Bill Neal: My NCAA bracket, busted again! But I have Miami winning it all!

:10—Let’s get this out of the way first and foremost…once UCLA went down in flames my entire bracket was busted. Again. For probably the 10th year in a row. And that’s what makes March Madness so much fun and so frustrating. No #1 seeds in the Elite Eight for the first time ever. Florida Atlantic (FAU), San Diego State, Miami and Connecticut (UCONN) as your Final Four teams. And yeah, I had exactly zero of these teams in my Final Four. But I digress. These four teams were simply the best as shown and proved on the court. I mean c’mon, Jordan Miller from Miami shooting 7 of 7 from the field and 13 of 13 from the free throw line, putting up 27 points and leading the Hurricanes from 13 back in the second half on Sunday, March 26, against a still-stunned Texas Longhorns team. Burnish the legend. UCONN with a total team effort drubbing the Gonzaga Bulldogs 82-54 and it wasn’t even that close. The FAU Owls holding off Kansas State and their 5’8” dynamo and all-world guard Marquis Nowell, he of the 30 point, 12-assist night to no avail in their 79-76 loss. And last but not least, San Diego State Aztecs and their bruising defense first defeating the Creighton Bluejays 57-56 on a last-second, rather dubious, free throw. It was a wild, electric, totally incredible weekend of March Madness hoops and I couldn’t be any more amazed at how all four games played out.

:09—Okay, let’s get the elephant in the room hiding behind the curtains out of the way. The very ticky-tacky foul call on Darrion Trammell from San Diego State at the conclusion of their contest with Creighton was pretty weak. Actually it was really weak. A blatant foul where someone gets steamrolled or smacked upside the head? Yeah, make the call. A little touch around the waist? Give me a break, the ref inserted himself into the fray and decided the game for the Aztecs when he should of just let them play into overtime. That’s old school. And that’s what I am and where I come from. ‘nuff said.

:08—Man, that weak ACC this year, probably none of the teams should have made the tournament. Oh, except that one of the Final Four teams is from the ACC, your Miami Hurricanes. So shut up already, you never know with the NCAA Men’s Tournament. Pitt deserved to be in the tourney and deserved better than a play-in game. Remember, back in January Pitt took down the Hurricanes 71-68. I’m just sayin’.

:07—Prediction? You want a prediction on the craziest tournament ever? Fine. And this is based on 60 years of basketball knowledge, running the Connie Hawkins League, coaching, playing with a modicum of talent for years and watching years and years of hoops at almost every level it’s played. I’ll go with San Diego State over Florida Atlantic and Miami over UCONN with Miami taking it all over San Diego State on a last-second shot to win on Monday, April 3rd.

:06—Switching things up, your Pittsburgh Pirates open the season on the road Thursday, March 30, in Cincinnati against the Reds at 4:10 p.m. Mitch Keller starts for our Bucs against Hunter Green for the Reds. With a youth-oriented team the Bucs should be exciting and although contending is a long shot this year, don’t think that a good year this year can’t springboard them to respectability and contention in the 2024 season. I’d love to see the Bryan Reynolds contract situation resolved with a new contract for Reynolds but that seems like a far-fetched dream at this point. Still under contract for two years, here’s hoping Reynolds explodes this year and realizes his full potential with another All-Star year and when he’s traded we can get some really solid prospects for the future. Wait. What? Doesn’t that sound all too familiar? I thought so.

:05—Oneil Cruz, all 6’7” of him, is poised to be a 30-home run, 40 doubles, .280 hitting freak show this year. If he gets off to a slow start, don’t panic and don’t boo the guy at PNC Park. He may never be the slick-fielding shortstop he wants to be and a move to the outfield is almost inevitable, but for now let’s all just marvel at him swooping down on balls and throwing lightning bolts to first base and cracking line drives and home runs at 120 mph off his big bat. He’s going to be the real deal.

:04—Another day, another free agent signing for the Pittsburgh Steelers, this one Cole Holcomb, three-down linebacker formerly of the Washington Commanders and Elandon Roberts, linebacker from the Dolphins and Patriots, both prodigious run-stoppers but neither a great pass coverage kind of guy. Both men are proven tough, hard-nosed linebackers and Holcomb should be an improvement over departed, disappointing Devin Bush. Roberts, with two Super Bowl rings from when he played with the Patriots, is also a special teams demon and his leadership should translate well to the Steelers’ defensive culture.

:03—Anyone that watched the final game in the World Baseball Classic between Japan and the United States and wasn’t riveted when Japan’s and the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani struck out Angels teammate and the United States’ Mike Trout in the 9th inning on a full count to win the Classic needs to have their pulse checked. MLB’s two best players, and legends in the making, battling to the final pitch was everything a fan could ask for and more. Ohtani, the extraordinary two-way talent, is even better than advertised and Mike Trout may be the best player not named Ohtani since Willie Mays in his heyday.

:02—Kudos to University of Pittsburgh wrestler Nino Bonaccorsi who became Pitt’s 17th national champion by beating South Dakota State’s Tanner Sloan in the 197-pound division. Bonaccorsi, from Bethel Park, also went 21-0 this season, the 6th perfect season in Pitt history. Congratulations to Nino on a tremendous season and career for the Pitt wrestling program.

:01—Never in doubt, Penn State won the NCAA team title in wrestling, going wire-to-wire as the #1 team in the nation. Congratulations to the Nittany Lions team and with 10 titles in the last 12 years, they are amazing.

:00—GAME OVER.

 

 

About Post Author

Comments

From the Web

Skip to content