Dreaming of the Dance: A College Hoops 2K8 Legacy

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March Madness

April 5th, 2011

Florida's dynamic Guard duo wins it all

Houston, TX - Head Coach, Billy Donovan, and the Florida Gators, are your 2011 NCAA Tournament Champions!

Led by Senior Matt Walcott and Junior Esmond Mendez, the preseason #3 ranked team stormed into the NCAA Tournament as a (2) Seed, upstaging (7) Georgia Tech, (3) USC, (1) Michigan State, and finally the tournament's hottest team, (9) Iowa State.

National Bracket

Iowa State catches fire & never looks back

It would be a grand exaggeration to say that Iowa State was thought of to be a Final Four team coming into the NCAA Tournament. The Big 12 affiliate, led by Sophomore, West Jegdic, was thought of to be a tough competitor, capable of beating (8) Boston College in the first round, and possibly putting up a fight, but ultimately losing out to (1) Maryland in the second. That most certainly changed when the Cyclones defeated the Terrapins, 92-89, advancing Iowa State to the Sweet 16 over the top ranked seed. Things did not stop there for Iowa State as they would face (5) West Virginia, hot off a 97-65 thrashing of (13) IUPUI who upstaged (4) Syracuse in the first round. The Cyclones held strong, beating the Mountaineers by five, heading to the Elite Eight. At this point, certainly the Cyclones big run would come to an end. After all, Rick Patino & his on fire Louisville Cardinals awaited the somewhat Cinderella run in this round. Like they did to West Virginia, Iowa State once again held strong scoring program under 80 points, leading to a four point victory, 80-76. The stage was ultimately set for the Big 12, (9) seeded Iowa State, on a miraculous run vs. (2) Kansas, straight off victories over (15) Alabama A&M, (10) SMU, (6) Wisconsin, and arguably the best win of the tournament, (1) Duke.

On the other side of the bracket, things would play to the script. (1) Michigan State, (1) Cincinnati, (2) Florida, and (2) Clemson, would all find themselves in the Elite Eight following relatively strong victories in the process. Clemson encountered probably the closest game of anybody with a six point win over (7) Texas A&M in the second round. (11) Santa Clara would see a run after defeating (6) Oklahoma State and (3) George Mason, but would be shut down by the aforementioned Clemson in the Sweet 16.

It could be called an upset, but in reality, the Elite Eight was a pretty even match between the four programs on the left side of the bracket. (1) Michigan State had the more balanced roster, but Matt Walcott and Esmond Mendez were undoubtedly the two best players on the court. Florida would go on to win the nailbiter, 96-93. Clemson has been a program built off of supremely talented players who didn't quite crack the Top 25 in recruiting. Led by Junior, Byron Barker, the Tigers were overshadowed in the ACC by Duke and Maryland for the vast majority of the season. Call it a chip on the shoulder, Clemson came to play. The Tigers would go on to win another Elite Eight nailbiter, 66-64, upsetting Cincinnati on their way to the Final Four.

The Final Four was finally set, (2) Kansas, the favorite, (2) Florida and (2) Clemson, the evenly matched, and (9) Iowa State, the underdog. Surely this is where the Cyclones would meet their match? Wrong. For the third straight contest, Iowa State's defense played out of it's mind, holding the program who just scored 103 points on Duke to just 78 in their five point victory...the Cyclones are heading to the National Championship. Florida's Guard duo was relentless against Clemson, propelling the Gators over 100 points, annihilating the Tigers, 106-84.

As strong as Iowa State had played up to this point, they would finally meet their maker in the National Championship. Florida would go on to take things, 96-74, earning the Gators and Billy Donovan the 2010-2011 National Championship.

NIT Tournament

Reigning NCAA Champions win NIT Tournament

Since Arizona wasn't in contention for the big trophy, they at least took what they could get in the NIT. The Wildcats had no issue dispatching every opponent they faced in the NIT, from Fairfield, to Georgetown, South Carolina, Middle Tennessee, and finally, Gonzaga, in the Championship. It can be widely assumed U of A faithful will have their pitchforks in hand as they were rather snubbed in on Selection Sunday.

NIT Bracket

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Coaching Carousel

April 11th, 2011

Terrapins get new leadership following retirement

College Park, MD - After 22 seasons, the Gary Williams era has officially concluded in College Park. The storied coach and program have handed the keys over to Dana Altman, the former head man of Creighton, who led his Bluejays to the NCAA Tournament following their 27-7 run on the season that included a Missouri Valley Regular Season Championship and #1 ranking in the Mid-Major Top 25.

Maryland wouldn't be the only Power Conference program to make a move as PAC-10 affiliate, Washington State, sent Tony Bennett back to the recording studio. In his place came the current Nevada and former Oral Roberts coach, Scott Sutton.

Nevada would move on to pickup the former Morgan State leader, Bryce Williams, and Creighton would hire Chris Bragg out of Howard. San Jose State, William & Mary, North Texas, and Idaho, would also make moves.

Coaching Carousel - Updated: Apr 11, 2011
TEAM	OUT	REASON	IN	FORMER TEAM
Maryland	G. Williams	Retired	D. Altman	Creighton
Washington State	T. Bennett	Fired	S. Sutton	Nevada
Nevada	S. Sutton	Better Job	B. Williams	Morgan State
Creighton	D. Altman	Better Job	C. Bragg	Howard
San Jose State	L. Chang	Fired	E. Heard	Jacksonville
North Texas	J. Nordic	Fired	S. Shimokawa	High Point
Idaho	P. Bates	Fired	C. Hart	Davidson