2-MINUTE DRILL RANK & FILE A LINEUP OF SPORTS TIDBITS
THE ENCHANTING DANCE
The NCAA Tournament started March 15 with Florida Gulf Coast handing Fairleigh Dickinson a 96-65 beatdown. It ended three weeks later with a game that will be talked about for decades — Villanova’s 77-74 victory over North Carolina on Kris Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer. Here’s a quick look back at some of the moments that make the NCAA Tournament one of sports’ great events:
Are you kidding? There will be no nominations other than Jenkins’ three that sent a shock wave through NRG Stadium. Marcus Paige of the Tar Heels had hit an off-balance three to tie the game with 4.7 seconds to go. That was definitely in the discussion for best shot until Jenkins touched off a celebration that could be going on in Pennsylvania for some time.
Yale’s 79-75 victory over Baylor in the first round. An Ivy League school making its first tournament appearance since 1962 knocks off a national power from the Big 12 and does it by being tougher on the boards.
Middle Tennessee State, a 15 seed, beat secondseeded Michigan State, 90-81, in a game that busted brackets around the country. Many thought the Spartans should have been a No. 1 seed. There was little talk of the Blue Raiders being any higher than a 15.
The Atlantic Coast Conference had seven teams in the field of 68 and a record six of them made it to the Sweet 16. Two — North Carolina and Syracuse — made it to the Final Four.
The Pac-12 also had seven teams in the field but five didn’t make it out of the first round. Oregon, a No. 1 seed, reached the regional final but lost to Oklahoma.
This will be a tournament Northern Iowa will never forget, going from as high as a team can get to as low as no team had been before. The Panthers beat Texas, 75-72, in the first round on a half-court buzzer-beater by Paul Jesperson of Merrill, Wis. Two days later Northern Iowa set an NCAA Tournament record by blowing a 12-point lead in the final 44 seconds of regulation against Texas A&M. The Aggies went on to win, 92-88, in double overtime, capping Northern Iowa’s up-and-down first two rounds.
Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield was the big scorer of the first four rounds with his 37-point effort against Oregon in the regional final his best performance. In the Final Four Hield and the Sooners just couldn’t figure out Villanova’s defense and he was held to nine points as the Wildcats won by 44 points.
The 2016-’17 season will start in early November and it will finish in Glendale, Ariz., in April. The only sure thing will be that the NCAA Tournament will be full of great plays and great games.