| Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley | | | | There were really only 5 blowouts among |
| The first two rounds of the 2008 NCAA | | | | the first 48 games-#4 Washington State |
| College Basketball Tournament | | | | over #13 Winthrop 71-40 (+31), #1 UCLA |
| underscored just how far parity has come | | | | over #9 Kent State 71-58 (+41), #3 |
| in the men's competition as at least 1 | | | | Louisville over #6 Oklahoma 78-48 (+30), |
| major upset occurred every 6 games (8 | | | | and #1 North Carolina over #16 Mount St. |
| major upsets and 3 minor upsets in 48 | | | | Mary's 113-74 (+39) and over #9 Arkansas |
| games). The major upsets included: | | | | 108-77 (+31). A team flat needs to win |
| #10 Seed Davidson Knocks Off #2 Seed | | | | by 30 for me to consider it a blowout. |
| Georgetown 74-70 | | | | The South Regional was the only regional |
| Georgetown breezed past UMBC 66-47 | | | | without an upset in Round 1, and the |
| before running into this year's new | | | | East Regional was the only regional |
| media darling, Davidson, which upended | | | | without an upset in Round 2. |
| #7 Gonzaga in Round 1, 82-76, behind | | | | North Carolina is scary. The Tar Heels |
| 8-of-10 3-pointers by Wildcat guard | | | | are ranked No. 1 in the country, have a |
| Stephen Curry who finished with 30 | | | | 34-2 season record, claim 4 NCAA |
| points in the second half and 40 total. | | | | tournament titles, have been in 16 Final |
| Curry returned where he left off against | | | | 4s and made 39 NCAA tourney appearances. |
| Georgetown, throwing down 30 points (25 | | | | Oh yeah, Tyler Hansbrough is one |
| in the second half) and adding 5 | | | | competitive, bad dude. |
| assists, 3 steals, 3 rebounds and NO | | | | The Tar Heels have not, of course, |
| turnovers. Curry is the son of Dell | | | | played against #4 Washington State's |
| Curry, a former Virginia Tech | | | | defense. It should be interesting. |
| All-American and NBA star, proving that | | | | Here are the 2008 NCAA Tournament Round |
| your gene pool does count. | | | | 3 Sweet 16 Match-Ups: |
| With two major upsets in its first two | | | | West Regional: #1 UCLA versus #12 |
| NCAA playoff games, Davidson has caught | | | | Western Kentucky - Thursday (March 27) |
| the attention of everyone. The Wildcats | | | | and #3 Xavier versus #7 West Virginia - |
| now run smack into #3 Wisconsin and its | | | | Thursday (March 27) |
| tenacious Badger defense. Wisconsin just | | | | East Regional: #1 North Carolina versus |
| might give Curry another 30-35 points | | | | #4 Washington State - Thursday (March |
| and win anyway. | | | | 27) and #2 Tennessee versus #3 |
| #13 Siena Upends #4 Vanderbilt 83-62 | | | | Louisville - Thursday (March 27) |
| Siena had its moment in the sun as Kenny | | | | Midwest Regional: #1 Kansas versus #12 |
| Hasbrouck popped in 30 and Tay Fisher | | | | Villanova - Friday (March 28) and #3 |
| added another 19 with 6-of-6 3-pointers | | | | Wisconsin versus #10 Davidson - Friday |
| to stun Vanderbilt and become the first | | | | (March 28) |
| Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference team | | | | South Regional: #1 Memphis versus #5 |
| to reach Round 2 of the NCAA tourney | | | | Michigan State - Friday (March 28) and |
| since Manhattan in 2004. Then #12 | | | | #2 Texas versus #3 Stanford - Friday |
| Villanova promptly sent Siena back home | | | | (March 28) |
| in Round 2, 84-72. | | | | 2008 NCAA Tournament Results for Round |
| #7 West Virginia Turns Back #2 Duke | | | | 1: |
| 73-67 | | | | Midwest Regional: #1 Kansas eliminated |
| Duke barely made it into Round 2 with a | | | | #16 Portland State 85-61 #2 Georgetown |
| last-second shot that allowed them to | | | | eliminated #15 UMBC 66-47 #3 Wisconsin |
| sneak past #15 Belmont 71-70 before | | | | eliminated #14 Cal State Fullerton 71-56 |
| meeting West Virginia. The Mountaineers | | | | #4 Vanderbilt was upset by #13 Siena |
| made Duke look like the Blue Devils did | | | | 83-62 #5 Clemson was upset by #12 |
| not belong in the tournament. The glory | | | | Villanova 75-69 #6 Southern Cal was |
| days of Coach K and his Blue Devils are | | | | upset by #11 Kansas State 80-67 #7 |
| slowing down as more athletes are | | | | Gonzaga was upset by #10 Davidson 82-76 |
| leaving earlier for the NBA; for years | | | | #8 UNLV eliminated #9 Kent State 71-58 |
| Coach K was able to convince his great | | | | West Regional: #1 UCLA eliminated #16 |
| players to hang around the campus | | | | Mississippi Valley State 70-29 #2 Duke |
| longer. | | | | eliminated #15 Belmont 71-70 #3 Xavier |
| #13 San Diego Uses Overtime to Tame #4 | | | | eliminated #14 Georgia 73-61 #4 |
| Connecticut 70-69 and #12 Western | | | | Connecticut was upset by #13 San Diego |
| Kentucky Uses Overtime to Tame #5 Drake | | | | 70-69 in OT #5 Drake was upset by #12 |
| 101-99 | | | | Western Kentucky 101-99 in OT #6 Purdue |
| Talk about rooting for the underdogs. | | | | eliminated #11 Baylor 90-79 #7 West |
| De'jon Jackson's pull-up jumper with 1.2 | | | | Virginia eliminated #10 Arizona 75-65 #8 |
| seconds left in overtime gave the San | | | | Brigham Young was upset by #9 Texas A&M |
| Diego Toreros their first win in 4 | | | | 67-62 |
| tournament appearances. How many of you | | | | East Regional: #1 North Carolina |
| actually knew the nickname for San Diego | | | | eliminated #16 Mount St. Mary's 113-74 |
| before its victory over Connecticut? | | | | #2 Tennessee eliminated #15 American |
| Ty Rogers drained a 3-pointer with 3 | | | | University 72-57 #3 Louisville |
| defenders in his face and no time on the | | | | eliminated #14 Boise State 79-61 #4 |
| clock to give the Western Kentucky | | | | Washington State eliminated #13 Winthrop |
| Hilltoppers a stunning win over the | | | | 71-40 #5 Notre Dame eliminated #12 |
| Drake Bulldogs. The poor Bulldogs were | | | | George Mason 68-50 #6 Oklahoma |
| down by 16 points but came back to lead | | | | eliminated #11 St. Joseph's 72-64 #7 |
| 99-98 with 5.2 seconds left, then Tyrone | | | | Butler eliminated #10 South Alabama |
| Brazelton (who had a career high 33 | | | | 81-61 #8 Indiana was upset by #9 |
| points) raced up the court, kicked the | | | | Arkansas 86-72 |
| ball to Rogers, who was not about to | | | | South Regional: #1 Memphis eliminated |
| settle for a tie with 3 defenders in his | | | | #16 Texas-Arlington 87-63 #2 Texas |
| face and no time on the clock. | | | | eliminated #15 Austin Peay 74-54 #3 |
| Victories like these are why the NCAA | | | | Stanford eliminated #14 Cornell 77-53 #4 |
| March Madness tournament is the best | | | | Pittsburgh eliminated #13 Oral Roberts |
| organized, best run, most competitive | | | | 82-63 #5 Michigan State eliminated #12 |
| and most exciting playoff in sports | | | | Temple 72-61 #6 Marquette eliminated #11 |
| today. To put the icing on the cake, #12 | | | | Kentucky 74-66 #7 Miami (FL) eliminated |
| Western Kentucky eliminated #13 San | | | | #10 St. Mary's 78-64 #8 Mississippi |
| Diego 72-63 in Round 2. | | | | State eliminated #9 Oregon 76-69 |
| #12 Villanova Outlasted #5 Clemson 75-69 | | | | 2008 NCAA Tournament Results for Round |
| Villanova, which has more wins as a | | | | 2: |
| lower-seeded team in the tourney than | | | | Midwest Regional: #1 Kansas eliminated |
| any other program since 1979, trailed by | | | | #8 UNLV 75-56 #2 Georgetown was upset by |
| 15 in the first half but came back to | | | | #10 Davidson 74-70 #3 Wisconsin |
| win behind 21 points by Scottie Reynolds | | | | eliminated #11 Kansas State 72-55 #12 |
| and 17 by Corey Fisher. The Villanova | | | | Villanova eliminated #13 Siena 84-72 |
| Wildcats then eliminated Siena 84-72 to | | | | West Regional: #1 UCLA eliminated #9 |
| move into the Sweet 16. Pretty slick | | | | Texas A&M 70-29 #2 Duke was upset by #7 |
| work by the Wildcats. | | | | West Virginia 73-67 #3 Xavier eliminated |
| #11 Kansas State Upsets #6 Southern Cal | | | | #6 Purdue 85-78 #12 Western Kentucky |
| 80-67 | | | | eliminated #13 San Diego 72-63 |
| In the battle of the freshman marquee | | | | East Regional: #1 North Carolina |
| players-Michael Beasley of Kansas State | | | | eliminated #9 Arkansas 108-77 #2 |
| and O. J. Mayo of Southern Cal-Kansas | | | | Tennessee eliminated #7 Butler 76-71 in |
| State won as Beasley scored 18 of his | | | | OT #3 Louisville eliminated #6 Oklahoma |
| game-high 23 points in the second half | | | | 78-48 #4 Washington State eliminated #5 |
| and Mayo ended up with 20. Kansas State | | | | Notre Dame 61-41 |
| then got its lunch handed to it by | | | | South Regional: #1 Memphis eliminated #8 |
| Wisconsin in the second round, 72-55, as | | | | Mississippi State 77-74 #2 Texas |
| the Badger defense took K-State to | | | | eliminated #7 Miami (FL) 75-72 #3 |
| school. | | | | Stanford eliminated #6 Marquette 82-81 |
| The 3 minor upsets between almost equal | | | | in OT #4 Pittsburgh was upset by #5 |
| teams saw #9 Texas A&M beat #8 Brigham | | | | Michigan State 65-54 |
| Young 67-62, #9 Arkansas beat #8 Indiana | | | | Read my 4-part series on Job Interviews: |
| 86-72 and #5 Michigan State beat #4 | | | | "It Is Not What You Say, But How You Say |
| Pittsburgh 65-54. No big tickle on my | | | | It That Counts ' Part 1", "How to Answer |
| knee. | | | | When Asked Your Strengths and Weaknesses |
| Two close games saw #2 Tennessee get by | | | | ' Part 2", "How to Handle Job References |
| #7 Butler 76-71 in OT, and #3 Stanford | | | | ' Part 3" and "What Do Employers Really |
| sweat it out against #6 Marquette 82-81 | | | | Want When Hiring? ' Part 4". |
| in OT. | | | | |