March has arrived, people. All the Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa and New Year's hoopla doesn't even compare to what we're about to experience. March Madness really is the most wonderful time of the year. With less than a week left until the regular season ends, it's time for Tufts to jump on the March Madness bandwagon.
Big (East) Surprise of the Week: Pittsburgh's 72-50 defeat of No. 5 Boston College (BC). No one really expected the 24th-ranked Panthers to beat red-hot Boston College on Monday night after dropping three games in a row. Coming off three consecutive conference losses to Villanova, West Virginia and the University of Connecticut, the Panthers desperately needed a turnaround. BC was exactly what the doctor ordered.
The first half of the contest was hard-fought by both teams, and Pitt took a slim three-point lead heading into the locker room. Panther coach Jamie Dixon must have said something at halftime, because Pitt exploded in the second half for 44 points, outscoring the Eagles by 19 points in the final 20 minutes.
The Panthers' depth was never more evident than on Monday night. Pitt had five players in double figures, led by sophomore Antonio Graves who dropped 13. Chris Taft also chipped in big for Pitt with 12 points and eight boards while point-man Carl Krauser had a solid night at the helm with 10 points, seven boards, and seven dimes. Pitt's unselfish play led to the team's solid 48.3 percent shooting from the field, in contrast to BC's 31.1 percent.
Bigger Surprise of the Week: On Feb. 22, a normal regular season game between the Saint Joe's Hawks and the Temple Owls turned out to be anything but normal. Frustrated with how his team was playing and with the fact that the game had already been determined, Temple coach John Chaney, known for his hot temper, did the unthinkable. He sent one of his players into the game and instructed him to physically harm a member of the Saint Joe's squad.
This move would not have been so scrutinized by the media had the Saint Joe's player not sustained injury as a result of Chaney's instructions. John Bryant, a 6'7" senior forward for the Hawks, was clobbered by a Temple player near the conclusion of the game and suffered a broken arm, effectively ending his college basketball career and ending his hopes of playing in the NCAA tournament.
Since the incident, the media has attacked Chaney. College basketball suspended Chaney for one game, but after the media complained that one game simply wasn't enough for the severity of his actions, Temple extended the suspension to three games. Chaney himself stepped onto the national media stage, recusing himself from the Atlantic-10 tournament, publicly apologizing to the Hawks, and offering to pay Bryant's medical bills.
Public outcry has not yet subsided, and college basketball is abuzz with rumors of a possible step-down by Chaney from his 23-year successful coaching position at Temple.
On the bubble: With Selection Sunday, the day on which the NCAA tournament bracket is revealed, just around the corner, keep an eye on these key teams that need to prove themselves down the stretch to make the tournament.
ACC: Maryland and Georgia Tech. Big East: Notre Dame, Georgetown and West Virginia. Big 12: Texas and Texas A&M. Big 10: Minnesota. Conference USA: DePaul and Marquette. Pac-10: UCLA. SEC: Vanderbilt.
Mid-major teams that could end up getting at-large bids: Vermont, Holy Cross, George Washington, and New Mexico.
The Greatest in All of Sports: Sunday. March 6. 4:00 p.m. Duke travels to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to take on the Tar Heels in the greatest rivalry in all of sports in a game as steeped in hype as it is in its implications for tourney selections. Duke beat UNC at home earlier in the season and this game is the last regular season game for both of these teams. The game is being televised on CBS so there's really no excuse not to watch.
