UW-Milwaukee Panthers has become the darling of the tournament pundits and casual observers alike, and will get to continue its surreal Cinderalla run to the Sweet Sixteen next Thursday. Today, UWM won convincingly against the much-favored Boston College team 83-75 and again proved that this team is no fluke. Unfortunately, I had to work during the game time and had to listen to the radio for play-by-play coverage. At least I was getting paid to sit in my car for over two hours listening to the game to compensate for not having the chance to see it live on TV.
I do feel a tiny bit of guilty pang for jumping on the Panthers bandwagon since I didn't really pay much attention to most of its regular season games up until the Horizon League tournament leading up to the Big Dance. To my credit, I did pick the Panthers to go all the way to the Sweet Sixteen before succumbing to the formidable Illinois team. I'm still sticking to my original prediction but I will root undividedly for the Panthers team this coming Thursday.
Speaking of other Cinderella teams, what a phenomenal tournament it has been for the underdogs. Bucknell brought down the mighty Kansas that boasts two future NBA top picks, Wayne Simien and Keith Langford; lily-white Vermont dashed the national championship hopes of the much-ballyhooed Syracuse that fielded two of the top talents in the nation, Hakim Warrick and Gerry McNamara; and tonight, West Virginia Mountaineers sent the tournament favorite, Wake Forest Demon Deacons, packing in an intense-filled, nail-biting double-overtime. To Wake Forest's credit, I'm sure its star guard, Chris Paul, will be among the top-five pick in the coming NBA draft.
My picks for the Final Four still stand: Illinois, North Carolina, Louisville, and Duke. Duke will meet North Carolina in one-half of the Final Four while Illinois will battle Louisville in the other half. The Blue Devils (Duke) and Tar Heels (North Carolina) game will be very exciting but the Tar Heels' much deeper bench and more athletic frontcourt will nudge it to victory. Though I have a soft spot for Coach Rick Pitino and his Louisville Cardinals team, especially its indefatiguable swingman, Francisco Garcia, I still think that the Fighting Illinis' (Illinois) super-quick and highly talented backcourt trifecta is a bit too much for the Cardinals to handle.
Anyway, another Wisconsin team, UW-Madison, will play against Bucknell tomorrow evening, which it has a very good chance of winning. If the Wisconsin Badgers win tomorrow, there will be two teams representing the dairy state in the Sweet Sixteen. It just cannot get any sweeter than this! As Dicky V would say, "It's the cheese, baby!"
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