[NU Sports] Tourney thoughts

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> Didn't see all of the games this weekend, but the ones
> that I saw were great entertainment.

Maybe it's youthful nostalgia, but there sure seemed to be a lot more "madness" in the first two rounds in Marchs past than this year - a lot of blowouts and only a couple dandies at the very end of each round (late Friday, late Sunday).

And what are we left with? 1,2,3,4 ... 1,2,3,4 ... 1,2,3,5 and 1,2,3,12 - and Purdue and Arizona are more like Sleeping Beauties (awakening late in the year with their talent) than Cinderella.

Oh well, I blame the BCS.:)

Still good to see the Big Ten 2-0 head to head with the ACC. No one is close to the Big East this year, that's for sure, but I think the Big Ten had a respectable showing to shut Digger up about the league not deserving seven bids. Granted, Purdue was woefully underseeded (they should have been rewarded for their tourney run ala Syracuse and Duke), but two Sweet 16 teams with the rest performing at or above their seed (save for injured Illinois) ... good showing.

> Started me thinking 'bout whether NU belonged in the
> dance this year.  In all honestly, I have to say no.  

Well, not the way we finished - but hold on against Purdue and Illinois and get the Iowa or OSU road wins and I'd say we certainly deserved it.

> The reason why is that the other teams in the BT that made
> it into the dance appeared to have second gear.  Purdue is

Not so sure about that - I thought the best Big Ten team with the "second gear" was OSU because they had a "playmaker" who could score in the clutch - but they wound up choking more than any Big Ten team.

Meanwhile, Purdue, MSU and Wisconsin showed that you didn't need flash but defense and a tough mental focus.

NU's style -- like Memphis' press or Syracuse's matchup zone -- isn't something teams see every day. So I'd have liked our chances ... similar to how Wisconsin gave FSU fits (as did we).

I would like to get that second-gear, though.:) Or at least not dig big holes early like we did in the OSU and Minnesota games.

I think we'll be fine once we make the tourney because of our style and the league we play in ... we just have to get there. It was encouraging to see a lot of teams in the Dance this weekend that we either beat or were neck-in-neck with this year.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT