2013-2014 NCAA Basketball What-if Sports Season

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA Tournament Michigan Region Second Round, Part 2

This post takes a look at the bottom half of the Michigan bracket, and our game of the pod.

(14) Nevada vs. (3) Gonzaga -- The Wolfpack were up for the challenge in this one, exploding to a 9-0 lead before the Zags got on the board. Nevada would lead the entire half, and got it up to as many as 11 points, but Gonzaga got a huge momentum boost right before halftime as Przemek Karnowski hit a buzzer beater to bring the Zags within 34-30 at halftime. Nevada stretched it to 37-30 to begin the half, then Gonzaga would score 13 straight points, taking their first lead of the game at 16:01 in the second half, coming off a Gary Bell, Jr. jumper. The Zags ended up with a 43-37 lead and would trail only once more in the game. The final 3 seconds are what makes March Madness special: With Nevada down 63-60, Cole Huff got open in the corner to knock down a three pointer and tie the game at 63. Gonzaga had 1 chance to win the game in regulation, and put the ball in the hands of Sam Dower, who let it go at the top of the key..... and hit the jumper to give Gonzaga a miraculous 65-63 victory!! Dower and Bell Jr. led Gonzaga with 16 points, while Deonte Burton led all scorers, pumping in 21 for Nevada and a tough, tough loss.

Other Pod Games

(11) Harvard- 75, (6) Iowa St.- 62 -- The Crimson outscored Iowa St. 46-25 in the second half to run away with this one. Harvard was led by Siyani Chambers who had 16, while Iowa St. was led by Deandre Kane who also had 16. Dustin Hogue had a double double for the Cyclones with 14 points and 12 boards.

(10) W. Virginia- 69, (7) Missouri- 60 -- This game was won in the first half, as W. Virginia held Mizzou to just 26% shooting in the half and rolled to a 34-20 halftime lead. Amazingly, Missouri ended up with a better shooting percentage for the game, 41.8% to W. Virginias 40.4%. The Tigers couldn't overcome that disastrous first half however. Juwan Staten had a nice game for the Mountaineers with 18 points, 9 boards, 8 assists. Jordan Clarkson had 24 points for Missouri.

(2) Villanova- 75, (15) Evansville- 56 -- The Wildcats survived a first half scare in this one, turning the ball over 10 times and leading by only 3 at halftime, but the second half was a completely different story. Villanova outrebounded Evansville 48-24 for the game, and got several second chance points off of those rebounds. D.J. Balentine led the Aces with 14 points while Villanova was led by Darrun Hilliard II who had 18.

Well that concludes the NCAA Tournament second round. A fair amount of upsets, although some were only upsets in seeding only (Kentucky/San Diego St. for example). 32 teams remain, including all the #1 seeds and 3 of the #2 seeds, and 3 of the #3 seeds. Unfortunately, only 1 #4 seed remains. Here are the pairings for the third round of the Michigan Region:

(8) N. Carolina vs. (1) Michigan (a chance for revenge for the Wolverines, anybody remember the 1993 national championship? Thankfully, in this game, Michigan doesn't have to worry about Chris Webber calling a timeout the Wolverines don't have. )

(13) Minnesota vs. (12) San Diego St.
(11) Harvard vs. (3) Gonzaga
(10) W. Virginia vs. (2) Villanova

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA Tournament Louisville Region Third Round

With only 4 games in each region, there will be no more splitting of regions. 4 games, 1 pod. There were a couple choices for game of the pod, but I went with:

(9) St. Johns vs. (1) Louisville -- When Louisville's Luke Hancock made a corner three pointer to give the Cardinals a 25-14 lead, it looked like Louisville would run away to the Sweet Sixteen. But St. Johns coach Steve Lavin wasn't going to let his team give up that easy. He took a timeout, laid into his team, and the result was a St. Johns 14-4 run to end the half, including scoring 10 of the last 12 points to make the halftime deficit a mere point, 29-28. The Red Storm would continue that run, scoring the first 4 points of the second half to take a 32-29 lead. From that point on, there would be an amazing 17 lead changes and 4 ties, in the second half alone! Hancock rescued Louisville again with a minute and a half to go and St. Johns up 64-60, as he buried another three pointer. Then Stephan Van Treese would score the next 4 Louisville points as the Cardinals took a 67-66 lead. Montrezl Harrell would add a free throw and a Sir Dominic Pointer hail mary shot fell way short as Louisville moves on to the Sweet Sixteen with a 68-66 victory! D'Angelo Harrison led the Red Storm with 18 points, while Louisville was led by Russ Smith with 20 points.

Other Pod Games

(12) Green Bay- 67, (4) Wichita St.- 65 -- This one hurts, bad. I was looking forward to seeing a WIS sim between Louisville and Wichita St., but it wasn't to be. Keifer Sykes led Green Bay with 14 points and Ron Baker led WSU with 18 points. Now 2 of my 3 Kansas teams are out.

(14) Georgia St.- 67, (6) Utah- 58 -- 13.6% shooting for three point land doomed the Utes in this one. Ryan Harrow led Georgia St. with 18 points while Utah was led by Dallin Bachynski who had 12.

(7) LSU- 79, (2) Iowa- 63 -- LSU trailed by 1 at halftime, but shot over 65% in the second half in their destruction of the Hawkeyes. Anthony Hickey led LSU with 22 and Roy Devyn Marble led Iowa with 15.

So it wasn't a good round for higher seeds, as only Louisville comes out on top, setting up some definitely unexpected Sweet Sixteen games out of the Louisville region:

(12) Green Bay vs. (1) Louisville
(13) Georgia St. vs. (7) LSU

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA Tournament Kansas Region Third Round

A fairly boring region, as only 1 of the 4 games was decided by single digits. Therefore, by default it is the game of the pod.

(8) Penn St. vs. (1) Kansas -- The Jayhawks led 40-32 at the half, but Penn St. cut the lead to 1 early in the second half. The Nittany Lions could never get the lead though, as the Jayhawks shot 52.7% for the game. Despite a little bit of resistance, Kansas moves on to the Sweet Sixteen with an 89-81 win. Tim Frazier led Penn St. with 21 points, and the Jayhawks were led by Andrew Wiggins who had 16.

Other Pod Games

(12) Hawaii- 80, (13) GA Tech- 68 -- bbgunn is a happy man today as Hawaii's defense forced 16 GA Tech turnovers leading to a Sweet Sixteen appearance. Isaac Fotu led Hawaii with 16 points, but Christian Standhardinger had a double double with 15 points, 10 boards. The Yellow Jackets were led by Daniel Miller who had 15.

(3) Arkansas- 76, (6) Georgetown- 67 -- Free throws were the difference in this one, literally. Both teams made 23 shots from the field, 7 of those being three pointers. However, Arkansas was 23-27 from the line while the Hoyas were just 14-20 from the line, a 9 point difference just like the final score. Markel Starks led the Hoyas with 21 points and Arkansas was led by Rashad Madden who had 18 points.

(10) Michigan St.- 71, (15) Yale- 60 -- The Cinderella kids from Yale led by 1 at halftime, but Sparty turned up the defensive pressure in the second half to get the 11 point win. Michigan St. was led by Gary Harris who had 21 points and Yale was led by Justin Sears who had 19.

Don't sleep on the fact that we have 2 double digit seeds going to the Sweet Sixteen out of this region. These 2 double digit seeds are very, very good, but just didn't play up to their potential during the regular season. Here are the Regional Semifinal matchups for the Kansas Region.

(12) Hawaii vs. (1) Kansas- Either SI or bbgunn will not be happy to see the result of this game.

(10) Michigan St. vs. (3) Arkansas- This might be one of the few times where a lower seed is the favorite in Vegas, although only by a couple points.

[sterlingice]

HA! To Kentucky.

Louisville with a pretty easy road to the Final Four- not just lower seeds but kindof pushover teams.

SI

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA Tournament Arizona Region Third Round

While there were some close games in this region, in going through the play by play, none of them really jumped out at me. So I'm going to do the same thing I did with the Kansas region and just do a short recap on the game of the pod, which for this pod is:

(13) St. Josephs vs. (5) New Mexico -- The reason I chose this game is for the fact that St. Josephs used only 7 players the entire game. 4 of those players played 35 minutes or more, and 2 of them played all 40 minutes. Despite the short bench, St. Josephs hung tough until the very end. They trailed by 8 at halftime but took the lead late in the second half. The Lobos are tough though, and they quickly regained the lead. In the end, New Mexico wore down St. Josephs enough to get a 63-58 win. Langston Galloway led St. Josephs with 22 points while New Mexico was led by Cameron Bairstow and his 25 points.

Other Pod Games

(1) Arizona- 73, (8) Oklahoma St.- 66 -- How Arizona won this game is beyond me. Oklahoma St. had a better shooting percentage all across the board, including making 7 more three pointers than the Wildcats. The difference was rebounding. Arizona won the battle of the boards 46-26 and that was enough to get quite a few more shots than the Cowboys. Markel Brown led Oklahoma St. with 19 points and Brandon Ashley led Arizona with 15 points.

(3) Syracuse- 65, (11) Iona- 60 -- This game got strong consideration for game of the pod, only because the Cuse had to come back from a 13 point deficit. Iona led 24-11 at one point in the first half, and actually led most of the game, but the Orange finally took their first lead with 2:37 to go in the game and made it stick. A.J. English had 17 for Iona, while Syracuse was led by C.J. Fair and Tyler Ennis who each had 12.

(2) Baylor- 75, (7) UConn- 47 -- This might be the most surprising score of the whole tournament so far. No way did I expect Baylor to dominate the team that actually won the national championship last season. Dominate they did though, leading by 16 at the half, forcing 15 Husky turnovers, and holding UConn to 37% shooting in a very impressive display. Ryan Boatright led UConn with 10 points while Baylor was led by Kenny Chery who had 15.

So this region seems to be the most stable, with 3 of the top 4 seeds and the 5th seed remaining, setting up what should be 2 awesome regional semifinals:

(5) New Mexico vs. (1) Arizona
(3) Syracuse vs. (2) Baylor

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA Tournament Michigan Region- Third Round

A couple very exciting games in this round of the Michigan region, making it tough to decide on the game of the pod. But one game had the better finish, which is why it was chosen.

(11) Harvard vs. (3) Gonzaga -- In reality, I would pay to see this matchup of 2 really strong non-power conference teams. Gonzaga rolled to an early 14-6 lead on the strength of quality three point shooting, but Harvard battled back and actually took a 6 point lead, but Gonzaga tied it up and we were deadlocked at 35 going into halftime. The second half was much the same, with Harvard stretching the lead to 50-41 at one point. Gonzaga wouldn't go away though, cutting it to 64-61 with 20 seconds left. Good ball movement kept the Zags from fouling on the ensuing possession as Harvard ran the shot clock down but a game icing shot from Brandyn Curry missed. Gonzaga got the rebound and for whatever reason, chose not to go to their offensive weapons. Kevin Pangos, Gary Bell, Jr., David Stockton, and Sam Dower. 4 great choices for a last shot. Dower and Stockton weren't even in the game at this point, and neither Pangos nor Bell touched the ball on the last possession. Instead, power forward Angel Nunez decided to jack up a forced three pointer. Luckily he was bailed out by Gonzaga center Ryan Edwards who grabbed the offensive rebound. Instead of kicking it out to Pangos, he.. get this.. dribbled out to the corner and airballed a three pointer!! All these last second mistakes cost Gonzaga, as Harvard held on to win 64-61. Dower led Gonzaga with 16 points and Harvard was led by Wesley Saunders who had 15.

Other Pod Games

(1) Michigan- 66, (8) N. Carolina- 63 -- This was the other choice for game of the pod, as a J.P. Tokoto hail mary three pointer fell way short as the Wolverines hang on to win. James Michael McAdoo led the Tarheels with 14 points. Michigan was led by Nik Stauskas who had 16.

(12) San Diego St.- 74, (13) Minnesota- 64 -- The Aztecs led by 10 at halftime, and they needed it as Minnesota played even with them in the second half. Andre Hollins led Minnesota with 13 points and Xavier Thames led San Diego St. with 15 points.

(2) Villanova- 82, (10) W. Virginia- 73 -- The long shot was key in this one, as Villanova was 11-22 from the three point line, good enough to get the 9 point win. James Bell led Nova with 17 points, 9 boards, while W. Virginia was led by Juwan Staten who had 17.

So this set of regional semifinals features the top 2 seeds facing off against 2 very, very strong non-power (I refuse to use the word mid-major, especially when it comes to college basketball) conferences:

(12) San Diego St. vs. (1) Michigan
(11) Harvard vs. (2) Villanova

[collegesportsfanms]

The Sweet Sixteen has been simmed, we are down to the Elite Eight. I probably won't be able to report on the sweet sixteen until either tomorrow or Sunday due to work issues. I will leave you all with a tiny little spoiler:

There are 2 Cinderella (double digit seed) teams going to the Elite Eight. I won't tell you which ones.. yet, but you're more than welcome to guess.

[StLee]

I'm still waiting with bated breath on the results of the next round. Though it's probably LSU as one of the upset teams, I'm hoping it's not.

BTW, reading through your dynasty has prompted me to go into another NCAA Football replay, though I plan to be far less ambitious with the next one. It will be a playoffs only mode. In fact, I think I might get it started today to coincide in time with the real NCAA Football playoffs.

[collegesportsfanms]

StLee, sorry about that! In all my other projects going on, I kind of forgot about this one. I'll get those results posted tomorrow and get that finished.

I enjoy reading on your NCAA Football reports, even if it is just a playoff only report.

Rest assured, I will get this project finished soon, and when WIS releases the 2014-2015 NCAA basketball teams, I will be starting a replay with that. It would be tournament format though. Doing this season replay like this was just too much for me, with everything else I'm involved with.

Look forward to your NCAA Football replay when you get it going.

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA Sweet Sixteen

Since we're down to 16 teams, I've decided to lump everything into one pod, but I'm not going to do a game of the pod or anything, just recaps of each game. Some will be short, some will be longer, depending on how the game was. So let's get it started!

Louisville Region

(1) Louisville- 71, (12) Green Bay- 64 -- Green Bay came to play in this one, leading 13-8 at one time. Louisville is tough, but Green Bay stayed with them point for point. With Green Bay leading 64-63 with just over 2 minutes to go, the Cardinals finally put the game away, scoring the last 8 points to advance to the Elite Eight. Louisville was led by Luke Hancock who had 19 points. Kiefer Sykes led Green Bay with 21 in the losing effort.

(14) Georgia St.- 79, (7) LSU- 73 -- Sorry StLee, your Tigers just didn't have it in this one. LSU led 38-31 at halftime but Georgia St. came out strong in the second half, eventually building an 8 point lead and hitting free throws down the stretch to become the first Cinderella in the Elite Eight. Georgia St. was led by Ryan Harrow and his 22 points, while LSU was led by Shavon Coleman who had 15.

So it's (14) Georgia St. vs. (1) Louisville in the Louisville Region final.

Kansas Region

(1) Kansas- 76, (12) Hawaii- 53 -- Hawaii just ran out of steam in this one, shooting just 32.7% while Kansas couldn't miss, shooting 49.2%. Garrett Nevels led Hawaii with 15 while Joel Embiid led KU with 19.

(3) Arkansas- 81, (10) Michigan St.- 78 -- This one looked to be over at halftime, as Arkansas scored 13 of the last 18 first half points to lead 47-39 at the break, and Arkansas led the entire second half, getting it up to as high as 12. Michigan St. hit one of those meaningless 3 pointers at the buzzer, but it was too little, too late. Arkansas was led by Rashad Madden who had 17, and the Spartans were led by Gary Harris who did everything he could, scoring 27 points.

The Kansas regional final is set: (3) Arkansas vs. (1) Kansas

Arizona Region

(1) Arizona- 59, (5) New Mexico- 47 -- Neither team shot the ball particularly well, but Arizona had more makes, including 11 free throws compare to just 4 free throw makes for New Mexico. Arizona was led by Nick Johnson who had 17, and New Mexico was led by Cameron Bairstow and Cullen Neal who each had 10.

(3) Syracuse- 87, (2) Baylor- 78 (OT) -- Our only OT game of the sweet sixteen, but to be honest, it shouldn't have been. Syracuse dominated this game, but some poor decisions late gave Baylor a chance to rally. Syracuse took care of business in the extra 5 minutes though, allowing just 4 points and forcing 5 Baylor turnovers. The Orange were led by Tyler Ennis who had 21 points, 9 assists, and 6 boards. Baylor was led by Isaiah Austin who had 14 points and 8 boards.

(3) Syracuse vs. (1) Arizona in the Regional Final.

Michigan Region

(1) Michigan- 70, (12) San Diego St.- 59 -- This game was won in the first half, as Michigan allowed just 22 first half Aztec points and held them to 18.9% shooting. The second half was more even, but the 9 point halftime deficit was too much for San Diego St. to overcome. Michigan was led by Nik Stauskas who had 19 points, while San Diego St. was led by Xavier Thames who had 14 points.

(11) Harvard- 89, (2) Villanova- 68 -- If I told you that Harvard only led by 2 at the break, you probably wouldn't believe me. The Crimson totally anihlated Villanova in the second half, scoring 56 points and shooting over 70%! 6 players scored in double digits for Harvard, led by Steve Moundou-Missi who had 16, while Villanova was led by James Bell who had 17. So the Crimson are the second Cinderella team in the Elite Eight.

(11) Harvard vs. (1) Michigan in the Regional Final, an interesting battle between Tommy Amakers former team and his current team.

[collegesportsfanms]

I have just simmed the Elite Eight. 3 of the 4 #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four. Which one didn't? Well you'll just have to wait until the next post to find out! I'll try to get it posted tomorrow, if not, then Friday for sure.

[StLee]

LSU didn't make it at all to the REAL tournament, so I could live with that team making a Sweet Sixteen appearance.

My best guess for the #1 seed to fall would be Syracuse over Arizona. I highly doubt either Louisville or Michigan fell, though if Harvard shoots like it did in the previous round, anything could happen.

[collegesportsfanms]

bumping this so that it doesn't get forgotten again. Sorry guys, with everything going on, this took an accidental backseat, and I know StLee is eagerly awaiting the final results. Will try to post them tomorrow.

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA Elite Eight

Louisville Region

(1) Louisville- 82, (14) Georgia St.- 62 -- The Cinderella run is over for Georgia St., as they ran into a buzzsaw tonight. Louisville dominated from the opening tip, shooting 54.5% from the field. The Cardinals were led by Montrezl Harrell who had 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Georgia St. got 18 from Manny Atkins.

Kansas Region

(1) Kansas- 87, (3) Arkansas- 78 -- The Jayhawks led from start to finish in this one, building the lead up to 17 points in the second half. Kansas outrebound the Hogs 39-27, and many of those were offensive rebounds for putbacks. Joel Embiid led the way for KU with 17 points, 10 boards, while Arkansas was led by Michael Qualls and his 14 points.

Arizona Region

(3) Syracuse- 75, (1) Arizona- 51 -- StLee called this one, but even I didn't expect the result to be this lopsided. A 42-22 halftime deficit is what did Arizona in, as both teams took pretty good care of the basketball, but the Wildcats only shot 36.5% from the field, including 2-10 from three point land. Syracuse, meanwhile, was 8-13 from behind the arc and the Orange were led by Tyler Ennis and C.J. Fair who both had 16. Zona was led by Kaleb Tarczewski who had 12.

Michigan Region

(1) Michigan- 85, (11) Harvard- 71 -- StLee predicted that Harvard would have a chance to win if they shot like they did against Villanova. He wasn't too far off as the Crimson shot 46.9% for the game. In most games, shooting like that would get you a win, but here's the key.. you gotta play defense! This is something Harvard didn't do tonight, as the Wolverines were 32-49 from the field, good for 65.3%. Hard to lose when you're shooting like that. Nik Stauskas led Michigan with 15 points while Harvard's Wesley Saunders led all scorers with 17 in the losing effort.

So our Final Four is set:

(1) Louisville vs. (1) Kansas
(3) Syracuse vs. (1) Michigan

4 teams that have a TON of postseason success, and it's hard to get a better group of national semifinal games. My prediction of Louisville-Michigan for the NC is still on par, but either of these games could go either way. Gosh darnit Arizona cost me a perfect seeding, as had the Wildcats won, all 4 #1 seeds would have been in the Final Four. Nevertheless, I'm pretty proud of how I seeded this tournament, at least as far as the top seeds go.

[collegesportsfanms]

As you know, I like to be suspenseful, so as I get ready to head out of town for the afternoon, I leave you with this. I have simmed the national semifinal games, and sadly, I will not get my NC of Louisville-Michigan. So which team let me down? Was it Michigan? Louisville? Or perhaps both.

I know that StLee is waiting to chime in, so let's hear it StLee, what do you think happened in those fateful semifinal games?

[bbgunn]

I ain't StLee, but let me chime in...

I'm pretty sure that it was Michigan that let you down. Syracuse upset the party, and they beat the Wolverines big. Louisville came through, though, and knocked off Kansas, but the Jayhawks made it really close.

[collegesportsfanms]

Well bbgunn, I guess you'll just have to wait until tomorrow to get the news, I can't spoil it. haha

[StLee]

Sorry! I haven't visited the site in a few days. I had a busy weekend!

My prediction is a Kansas-Syracuse final. So I'm guessing both of your picks let you down.

[collegesportsfanms]

Alright, let's get this sucker finished off! 3 games left.

NCAA Final Four

(1) Kansas- 84, (1) Louisville- 76 -- The Cardinals bit the dust tonight in a game that was close throughout, but 17 turnovers did them in. Kansas was 6-6 from the free throw line in the last minute. That clutch free throw shooting advanced them to the championship game. The Jayhawks were led by Joel Embiid who had 24 points and 13 boards, while Louisville was led by Montrezl Harrell who had 18.

(3) Syracuse- 62, (1) Michigan- 56 -- Syracuse makes StLee a winner in the guessing game, as he correctly picked both Louisville and Michigan to lose. Good job StLee! As for the game, Syracuse led by as many as 7 down the stretch, and got hot from the free throw line at the right time. C.J. Fair led the Orange with 17 points, while Michigan was led by Nik Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III who each had 12. So I'm totally bummed that I didn't get the game that I wanted to end this dynasty, but the national championship should be a barn burner.

NCAA Championship Game

(3) Syracuse- 71, (1) Kansas- 55 -- A rematch of the 2003 National Championship game didn't even come close to matching the same excitement, as Syracuse led by 16 at halftime and just coasted in the second half, as they win this fictional national championship with ease, ending what turned out to be a disappointing Final Four. Trevor Cooney led the Cuse with 20 points, and Andrew Wiggins led KU with 16 points.

Alright guys, that completes a long, grueling dynasty, now I take a break from this, wait for the 2014-2015 teams to come out on WIS and decide what I want to do for it. I've ruled out doing a season style format, that was just too taxing for me. It'll be a tournament, I just have to figure out if I want to include all the teams from the beginning, have some kind of play in rounds, or what. If anybody has any ideas, please feel free to share them. Thanks for reading all, hope you enjoyed.

[bbgunn]

Thanks for doing this!