Day 4 Review

The first week of March Madness 2010 is officially in the books. We were treated to a lot these last few days. Four overtime games, mid-majors upsetting perennial powerhouses, and the fall of the mighty Jayhawks to little known Northern Iowa Panthers.

Day 4 of the tournament had blowouts and three close calls. Duke, Syracuse, Ohio State and West Virginia all flecked their muscles, advancing to the Sweet 16 relatively easy. For all the negatived they received going into the tournament, Duke has looked very impressive in their first 2 games. Even on an off day for standout guard Jon Scheyer (1-11 from the field), the Blue Devils were able to totally control a California team that surprised a lot of people by blowing out Louisville on Friday.

The day wouldn't be complete without a highly ranked Big East team losing. Pittsburgh came into the tournament as a number 3 seed, and they will now join the rest of their conference watching from home as they lost to Xavier. Thank God Syracuse and West Virginia have looked so good otherwise the conference would look like a complete joke.

Even though they have now taken a back seat to Northern Iowa, the Cornell Big Red continue to look like a Cinderella team that could go far. They dominated Wisconsin, shooting 61% from the field and an amazing 53% from downtown. Their showdown with top ranked Kentucky looks like it will be the most intriguing game of the Sweet 16.

Give Michigan State a lot of credit in their nail biting win over Maryland. Without Kalin Lucas the Spartans gave up a 16 point lead before Korie Lucious hit a game winning 3 pointer as the buzzer hit double 0. Tom Izzo continues to prove he is one of the best big game coaches in college basketball. The man has led the Spartans to the Final Four in 5 of the last 11 years. Impressive to say the least. Michigan State draws Northern Iowa next. Should be very interesting to see how the Panthers respond off their big win over Kansas.

How about the Purdue Boilermakers? They looked dead in the water once they lost forward Robbie Hummel for the season. Now they will be going to the Sweet 16. Many people didn't think they would even make it past Siena. However, their run probably comes to an end next week when they match up with Duke.

Well now the country gets to relax for a few days until we start things up again next Thursday. If the current pace keeps up then March Madness 2010 could be one of the most entertaining of all time. It certainly had arguably the most entertaining first weekend. Lets keep the party rolling. Stay tuned.