Tag: March Madness 2022

No. 13 Chattanooga lost a heartbreaker to No. 4 Illinois and everyone made the same joke about Terrell Owens

Yes, T.O. We know Chattanooga is your school.

The cruelest defeat in March has to be the almost-upset.

If you get blown out, that’s fine. You probably didn’t belong in the tournament, to begin with. You live, you learn and you appreciate the experience of postseason basketball. If you’re the team on the receiving end of an upset, yeah it stings, but life goes on. If you come within inches, fouls or one shot of glory, I don’t know how you even fathom getting out of bed the next morning.

It’s a reality that No. 13 Chattanooga (+8) has to stomach after just barely falling short to No. 4 Illinois, 54-53, in a Men’s NCAA tournament matchup on Friday.

One of Chattanooga’s more famous alums is Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens. Since long retired, Owens decided to make an appearance to cheer his alma mater on in the only way he knows how.

Of course, with the Mocs suffering a heartbreaking defeat within earshot of Owens, every college hoops fan couldn’t help but make the same joke.

Come on. He’s a passionate guy. Stop kicking Owens while he’s down. It’s not nice.

He’s clearly invested in these young men’s basketball journeys. That’s very kind coming from someone of his stature. Give him some credit and, again, be nice.

Okay, what the heck: (Voice breaking) That’s my alma mater!

Sorry, T.O. And sorry, Chattanooga. Better luck next year. Maybe we’ll all have more original jokes by then.

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NCAA Tournament: Notre Dame-Alabama highlights

Rolled Tide. #goirish

11th seeded Notre Dame got past sixth seeded Alabama on Friday afternoon to move to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, the first trip there for the Irish since March of 2017.

Cormac Ryan had a huge day for Notre Dame as he was lights out behind the arc and led all scorers with 29 points.  The Fighting Irish now have a Sunday date with third seeded Texas Tech for a right to play in next week’s Sweet 16.

Related:  College basketball reacts to Notre Dame’s win vs. Alabama

In case you missed Notre Dame’s impressive win or if you’d simply like to watch the highlights again you can do so by watching the few minutes of them shown below.

Related:  See the best photos from Notre Dame’s big win over Alabama

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Nick on Twitter @NickShepkowski.

Jabari Smith unleashed the best dunk of March Madness so far, stunning his Auburn teammates

Smith’s dunk was so cool even his teammates couldn’t believe it.

Everyone knew that No. 2 Auburn (-15.5 favorites) would be a popular pick to make a deep run into the Men’s NCAA tournament. Everyone also knew that they would probably blow out their first-round opponent, Jacksonville State. That’s what favorites are supposed to do. (Kentucky, turn around and close your eyes for a second.) The only thing truly left underdetermined was what mark likely NBA lottery pick Jabari Smith would leave on the proceedings.

Smith, the best player on one of the best teams in the country, has it in him to take games over as he pleases. With jaw-dropping athletic ability, guys like him only come around every once in a blue moon. And as Auburn finished up a routine 80-61 win, Smith made sure to add his exclamation point.

Look at that extension. Really look at it. Oh my goodness. You know the dunk is sick when someone’s entire arm winds back, and they have to gather themselves after landing.

Smith’s dunk was so awesome that it even threw off his Auburn teammates, who couldn’t believe what they just saw.

What a coincidence. That’s my face watching Smith’s dunk, too.

Tigers center Walker Kessler might have summed it up best in the post-game.

Honestly, what else can you say that the splitting of the rim didn’t?

Something tells me that it’s only a matter of time before Smith unleashes freakish dunks on everyone foolish enough to get in his way.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).

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Charles Barkley broke out the dance moves after Auburn’s blowout first-round win in March Madness

Barkley could not contain himself.

Sometimes, you can’t help but dance and let your feelings out when it comes to March. On Friday, No. 2 Auburn’s mop-up 80-61 victory over No. 15 Jacksonville State in the men’s NCAA tournament certainly had most of the Tiger faithful feeling overjoyed. When you advance in your first NCAA tourney since 2019, it’s understandable to be on cloud nine.

One of the more famous Auburn alumni, Charles Barkley, was part of that celebratory crowd. And when spurred on to discuss the Tigers’ dominance during the post-game studio show, the College Basketball Hall of Famer-turned-analyst let it all fly out when encouraged by his fellow analysts and the terrifying teamojis.

He, indeed, hit the Griddy.

 

Considering the circumstances, not bad, Sir Charles. Who knew Barkley had those moves in him? Who knew he could dance like that? I guess dominant Auburn wins can bring out sides of one of the more famous basketball personalities that we’ve never seen before.

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Creighton will be without big man Ryan Kalkbrenner for the rest of the NCAA tournament

Detailing the injury news surrounding Creighton’s sophomore center.

No. 9 Creighton’s overtime win over No. 8 San Diego State in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament was exciting for the program but came at an expense.

The Bluejays lost their starting center, Ryan Kalkbrenner, in the extra period after he went down (without contact) and grabbed at his knee. The injury, as it turns out, isn’t as bad as it appeared to be.

Creighton head coach Greg McDermott reported on Twitter Friday afternoon that the sophomore center’s knee injury is “not as significant as originally thought,” but that he’ll be sidelined for the rest of the tourney.

While the news is encouraging for both the player’s and the team’s long-term future, it makes the Bluejays’ road to a consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearance even tougher. Creighton will face the region’s No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday for a chance to make back-to-back appearances in the Sweet Sixteen.

And while the young and inexperienced Bluejays are maybe a year ahead of schedule after losing five starters from a season ago, the Jayhawks are where everyone expected them to be.

Kansas is one of the best college basketball teams in the nation — as shown all season long. The Jayhawks look to be in peak form after winning its last six games while scoring a Big 12 Tournament championship, and a dominant 83-56 first-round win over Texas Southern in the NCAA Tournament along the way.

Kansas opens Saturday’s matchup with Creighton as an 11.5-point favorite at Tipico Sportsbook.

[tipico]

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).

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Florida hires rising-star Todd Golden less than 24 hours after San Francisco’s NCAA tournament loss

One of the hottest names on the coaching market is headed to the SEC

San Francisco vs. Murray State was the perfect cap to an amazing opening day of the 2022 NCAA Tournament (First Four games notwithstanding). The two offenses lit the scoreboard on fire throughout the end of the game and overtime as each defense failed to find answers. Ultimately, the Racers had just enough in the tank to win the game.

Less than 24 hours later, USF is taking another L. Perhaps, one that cuts a little bit deeper.

According to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, the Dons are losing head coach Todd Golden to the University of Florida on a six-year deal. The deal would bring Golden back to the SEC, where he served as an assistant under Bruce Pearl at Auburn before taking the head coaching position at San Francisco.

At USF, it took the 36-year-old just three seasons to prove he’s one of the better coaches in the sport. Golden will leave the program after producing a 57-36 record over three seasons and bringing the Dons to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998.

Florida will hope for a similar turnaround. The Gators missed the NCAA Tournament this season for the first time since 2016 and for just the second time dating back to 2009. Things looked even bleaker for the Gators after head coach Mike White bolted for rival Georgia shortly after UF’s season ended.

It didn’t take long at all for Florida to find a replacement. In doing so, the Gators landed one of college basketball’s rising stars on the sidelines.

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Sister Jean is back at March Madness rooting for Loyola again and everyone was so excited to see her

Sister Jean is back and our hearts are warm.

There are very few people out there who can legitimately claim to be super fans of whatever it is they root for.

Sister Jean is absolutely one of those people. The 102-year-old chaplain captured the hearts of college basketball fans everywhere four years ago when she showed up in the crowd rooting for Loyola during their March Madness run.

Four years later, she’s still here. And not only is she rooting for the Ramblers in their tournament debut, but she also led the pregame huddle for them as well.

Sister Jean said a prayer for her guys before the game started and wished them luck.

What a moment. Sister really had a scouting report ready in her prayer with those boys.

“Good, gracious God. We need your help today. But I know we can beat those Buckeyes. I noticed as they practiced out there, they make a lot of attempts at 3’s. Somebody has to be under the basket each time so we can rush down, do a break and get the ball into the basket.” 

Listen. Are we sure it’s Sister Jean and not coach Jean? Because it sounds to me like she’s giving the Ramblers a little bit of game.

That’s some pretty amazing stuff. And it’s great that at 102 years old, Jean still comes to the games to cheer her favorite squad on. That’s real fandom right there. We can all appreciate that.

College basketball fans absolutely loved this.

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Saint Peter’s Shaheen Holloway is deservedly the hottest coaching name in college hoops after beating Kentucky

Shaheen Holloway was an excellent college basketball player at Seton Hall.

The biggest star of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament thus far is the Saint Peter’s coach who defeated Kentucky. His name is Shaheen Holloway.

Before the game, even many college basketball fans would not be able to tell you where Saint Peter’s is located. It was a shocking win for the program and one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.

The win put the program on the map and gave Saint Peter’s fans a ton to cheer about in the process. Although the bracket-busting performance had excellent contributions (especially from Daryl Banks and Doug Edert on the offensive side and KC Ndefo on defense), it was the team’s coach who stole the show.

Although he was matched up against a legend in John Calipari, Holloway (who was an excellent college basketball player at Seton Hall) never backed down and continued to fight until the final seconds of the game.

Holloway also showed extreme confidence during walk-off interviews, too. When asked if he was nervous during the game, he slyly answered that he did not — it’s just basketball.

That mentality is exactly what brought Holloway’s team into this big moment despite the fact that the resources Saint Peter’s has at its disposal are nowhere near what a program like Kentucky offers.

Public records indicate Kentucky spends more than ten times as much as Saint Peter’s does on their respective basketball teams. In fact, Kentucky reportedly has four assistant coaches who make more money on their salaries than Holloway does as head coach.

But that didn’t matter when the two teams actually matched up on the floor.

Despite the lack of resources, Saint Peter’s only even made it into March Madness by winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) conference. Then, with a win over Kentucky, his legend only continued to grow.

In the process, Holloway made a lot of new fans around the nation. Now, especially after the massive win over Kentucky, many believe that his recent successes are only just the beginning for Holloway.

One of those individuals is former Kentucky head coach Rick Pitino, a two-time NCAA tournament champion. Pitino, who currently coaches at Iona in New York, was named MAAC Coach of the Year over Holloway.

Pitino, who played college basketball at the University of Massachusets in the early 1970s, said he believes Holloway could be an excellent candidate to replace Matt McCall at UMass (via NJ.com):

“I think Shaheen is one of the young superstars in coaching. He has the total package that fits UMass … He’s a terrific recruiter. He knows how to recruit inner-city kids, which UMass needs. He plays a tough style of play to go against. He was a great player himself from an area that he would have to recruit the University of Massachusetts, so I think he checks all of the boxes. He’s a wonderful guy.”

However, it is not just Pitino who walked away impressed by Holloway. Former NBA players including Magic Johnson and JJ Redick shared their thoughts, and so did many fans around the world.

Saint Peter’s downed Kentucky in one of the biggest upsets in March Madness history

We’re in shock as much as you are.

The beauty of March is, as always, the unexpected. It’s the one month of the calendar year where everyone thinks David will beat Goliath, sometimes repeatedly. “Down goes Frazier, down goes Frazier,” might as well be the entire month’s slogan.

The latest iteration of madness during the Men’s NCAA tournament involves the pitfalls of Kentucky (-18). A 2-seed, many had high hopes for John Calipari’s bunch to make a deep run over the next few weeks. At the very least, they should’ve made it through the first weekend of play because 2-seeds don’t lose to 15-seeds. They don’t. The glorious Peacocks of Saint Peter’s were but a speed bump in that journey.

Except on those rare occasions where the great basketball conjunction occurs.

Down goes Calipari! Down goes Calipari! Down goes Calipari!

In the history of the 64-team format, Kentucky’s 85-79 loss to Saint Peter’s is only the 10th time a 15-seed has ever beaten the longest odds. Falling in this fashion is rare and futile company for one of college basketball’s blue bloods, and a moment of incredible glory for the Peacocks.

Of course, beyond the celebratory mood for Saint Peter’s, Tennessee also has to feel vindicated. Many felt the committee snubbed the Volunteers out of a 2-seed in favor of the Wildcats and Duke Blue Devils. As it so happens, Tennessee is already on to the Second Round. And Kentucky has to roost in its unwelcome history forever.

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Gonzaga’s win over Georgia State was a roller-coaster for anyone who bet the spread

Gonzaga almost fell hilariously flat there, didn’t they? Been there.

As a young millennial, I’m accustomed to having reasonable expectations placed on me that I’ll probably eventually, maybe, live up to, but not right away.

I didn’t hit my first significant adult growth spurt until I was around 17. On the first night that I had my driver’s license in hand — a glorious moment of teenage freedom — I got into an accident after haphazardly backing out of a local hot dog joint’s parking lot to head to the McDonald’s next door. I could’ve simply, you know, walked over rather than taken the hit to my parent’s insurance. (I’m almost proud of that as a badge of honor, honestly.) Following a lot of hand-wringing (and general laziness), I took until the late spring of my senior year of high school to pick a college to attend.

If you think about my upbringing long and hard, I’m probably the darling of every cushy national columnist who is out of ideas. I am the poster child for folks who still center my generation as the core of all modern problems in syndication. Thank you, John Fitzhammersimmons, but I don’t do interviews.

So, if anyone knows arrested development despite being given the golden ticket, it’s me. By that same token, if anyone knows what Gonzaga (-22.5) bettors went through in their almost-not-quite upset against 16-seed Georgia in the Men’s NCAA tournament, it’s me.

It was supposed to be sunshine and rainbows throughout for the No. 1 overall-seeded Zags’ against Georgia State. It was their warmup to the real tournament. And yet, the Bulldogs had what seemed like a tenuous 35-33 halftime lead. Then, Georgia State wouldn’t go away.

With Gonzaga (and their bettors) on edge, it seemed the worst news would come to pass: The best team in men’s college basketball was about to fail and, eventually, get a pat on their head.

Well, not if Drew Timme (32 points) had his say.

From a 54-54 tie around halfway through the second half, Gonzaga went on a run. Let me rephrase: They finally lived up to everyone’s immense pressure. The Bulldogs were so dominant and recovered so well in the second half of the second stanza that they even looked like they would now cover their massive pregame spread. All was well in Buffalo and bettors’ lofty dreams everywhere. That is until the game outcome was wrapped up and they surrendered five points in the final minute.

Ouch. What a way to deliver an unwieldy and uncertain bad beat.

If you’re a Gonzaga bettor, at least they won straight moneyline, right? Does that make you feel better? I’m going to assume not if you took -10000 ML.

Even still, how many teams can score almost 40 points in 12 minutes in a 93-72 win? I’d venture to guess it’s the same as someone going through the awkwardness of puberty and first-time responsibility simultaneously before falling flat on their face, only to get back up again.

Despite fears they might never amount to anything, despite the obvious disappointment permeating the players’ parents (in the stands), the Bulldogs, eventually, did what they were supposed to on Thursday afternoon.

Can’t we all relate?

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