Congratulations Kansas Jayhawks NCAA Men's Basketball Champions

 The Kansas Jayhawks won the 2022 NCAA Men's Championship storming back from a big half time deficit. A fitting conclusion to a classic March Madness Tournament. The championship game pitted two Blue Blood programs with North Carolina and Kansas. The Tar Heels went to the championship game led by a first-year coach in Hubert Davis.

                                             Highlights from the title game...

The tournament had a 15th seed march to the Final 8 with the Saint Peter's Peacocks. Kansas bested Villanova to reach the title game, while UNC topped their archrivals Duke in Coach Krzyzewski's final game. Seven months until the next season starts.

Roy Williams calls it a Career

 Roy Williams the legendary Coach of the North Carolina Tar Heals and Kansas Jayhawks announced his retirement from coaching.

Why is he legendary? He is a Hall of Famer enshrined in the College Basketball Hall of Fame and The Basketball Hall of Fame. Williams is the only Coach to win over 400 games at two Division One schools and the only Coach to lead two schools to at least four Final Fours. Roy coached three National Championship teams at North Carolina. Obviously along the way he was awarded many awards.

His career record 903-264. 46 of his players went into the NBA. He leaves behind an incredible legacy in college basketball. He will be missed by his peers, fans and players. However at the age of 70 his life continues in retirement.

Blogging from A to Z 2018: C is for Champions! The Villanova Wildcats

I was planning to blog about something different today for the A to Z Challenge. I was planning to watch the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game last night. Those plans changed due to a family emergency. That my friends is called life. The curveballs that life tosses at bloggers during this challenge is perhaps the biggest obstacle to success in this challenge.

Last night the Michigan Wolverines were not a big enough obstacle for the Villanova Wildcats who had no trouble finding success! If the game was close I would have been more upset about missing the game.

Below is the game rewind in 10-minutes..

What a year for Philadelphia! First the Eagles won the Super Bowl and now the Wildcats win the NCAA Tournament. There were some wonderful Cinderella stories that busted up many brackets. However, in the end a number one seed prevailed.

How did Villanova get there? First they crushed Radford.

Radford don't feel bad. Villanova beat every team they played in the tournament by double digits.

Next the Wildcats destroyed Alabama...

Next up was the West Virginia Mountaineers...

Followed by an upstart Texas Tech team..

In the Final Four Kansas went down by 16...

Thanks for visiting and come back to see what I pick for D!

A to Z Challenge: Tar Heels NCAA Basketball Champions

I blog about sports from time to time on my blog. I try to do this after someone wins a National Championship. Well with today's letter starting with T it is time to give the University of North Carolina Tar Heels their due for winning the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.

Here are some highlights from the game..

Gonzaga deserves kudos as well. They had a great season, an awesome tournament, and came close to being /champions.

Here is how North Carolina was able to get to the finals.

The Tar Heels crushed Texas Southern 103-64

Then they beat Arkansas...

Next they pulled away from Butler...

The Tar Heels edged past Kentucky to reach the Final Four...

UNC nipped Oregon to reach the Finals..

The NCAA Tournament is a lot of fun for basketball fans. Congratulations to the Tar Heels for winning the Championship. Who will win it in 2018?

March Madness Begins

I have blogged recently about the madness of my life this month. There is another madness going on called March Madness which is the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The play in games happened Wednesday and last night the bracket busting started in earnest.

It is called March Madness because fans fill out brackets trying to guess who will win the tournament and every year huge upsets happen. This year is no exception.

Let's hear it for the 12th seeds!

Yale upsetting Baylor...

Arkansas-Little Rock upsetting Purdue..

Yale and Arkansas Little Rock were 12th seeded teams in their brackets and they both upset 5th seeds in their respected regions.

More Madness the 11th Seeds

The Wichita State Shockers shocked 6th seeded Arizona.

Gonzaga stuns 6th seeded Seton Hall.

Don't worry the Tournament is just starting there will be more upsets!

A to Z Challenge: Huskies Three Peat

 I wrote about the Connecticut Huskies men and woman's basketball teams last year in the A to Z: Challenge because both teams won the 2014 NCAA Championships. You can revisit that post here.
This year the men's team faded. This year the women's team won another championship their third in a row!

In the past tow seasons they have combined 78-1 record. It is their fifth title in seven years so I think it is safe to say that Coach Geno Auriemma has a legit dynasty going on!

Highlights from the game..

It is the second straight year they have defeated Notre Dame in the finals so the girls at Notre Dame have an awesome team as well! 

In tribute to the Irish here is their intro video from this season that ended Tuesday..

Here are highlights of UCONN blowing out Memphis this season..

Hats off to the Lady Huskies at the University of Connecticut for their three straight championships!

NCAA Tournament: Kentucky flexes their might

My bracket was busted early this year. I usually pick much better ut I guess March Madness caught up with me.

I didn't pick the Kentucky Wildcats to win it all. Certainly they are the favorites, undefeated and the best team in the tournament. The undefeated part is why I didn't pick them. No one goes undefeated was my thought process.

The Wildcats have improved their record to 37-0! They opened the dance by beating the Hampton Pirates 79-56.

Next they cruised by the Cincinnati Bearcats 64-51...

Last night they simply crushed the West Virginia Mountaineers 78-39. Up next the Wildcats face a 32-5 Notre Dame squad for a chance for the Final Four.

A to Z Callenge: Huskies Hoops Champs Times Two

One University, two teams, two championships, is the story of University of Connecticut Huskies basketball   in 2013-14. The paths to the championships were as different as night and day. I am talking about the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Champion UConn Huskies and the 2014 NCAA Women's Basketball Champion UConn Huskies.

The men came in as a seventh seed, however the Huskies have an established history of success with three National Championships in their school history. They started out the tournament by defeating Saint Joseph's before knocking out seconded seated Villanova.

Marching forward UConn eliminated third seeded Iowa State and fourth seeded Michigan State to advance to the Final Four. Then the Huskies beat the top ranked Florida Gators by 10 points to move on to the Championship.

Then the Huskies defeated  the talented upstart Kentucky Wildcats who made it to the championship as an 8th seed.

The Woman

The UConn Huskies came into the tournament undefeated and as a number one seed. They destroyed Prairie View A&M in the opening round 87-44. Next they crushed Saint Joseph's 91-52. They won their first two games by 43 and 39 points.

Next they beat BYU 70-51 and Texas A&M 69-54 to advance to the Final Four.

They rolled by Stanford 75-56 to reach the finals. Then in the finals they dominated their rivals Notre Dame who had been undefeated 79-58.

I love the way these ladies play and I love how UConn and Notre Dame took care of business to reach the finals.

Congrats to both teams!

Spring Poetry

Thought I would search through some of my published poetry that I have done on the subject of Spring.

This one is a full open verse poem on Spring I hope you enjoy. Also on Yahoo Contributor Network here is a haiku called Sunshine's Warm Kiss. I even did a haiku about March Madness.

On Helium I published a poem called A Soft Spring Rain. I wrote this one about a year ago.Sometimes I experiment with styles here is a Tanka called Spring Wildflowers. Yet another free verse poem called Spring has Sprung. Here is a rather recent haiku I published called Groundhog's Early Spring. Haiku writing sames to be a place I find myself recently. I like how quick they can be created, how they often just role out onto the screen. 

I know I share a lot of my other articles, but I don't share my poetry as often. It is important to me since it is where I started as a writer. 

Bracket Busters Part 2

The second day of the second round featured more upsets! I don't count the play in round as a separate round. 

Stephen F. Austin upsetting VCU

  I love the irony here, Virginia Commonwealth has become a basketball power since being a Cinderella story. Will SFA become one?

 

Mercer shocks Duke

Big shocker but I have to say Coach K's visit after the game was very classy.

Tennessee taking down UMASS and Stanford dropping New Mexico I guess could be upsets as well.

First day of the third round...

Dayton upsets Syracuse

Dayton is having an impressive tournament eliminating Ohio State and Syracuse in back to back close games.

Connecticut Huskies eliminate The Villanova Wildcats

More will come...

Bracket Busters

The madness known as March Madness lived up to the name yesterday! Did your bracket survive day one?

North Dakota State shocks Oklahoma for their first ever tourney victory

The Bison march on to play San Diego State next.

Harvard stuns the Cincinnati Bearcats in another 12th seed upset of a five seed. 

Harvard will play Michigan State next.

Dayton Tops Ohio State..

Dayton plays Syracuse next.

Who will be shocked next? I don't mind the blemishes on my brackets because I love the upsets. It adds to the excitement and there is something about pulling for an underdog.

Billy Donovan, The Florida Gators and the making of a basketball school

Yes football is king in the SEC. The Florida Gators were a football school and probably will be one again (hopefully soon). This past season was a train wreck for the football team. However, the University of Florida has turned into a basketball school under Coach Billy Donovan. Coach Donovan has been building his legacy at Florida since 1996.

Today's blog was going to congratulate Florida for barely holding off the Kentucky Wildcats to win the Southeastern Conference Tournament. The Gators went 18-0 in the conference and hold a 32-2 record overall.

Reason Number One

Reason number one why Donovan should be considered a coaching legend at Florida is conference success. Before Billy Donovan took over as head coach for the Gators the team had won just one SEC regular season championships and zero SEC Tournament Championships. The Gators have won six regular season championships and four SEC Tournaments in the Billy Donovan era.

                                                                  Reason Number Two

For a long time 20 win seasons in college basketball have been a measure of success. The Gators have won at least 20 games for the last 16 seasons.

                                                            Reason Number Three

The Florida Gators had never won a men's basketball championship before hiring Coach Billy Donovan now they have two. Here are highlights from the first one..

And from the second one...

Reason Four

Probably the biggest measure of success in college basketball is getting into the big dance, the NCAA Tournament. It is probably more important than a 20-win season. The Gators have gone dancing 19 times and 14 of those times have been under Billy Donovan. Florida has gone to the Sweet 16 nine times in school history. Seven of those were teams coached by Mr. Donovan. Six of seven Florida teams to reach the Elite Eight have been Coached by Billy Donovan. Florida has reached the Final Four four times, three times lead by Billy Donovan.Coach Donovan has lead the Gators to the NCAA Finals for the only three times in school history and has won the schools only two National Championships.

Case closed!

A To Z: Victorious, The Louisville Cardinals and my Bracket

It has been a busy month with the A to Z: Challenge. The Louisville Cardinals winning the NCAA Basketball Championship and me winning my bracket almost slipped past the blog. What does it have to do with V? Well today V is for victorious.

But before we celebrate the victors I have to tip my hat to the Michigan Wolverines. I mean they knocked out Kansas a team I had going to the finals and putting my bracket into jeopardy.

Then Michigan crushed a team I covered this season, The Florida Gators. Yes I was rooting against the Wolverines again. Well I knew someone else had Michigan to win everything. 

The Wolverines then beat the Syracuse Orange to reach the title game. Again making me nervous...

Louisville

The Louisville Cardinals masrch to the championship was relatively eas. They started against 16 seeded NC A&T...

Then they faced 8th seeded Colorado State...

Then they faced 12-seeded Oregon., before a big show down with the Duke Blue Devils

Then they played the surprise team the Wichita State Shockers to earn a spot in the championship game...

I had picked Louisville to win everything. I had already clinched second place with my picks. I needed Louisville to win or second place was going to be my finish. It was a close a game...

but in the end my bracket and the Louisville Cardinals were victorious.

A to Z: Kentucky Wildcats Champions

The A to Z challenge has me switching gears to sports. It is a little dated but works well with K. In the end to giant programs clashed for the championship. Two proud programs stood tall at the end surviving March Madness. 

There was plenty of Madness as Norfolk State upset Missouri or Lehigh beating Duke in the first round. North Carolina State beating Georgetown in the second round was kind of shocking. How about Ohio beating Michigan and South Florida. 

The Kentucky Wildcats went 38-2. They lost to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament and lost to Indiana by one point in December. They beat the team I root for three times! They had a big year and they were able to win the championship. Congratulations Kentucky!

Here are some highlights...

First Round of the Madness

Just my thoughts on the first round of the NCAA Tournament. George Mason might of been the eighth seed, and Villanova might of been a ninth seed. It was still a huge victory for the Patriots to take down a Big East team. The Wildcats finish a season on quite a skid.

Virginia Commonwealth did not just upset the Georgetown Hoyas. VCU crushed the Big East club 74-56. What a day for the Colonial Athletic Conference. Two big wins over the Big East. Old Dominion lost Thursday to Butler 60-58. All and all a great showing by the Colonial.

Marquette upset Xavier 66-55. FSU took out Texas A&M. Some pretty good madness for Friday.

A look at Thursday..

Morehead State upsetting Louisville and Richmond defeating Vanderbilt sets up a nice match up of double digit seeded teams in the next round. One of them is going to the sweet sixteen. Gonzaga added to the Big East woes in this tournament.

Sources for scores: Fox Sports

March Madness!

All my writing today was focussed around the 2011 NCAA Men's basketball tournament. I was also impressed how the SEC Tournament played out. Just the way I predicted in my SEC preview. Though I would have been happy if Billy Donovan and the Florida Gators would have won. However, hats off to the Kentucky Wildcats since they kicked butt.

You can find your seeds and brackets for the 2011 tournament here. I also included records. I think the four play in games will be interesting this year. Yes two are for 16th seeds. However, an 11th and 12th seed being up for grabs should increase interest.

I previewed a few team for the Big Dance including Butler, Oakland, Old Dominion, Belmont, and San Diego State. I will probably write a few more articles on March Madness. However, tomorrow will be the return to the day job and Monday Madness. I am also suppose to writer to other articles as deadlines are approaching. However, I will try to squeeze in some hoops.

More Basketball...

I've been writing a bunch about college basketball. A lot of football but that will be another blog. Been writing so much I haven't been able to check into the blog as much.

Need info on the brackets you can read it here.

Who do I think was snubbed? The Big Dance Surprises? It can be read here.

A preview of the SEC Championship game which was published after the game. Really, I did write it before the game. You can read it here. Even a preview of the SEC Tournament is here. If your an ACC fan, I have your preview here.

Like I said I have been really busy with over 20 articles published this month. Work, Family, Play, volunteering, and writing.

Gearing up for March Madness

Well I have started writing about college basketball it must be March! I kicked things off with an article about the North Carolina tar Heels struggles. UNC finishes 16-16 after a loss to Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels may get a NIT bid based on name alone. They should be end of season bound.

Next up I did a preview of the CAA Conference tournament. I predicted the winner Old Dominion over William & Mary. The score was 60-53, I predicted 63-58. Pretty good predictions. To read about some other fine teams from a powerful mid-major conference read here.

Then I did previews of the SEC Tourney and ACC Tourney. If you like college basketball, I have more articles on their way soon.

4 Spots Filled 61 more to go!

It's March, and the madness will soon take center stage.

Three teams have reserved their spots in the Big Dance!

Belmont defeated Jacksonville to win the Atlantic Sun Championship 79-61.
The Belmont Bruins are 25-8. Belmont obviously is a mid-major team. However they did beat the Cincinnati Bearcats (Big East) and Alabama (SEC) this season. They also got routed by Xavier (Atlantic 10). Belmont will carry a 13 game win streak into the NCAA tourney.

The Austin Peay Governors (24-10) won the Ohio Valley Conference tourney with a win over Tennessee State 82-64. Austin Peay is another mid-major. Looking at their schedule I didn't see any big name wins. They did beat the fore mention Belmont Bruins twice. The lost to Vandy and Memphis. Memphis is likely to be a pretty high seed.

Winthrop will also be in the big dance. The Eagles (22-11) defeated UNC-Asheville 66-48 to win the Big South tourney and NCAA bid. Winthrop did beat Georgia Tech and Miami from the ACC. They defeated Old Dominion and East Carolina from the Colonial. Lost to Baylor, Ole Miss, West Virginia and Marshall.

Cornell won the IVY league which does not have a conference tournament. The Cornell Big Red are 21-5. The lost to Duke (ACC) and Syracuse (Big East) in notable games.

These 4 teams are all Mid-Majors, the small teams, that are not expected to do anything in the Big Dance. But every year their are upsets. Many time the small teams are the ones who ruin brackets. Look at the George Mason Patriots who made it to the Final 4 two years ago.

The Lull Before The Madness

March is coming in like a Lion cub here! It's probably about 40 degrees, breezy. Some snow flurries here and there, but really a pleasant day. Lot's of March Sunshine breaking through the clouds.

The NFL gets ready for April's draft. The NBA and NHL continue on their epic seasons. Baseball starts to stir in Florida and Arizona. Not much of a big deal, unless your a rookie or some forgotten player trying to make a name for himself. It's just a prelude to a marathon season. However, like the robins and woodchucks Spring Training is a sign of spring. Soon the ice and snow will be just a memory.

Thankfully, there is college basketball. March is their month. Meaningful games everywhere! Conference tournaments, the NIT, and the big dance. I know the tournament stretches into April now. People gather around the water cooler, discuss how their team is doing, or talk about their brackets or the big upset. It's a bridge to baseball season, and the playoffs(NBA and NHL).