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?

College Baseball Brackets

The brackets for the College Baseball Playoffs are set. The top seed is the UCLA Bruins. Other top seeds include the LSU Tigers, the Louisville Cardinals, Florida Gators, Miami Hurricanes, Illinois Illini, TCU Horned Frogs, and Missouri State Bears.

A teaser for the UCLA Bruins...

Highlights from an LSU-Alabama game this season..

A Louisville Cardinals challenge..

The SEC Champions Florida Gators..

You can look at the brackets here and see who else is in the tournament. 

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!

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...

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.

Bracket is Busted!

Okay my bracket is officially busted with Kentucky upsetting Ohio State. The Wildcats have come on strong of late winning the SEC. Hats off to Virginia Commonwealth for making the elite eight with a close win over Florida State. Butler is making another Cinderella run.

Love the match ups in the next round. No fluke Butler takes on Billy Donovan's Florida Gators who are back. Arizona and UConn is a solid match up too. Will Arizona be able to avoid a letdown after their big win over Duke? Then Sunday..Cinderella VCU against the last top seed Kansas. The other game is full of basketball tradition the North Carolina Tar Heels and Kentucky Wildcats. Something for everyone..

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.