By Sonny Jones
If your NCAA basketball tournament bracket wasn’t busted Thursday afternoon when No. 4 seed Virginia was upset by No. 13 Furman 68-67 and if it wasn’t busted Thursday night when No. 15 Princeton knocked off No. 2 Arizona 59-55, then, for sure, it was busted Friday night when No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson toppled No. 1 Purdue 63-58.
With these first-round results it is impossible that anyone in the world can have a perfect bracket.
Don’t know if it’s true, but read that after Virginia’s loss that only about 10% of the brackets in ESPN’s contest were still perfect. There’s no way those folks also selected Princeton and Fairleigh Dickson to advance.
By the way, I didn’t fill out a bracket so it’s not busted. Can assure you it would have been Thursday.
• Much was made around these parts that the Atlantic Coast Conference was underrated and deserved more than five teams in tournament. Well, upon further review, maybe the ACC wasn’t so hot after all.
Duke looks Final Four worthy. Pittsburgh, which had to play in the First Four round, and Miami are playing over the weekend, but Virginia and N.C. State were bounced in the first round. Clemson, which seemingly was shafted by not getting an NCAA bid, blew a big lead and lost to Morehead State 68-64 in the first round of the NIT. Virginia Tech also lost in the first round of the NIT. Of course, North Carolina didn’t receive an NCAA bid and chose not to play in the NIT.
• The upsets make “March Madness” the best. With the transfer portal and, seemingly, every game on TV or streaming, the “Big Boys” of the sport aren’t so big any longer. More parity and a single-elimination tournament results in entertaining games.
• If you’re not watching any of the World Baseball Classic, you’re missing a treat. The effort by the players and the intensity in the stands makes for a tremendous atmosphere. It’s unfortunate that New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz was injured during Puerto Rico’s victory celebration and is out for the season, but that’s no reason not to continue the world tournament every four years. Players get hurt in spring training games, too.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
• 2016 — Middle Tennessee State sends a big shock through the men’s NCAA Tournament, topping second-seeded Michigan State 90-81 in the first round. Middle Tennessee never trails the Spartans (29-6) in one of the biggest upsets since the tournament began seeding teams in 1985.
POTATO’S TOP PICKS TO WATCH TODAY
• BASKETBALL: NCAA tournament – Duke vs. Tennessee, 2:40 p.m., CBS
• PGA: Valspar Championship, 3 p.m., NBC
• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: NCAA tournament – North Carolina vs. St. John’s, 4 p.m., ESPN
• WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: United States vs. Venezuela, 7 p.m., FOX
• NHL: Pittsburgh at N.Y. Rangers, 8 p.m., ABC
• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: NCAA tournament – Duke vs. Iona, 9:30 p.m., ESPN2
• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: NCAA tournament – East Carolina vs. Texas, 10 p.m., ESPN
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com.
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