The NCAA Tournament is down to the “Sweet 16” after an intense two rounds over four days that included both upsets and heavyweights advancing.
Our TINK Sports Living Entertainers bracket is also moving along and has reached the Elite-8. Thanks to all who participated thus far. If you want your voice heard, let us know which entertainers should move on to the Final-4 by emailing us at mailto:[email protected].
TINK Sports Entertainers “Bracket”
| Actors |
Comedians |
| 1 Tom Hanks vs.
3 Denzel Washington |
3 Chris Rock vs.
8 Tina Fey |
|
Music / Variety |
Hosts |
| 1 Beyonce vs.
2 Will Smith |
2 Oprah Winfrey vs.
13 John Stewart |
College Basketball
Sweet and Sour…The NCAA tournament was in full swing last week and while some fan bases are singing songs of glee, others are devastated.
In true March Madness fashion, a record-tying 13 higher seeded teams advanced past the first round. Around the country many brackets are busted.
Jillian Michaels would give the Biggest Loser award to #2 seed Michigan State – a team many felt deserved a #1 seed, and was Las Vegas odds makers’ second favorite team to win it all. Michigan State, who never led in the game, was rocked by #15 Middle Tennessee State 90-81 in Friday’s first round game.
Other major first round upset winners, included:
- #12 Yale, who hadn’t made the Dance since 1962, beat #5 Baylor
- #12 Arkansas Little Rock took down the #5 Purdue Goliath and their two 7’ centers
- #13 Hawaii dropped a #4 California team, and posed for a great selfie
- #14 Stephen F. Austin was confident and all smiles as they handled #3 West Virginia’s pressure defense
The second round, played over the weekend, was more predictable as many favorites won close games.
Seen this movie before? #1 North Carolina is headed to the Sweet 16 for an NCAA record 27th time, after pulling away from #9 Providence in the second half and winning 85-66.
Saturday’s big upset was #11 Gonzaga dominating #3 Utah 82-59, holding Utah’s 7’0” star Jakob Poeltl to five points and four rebounds. Gonzaga will face another team voted “Least Likely to Succeed” in #10 Syracuse who beat #15 Middle Tennessee State 75-50 on Sunday.
“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” – Player of the year candidate, Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield, scored a tournament-high 36 points in a second round victory over VCU.
The craziest finish in recent memory saw #3 Texas A&M overcome a 12 point deficit with just 34 seconds remaining to force overtime, then winning in double overtime against Northern Iowa.
Here are the Sweet-16 teams and matchups for Thursday and Friday night:
|
East |
Midwest |
| 1 North Carolina vs.
5 Indiana |
1 Virginia vs.
4 Iowa State |
| 6 Notre Dame vs.
7 Wisconsin |
10 Syracuse vs.
11 Gonzaga |
|
South |
West |
| 1 Kansas vs.
5 Maryland |
1 Oregon vs.
4 Duke |
| 2 Villanova vs.
3 Miami (Fla) |
2 Oklahoma vs.
3 Texas A&M |
National Basketball Association (NBA)
In a matchup of the two teams with the highest combined winning percentage in NBA history, the San Antonio Spurs (59-11) beat the Golden State Warriors (63-7) 87-79 on Saturday night. The Spurs were led by LaMarcus Aldridge with 26 points and 13 rebounds. San Antonio held the Warriors to their lowest offensive output of the season, 37 points below their league-leading scoring average.
Not so sweet…With this loss, the Warriors haven’t won in San Antonio since 1997, the year Titanic dominated the box office. Want a rematch? The NBA’s two Goliaths meet again twice in the regular season.
The Miami Heat held up a (virtual) “You’re Not Welcome Here” sign as they beat Lebron James and the Eastern-Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday. The Heat were led by former teammate and still Lebron bestie Dwyane Wade who scored 24 points to pass 20,000 points for his career. LeBron is now 0-3 with his Cavs in Miami since taking his talent back to Ohio from South Beach prior to the 2014-15 season.
Tennis
Remove foot from mouth and take your bags with you…Raymond Moore, the 69-year-old Indian Wells (tennis tournament) CEO and tournament director, resigned Monday night, one day after sexist comments got him in hot water. Moore said women tennis players are lucky and ride the coattails of their male counterparts, and should get “down every night” on their knees to thank the men’s players.
Major League Baseball (MLB)
Craving peanuts and Cracker Jacks? Baseball season is only a few weeks away, with the first games on Sunday, April 3.
In an odd case of “Take Your Kid to Work Day” gone wrong, Chicago White Sox’ Adam LaRoche decided to retire and leave $13 million on the table rather than limit his 14-year-old son’s clubhouse access. The young LaRoche had been hanging out with dad and his White Sox teammates in Spring Training when the team asked to curb the son’s time with the team. The 36-year-old LaRoche balked and decided to hang up his cleats instead.
Cuba Libre? For the first time since 1999, an MLB team is visiting Cuba as the Tampa Bay Rays take on the Cuban national team Tuesday. More amazingly, President Obama, who will be in attendance rooting for the US squad, is the first American president in 88 years to visit the island.
Remember at TINK Sports we watch the games so you don’t have to.
See you next time…
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