlantic-10 Tournament is also going to be one to watch. The Noon opener between Xavier and Dayton could be a final. Dayton spent most of the year battling injuries and are very capable of spring the upset. They come in winners of five straight and have first team all- A-10 guard Brian Roberts. A win over the Musketeers could put them back on the bubble. Remember, when they were 100%, they were a top 20 team with wins over Louisville and Pittsburgh.
St. Joseph's ended up the #5 seed, but they have a very good shot at getting into the big dance, but they must get past #4 Richmond, and hope they can knock off Xavier for a second time in the semis. Pat Calathes can really fill it up for the Hawks and he must if they are going to win today against a Dan Geriot and the Richmond Spiders.
Who knew Fran Dunphy's Temple team finished 11-5 and grabbed the #2 seed? The highlighted game of the evening is #3 Massachusetts vs. #6 Charlotte. If UMass wants to get into the tournament, the cannot afford to lose this one. They have won six straight and have wins over fellow bubble teams Syracuse, Houston, and Dayton on their resume. Plus, they have two great scorers in Gary Forbes and Ricky Harris.
No. 1 Xavier vs. No. 8 Dayton (Noon)
No. 4 Richmond vs. No. 5 Saint Joseph's
No. 2 Temple vs. No. 7 La Salle (6:30 p.m.)
No. 3 Massachusetts vs. No. 6 Charlotte (9 p.m.)
If we were giving you a viewing guide, here are some other matchups you should be watching:
ACC
No. 5 Miami vs. No. 12 NC State (2:30 p.m.)
No. 6 Maryland vs. No. 11 Boston College (9:30 p.m.)
Big 12
No. 8 Texas Tech vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State (ESPN2, 12:30 p.m.)
No. 5 Baylor vs. No. 12 Colorado (ESPNU, 3 p.m.)
No. 6 Texas A&M vs. No. 11 Iowa State (ESPN2, 9:30 p.m.)
Conference USA
No. 2 UAB vs. No. 7 Tulsa (1 p.m.)
No. 3 Houston vs. No. 6 UTEP (3:30 p.m.)
No. 1 Memphis vs. No. 9 Tulane (7 p.m.)
Mountain West
No. 4 San Diego State vs. No. 5 Air Force (5:30 p.m.)
No. 3 New Mexico vs. No. 6 Utah (11:30 p.m.)
Pac-10
No. 4 Southern California vs. No. 5 Arizona State (3 p.m.)
No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 9 Cal (5:30 p.m.)
No. 3 Washington State vs. No. 6 Oregon (9 p.m.)
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 7 Arizona (11:30 p.m.)
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