That's why they call it Madness

Posted: Thursday, March 19, 2009 by Travis Cody in
13


#15 seed CS Northridge gave #2 seed Memphis everything it could handle. The Matadors went toe to toe with the Tigers and answered every possible challenge. It took a man off the bench, sophomore Roburt Sallie, to keep Memphis in the game early.

But Northridge would not back down and played with confidence. And incredibly, with about 10 minutes to play in the second half, the Matadors opened a 5 point lead! Memphis looked rattled and nothing like the team that has gone undefeated in Conference USA for the past two seasons, and Coach John Calipari had to use his times out to settle his team down.

And Northridge just kept right on coming.

Finally, the bigger Tigers started to take control in the paint and dominate the offensive glass. And Northridge started to miss some shots. The Matadors played like a team with nothing to lose, and the Tigers were tight for the majority of the game.

Memphis may have thought of itself as a snubbed #1 seed. But if you don't take the opponent in front of you seriously, they'll bite you in this tournament. The Tigers only just avoided becoming the 5th #2 seed to lose in the first round. The final score is going to make it look like an easier win that it was.

But without Sallie, who ended the game with 35 points, Memphis is on the bus home.

In other early action, #8 seed LSU outlasted #9 seed Butler and #9 seed Texas A&M cruised past #8 seed BYU.

My bracket won't be perfect. I had Butler winning in the first round. But at least it didn't get totally busted, because I have Memphis getting to the third round.

13 comments:

  1. yeah...butler went off the board for me also...I got A&M and Memphis correct though!

  1. Akelamalu says:

    Aw honey you know this has gone right over my head dontcha?

  1. Had Purdue, and NC...so now 4-1 on both my boards...

  1. Anonymous says:

    I usually at least guess at filling out the brackets. Haven't even gotten around to doing that.

    Oh well...

  1. Dianne says:

    this has something to do with basketball and colleges - right? hehehehehehe

  1. "The Matadors went toe to toe"...

    and I thought this was a sports post.Pretty soon you'll be tossing basketball jargon in DWTS posts.

    I'm so confused.

  1. HalfCrazy says:

    Sadly, I'm not into NCAA madness! I'm more into NBA hahaha.

  1. Julie says:

    Anytime you have CAKE it means "MADNESS"! Have fun dear!

  1. I had Butler too...sorry Dessert Song. (and Northridge)

    I had UCLA (big surprise)
    and Purdue (other big surprise.)

    Gonzaga..and NC and um...

  1. Can we PULEEZE not mention Butler's one and done performance? Waaaaaaaaa!

  1. I typically don't bet against LSU. I've seen 'em pull a lot of stuff out.

  1. V: Only barely for Memphis!

    NNG: Thanks!

    Akelamalu: I know. But there will be more Dancing next week.

    V: Got them too.

    Lois: Sometimes the guesses work better than thinking it through.

    Dianne: Right!

    Mimi: But basketball can sometimes be like a ballet!

    HalfCrazy: NBA playoffs are right around the corner too.

    Julie: Yes it does!

    Katherine: I'm excited about the possibility of Gonzaga-UNC, but the Zags need to step up their game to get that far.

    Charles: I hadn't seen much of LSU, and I got sucked in by the pronouncers suggesting that the SEC wasn't as good this year.