As bad luck would have it, my Miami University RedHawks were given the "odd" slot in the NCAA tournament (one site out west plays a game in the slot between the 2:30 p.m. starts and the 7 p.m. starts.) So not a whole lot of people got to see our game and it's a double bummer - one because we lost 58-56 and the other because we fought it to the bitter end only to come up short. We didn't get the late 3-pointer to fall this time. And I didn't get to see it because the East doesn't see that particular game (plus I bowl on Fridays, so I didn't see the score until just now.)
Miami is one team where, if you love hard-nosed defensive basketball, you'll get it. They ended up 18-15 but were the ONLY team in the country not to give up more than 70 points in a game this year. (They gave up 69 points to arch-rival Ohio University in a 72-69 win and 68 points on four other occasions.) If they can recruit a really good scorer who can keep up with that D they'll be unstoppable in the MAC and beyond. Does Ron Harper (a classmate of mine and five-time NBA champ with the Bulls and Lakers) have a son by chance?
So far (with three lower seeds yet to play as of this writing) the biggest "upset" if you can call it that is where two #11 seeds have won over #6 seeds. There's really not been a bracket-buster so far although Miami gave it a shot - too bad because we would've gotten one of those #11 seeds in the second round.
Oh well. Baseball season begins in 2 1/2 weeks and the Shorebirds' home opener is 4 weeks from tonight. Meanwhile, Charlie Coles (Miami's head coach, class of '65) has some work to do about finding a go-to scorer. If we can get away from 9-minute scoring droughts we'll own the MAC and our NCAA story won't be one-and-done.