The big story from day one of the NCAA Tournament is 14th seeded Harvard knocking off a #3 seed, New Mexico. But I want to talk about an upset that didn’t happen. Before I get to that however, I’m going to go off on a brief tangent on the late Manute Bol. I met him once at a casino in Connecticut, he loved to gamble. Manute had 10 children; one of which is named Bol Bol (seriously), who’s 6’5″ in 7th grade and considered to be one of the best basketball players his age in the country. Another of Manute’s sons is named Madut, and he’s a 6’9″ backup center on the Southern University Jaguars basketball team.
Southern earned a ticket to the big dance by winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference (known as the SWAC) tournament. They did this with a 45-44 victory over the mighty Prairie View A&M Panthers in the final. During the course of the season Southern lost games to such national powerhouses as North Carolina Central, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and Alcorn St. This resume earned Southern a #16 seed, and a first round matchup with #1 Gonzaga.
Yesterday with 3:47 left, that game was tied 56-56 (for comparison, in the other 1 vs 16 matchup last night Louisville beat North Carolina A&T 79-48). Gonzaga ended up winning 64-58, but as I said a few weeks ago, there is no possible way they should be ranked #1 in the country.
Check out “37 seconds of sports and other stuff i care about” at lucidsportsfan.com, and follow Mark on twitter @LucidSportsFan
About Mark Vandeusen