It’s not uncommon for the selection committee to have its bracket drawn up before all the games are over on Sunday. For that reason, and a few others, Michigan could very well have moved up to a No. 1 seed simply by making the Big Ten final.
Basketball
There was about a minute remaining in UNLV’s basketball game against San Diego State on Friday evening when Aztecs fans began a popular chant for teams about to win on another’s court.
The road from Las Vegas to the NCAA Tournament rarely has been filled with potholes for the New Mexico State basketball team the past three seasons.
Fresno State defeated Colorado State 77-68 in the final of the Mountain West women’s basketball tournament. The victory assured the Bulldogs of their seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Not only did Jordan Adams help UCLA win a Pac-12 championship with one of the biggest shots of his life, the sophomore also exorcised some demons.
Kendall Williams hit a 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining and New Mexico took down top-seeded San Diego State 64-58 in the Mountain West tournament championship at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Steve Alford has a new job in a new conference with a whole new set of players. Yet he finds himself in a very familiar spot today as he prepares to lead his team into a conference tournament championship game in Las Vegas.
UNLV’s basketball team might over the next 24 hours be given the opportunity to continue a season that has delivered more disappointments than not, but the Rebels should deny any and all such inquiries.
A Spalding sports equipment technician armed with lasers showed up recently at the Thomas & Mack Center — and he was on a mission. He was there to make sure the basketball rim and backboard support equipment were properly aligned and connected into a special Mountain West court floor. But he was also there to change Thomas & Mack’s look and convert the venue into a neutral site.
UNLV’s Khem Birch courageously played through pain and laid it all on the line. But the Rebels went out with a whimper anyway, getting knocked out of the Mountain West tournament Friday night while resembling a dispirited and dysfunctional mess in the process.
In a game during which San Diego State was determined to take away UNLV’s big-man tandem of Khem Birch and Roscoe Smith, the Rebels’ guards had an opportunity to seize the moment and carry the team into the Mountain West tournament championship game. Didn’t happen. Never had a chance.
Not that New Mexico needed any extra motivation. But when San Diego State’s win over UNLV went final, the Lobos knew what they had to do.
They could have played all day.
The origin dates to Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1839. The line was later listed as “The third time is lucky.” UNLV doesn’t need such fortune Friday night. But it better be a whole lot smarter than it was Thursday.
Believe it or not, it’s not all about underdog stories in March. Sometimes, it’s about a survival of the favorites, such as Kansas, which escaped early elimination by following freshman leader Andrew Wiggins.
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