Day 1 Second Round Update
Dearest Hoopsters:
What a great day of basketball, with an exciting finish to the night as High Point gave Arkansas all it could handle. But the trend continues - higher seeds are crushing this tournament like we haven’t seen in years.
In the pool, we have a new leader. KF1 took the top spot in the pool after Saturday’s play with 43 points, followed closely by Paz with 42, and three players - Petal Picker, DangDeacs!, and Chomp & Circumstance - 2 points back at 41. Four players - Puddy Loves the Devils, AnnSki, John McClane, and Billy From Philly - are tied at 40. 17 players are just 4 points back at 39. Still anyone’s pool to win, folks. Head to the site for complete standings after Saturday’s second-round play.
Higher Seeds still dominant
The trend of higher seeds beating lower seeds continued Saturday, except for Texas (everything’s bigger in Texas). Eight games played, 7 higher seeds advanced. The Longhorns, who got into this tournament as one of the “First Four” and had to play an extra game just to get to Round 1, took down 3-seed and perennial power Gonzaga in Round 2. Besides that, higher seeds won every game. Michigan, Duke, and Houston absolutely rolled, all 3 winning by more than 20 points. Poor Vanderbilt lost to Nebraska when a heave from past half court barely missed. That’s gotta hurt.
Hubert Davis watch
I really don’t like this kind of stuff, but Coach Hubert Davis looks to be in big trouble at North Carolina. The news Saturday was that UNC officials are “in discussion” with Davis about his future after the 6-seeded Heels were upset by 11-seed VCU. Not good. Anytime they say they are “in discussions,” it usually means they are going to do the thing they are discussing, but they want you to think they are giving it careful consideration before they do it. He’s done. I like Hubert Davis - he was a terrific player, both at Carolina and in the NBA, but his coaching/recruiting is not up to the standards at UNC. Tough to follow legends such as Dean Smith and Roy Williams, and it doesn’t help that their neighbors and bitter rivals in Durham seem to be navigating this NIL environment better. But before you shed too many tears for Coach Davis, consider he has $5.3 million guaranteed on his contract. I wish someone would give me $5.3 million to NOT coach their basketball team.
No Joker
Tennis fans (including yours truly) could not help wondering about the background of VCU center Lazar Djokovic, and if he’s related to tennis superstar Novak Djokovic? Turns out he is not, but I’ll wager he’s pretty sick of being asked about it. Both are from Serbia, where I guess it’s a pretty common name (I was going to major in “Serbian surnames” in college, but the paperwork got all fouled up). Anyhoo, he’ll have plenty of time to watch his brother from another mother at the upcoming French Open, as the Rams bowed out of the tourney to Illinois on Saturday.
Announcer cam - yes please!
The final moments of Friday’s Kentucky-Santa Clara game were just incredible, as the team’s traded 3-pointers in the final seconds of regulation (Kentucky won in overtime). Why am I bringing this up now? Because I stumbled upon this clip of the announcers calling the final seconds of regulation, and it’s officially my favorite thing so far in this tournament (make sure to un-mute). Why didn’t we think of this sooner?
Commercials
Capitol One debuted a new spot on Saturday (if it was broadcast earlier in the tourney I missed it) featuring our heroes singing. I thought Chuckles was banned from singing after his “One Shining Moment” performance? AKA the official anthem of Jabin’s March Madness Charity Pool. What pipes this guy has!
Department of Corrections (no, not that one)
Intrepid viewers of Friday’s pool update may have noticed (and some let me know) that I made a bit of a boo boo that UVa losing to a 16 seed in 2018 was the only time that has happened. Not so. Turns out that 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson spoiled 1 seed Purdue’s tournament in 2023. The makers of “Jabin’s March Madness Charity Pool” apologize for the error, and most importantly to the 2023 Knights’ program.
OK, so we are halfway through Round 2, with 8 more games on tap for Sunday. I’ll be back to you with an update Sunday night, when we'll have ourselves a Sweet 16.
Jabin