Was the 2010 NCAA Basketball Tournament the best tournament ever? - sportznut02's Blog

sportznut02's Blog

Was the 2010 NCAA Basketball Tournament the best tournament ever?

Posted on May 5, 2010 at 12:31 PM.

It has been a month now since Gordon Hayward`s shot from half court was nearly banked in. Now that the excitement has worn off from the 2010 tournament I wanted to take a look back at the tournament and remember why this was the greatest tournament from start to finish in the history of college basketball. There may have been more upsets and bigger upsets in past tournaments. Also there may been more thrilling Final 4`s and championship games in the past. However I don`t think you can find a better tournament from start to finish. There were numerous thrilling finishes,plenty of upsets, and who can forget the show Jimmer Fredette put on against Florida.

One more thing about the tournament is that it will be hard to find one better day of the tournament than what was played on Thursday March 18th. Out of 16 games 9 games were either went to overtime or were decided by fewer than 5 points. 7 of the games were won by higher seeds and (2) Villanova a was pushed to the limits by (15) Robert Morris and (6)Tennessee just barely beat (11)San Diego State

Round of 64
Higher seed over a lower seed: 10
Average margin of victory: 12
Games decided in OT or by less than 5 points: 12
(9)Northern Iowa 69 (8)UNLV 66
(5)Michigan State 70 (12)New Mexico State 67
(6) Tennessee 62 (11) San Diego State 59
(14) Ohio 97 (3) Georgetown 83
(9) Wake Forest 81 (8) Texas 80
(12) Cornell 78 (5) Temple 65
(7)BYU 99 (10) Florida 92
(13) Murray State 66 (4) Vanderbilt 65
(2) Villanova 73 (15) Robert Morris 70
(11) Old Dominion 51 (6) Notre Dame 50
(11) Washington 80 (6) Marquette 78
(4)Wisconsin 53 (13) Wofford 49

Round of 32
Higher seed over a lower seed:6
Average margin of victory: 12.4
Games decided in OT or by less than 5 points:5
(4)Purdue 63 (5) Texas A&M 61
(10)Saint Mary`s 75 (2)Villanova 68
(6)Xavier 71 (3)Pittsburgh 68
(5)Butler 54 (13)Murray State 52
(5)Michigan State 85 (4)Maryland 83
(9) Northern Iowa 69 (1) Kansas 67
(12) Cornell 87 (4)Wisconsin 69

Sweet 16
Higher seed over a lower seed: 2
Average margin of victory: 10.6
Games decided in OT or by less than 5 points:3

(6)Tennnessee 76 (2) Ohio State 73
(5)Butler 63 (1)Syracuse 59
(2) Kansas State 101 (6) Xavier 96
Elite 8
Higher seed over a lower seed: 2
Average margin of victory: 5.5
Games decided in OT or by less than 5 points:1
(2)West Virgina 73 (1)Kentucky 66
(5) Michigan State 70 (6)Tennessee 69Final 4
Higher seed over a lower seed:1
Average margin of victory:11.5
Games decided in OT or by less than 5 points:1

(5)Butler 52 (5)Michigan State 50

Championship Game
Higher seed over a lower seed: 0
Average margin of victory: 2
Games decided in OT or by less than 5 points:1

(1)Duke 61 (5) Butler 59

Tournament Totals
Higher seed over a lower seed: 21
Average margin of victory: 10.5
Games decided in OT or by less than 5 points: 23

Comments

# 1 Eski33 @ May 5

It was one of the most exciting tournaments I have witnessed. Teams such as Butler and Northern Iowa knocking off tournament favorites and my Spartans denying odds by fighting through injuries only to come up short in the National Semis....Overall, an outstanding tournament...

# 2 aimiami @ May 5

probably one of the craziest in a while. if butler wouldve won instead of duke it wouldve been 10 times better

# 3 cinders @ May 5

I told my father to watch with me this year (he's not a fan of CBB) and he ended up watching more of it than me!

# 4 rspencer86 @ May 6

Best one I've ever seen. So many exciting finishes, and I'll always wonder what would have happened if that final halfcourt heave in the championship game would have gone in.