March Madness (American's 61-60 thriller over Army in the Patriot League semifinals) and March Sadness (George Washington missing the A-10 Tournament after losing to Temple) are already in full force...less than one week before hearts are broken, dreams come true and brackets are filled out. This month also marks the return of the Shamrock Shake, a McDonald's beverage of minty goodness that is not to be missed but difficult to find. You see, not every McD's participates in the Shammy promotion...leaving me dumbfounded more than once-- like many in the college basketball landscape.
Maryland had paid the cashier for its Shammy with quality wins over Virginia Tech and North Carolina before the shake machine busted in the manner of Saturday's loss to Virginia. Mamadi Diane always seems to have his best games against the Terps...and the senior shined one last time with 23 points. Deja vu anyone? Maryland wrapped up the regular season last year with a loss to 4-11 in the ACC UVa when a victory would have solidified its at-large status--this year the Cavs were 3-12 but put a dampener on the Terps postseason hopes. Next up: ACC Quarterfinals against North Carolina State Thursday.
By the way, I've engaged in a Larry Bird-Dominique Wilkins Eastern Semifinals Game Sevenesque contest of consumption of Shamrock Shakes with one of my friends--unfortunately I don't have Dennis Johnson around to bail me out for a few possessions this month.
Georgetown wrapped up its regular season with a dignity salvaging 48-40 defeat of Depaul. How bad are the Blue Demons? Umm, 0-18 in the Big East...the league's first winless club since Miami in '93. What makes things more ridiculous is this week's five-day, double-bye Big East Tournament...again, teachers across this great nation are thankful to the Big East because students will be reading instead of submitting themselves to watching Tuesday's undercard bracket...do I want to see Hoyas-St. John's again? Does Depaul deserve to even see Madison Square Garden, yet alone play a Big East Tournament game? Is anyone Tivoing Notre Dame (can't win on the road) against Rutgers (can't win anywhere)? Please tell me you're staying up late for the classic matchup of Seton Hall-South Florida.
In fact, I wish there could be some way to purge four schools from the league--any more than 12 teams makes for an unwieldy conference: I covered the 13-team Mid-American Conference and wonder what the deal is with a 14 team Atlantic Ten--note to A-10 and Big Ten, IF A NUMBER IS IN YOUR LEAGUE'S NAME YOU ARE HONOR-BOUND TO KEEP THAT TOTAL!
I would get rid of Depaul and Marquette; both are non-football playing schools in the midwest that would benefit more by pulling a Memphis and remaining big fish in the small pond of Conference USA (it would make that league a lot more fun to watch as well). I would give Notre Dame an ultimatum: join us in football or enjoy being an independent in your sports nobody cares about. They've been using the Big East far too long-- and South Bend is not the easiest place to reach. I would let Seton Hall join the Metro Atlantic--the league already has a New York City presence in St. John's and the Redmen/Redstorm are a historic pillar program of the conference...one school has memories of Chris Mullin and Walter Berry, the other has Andrew Gaze and Jersey Turnpike exits.
BIG EAST FOLD, BOLD AND GOLD PICKS TOMORROW...
George Mason and American are each one step shy of returning to the NCAA Tournament... the Patriots topped Towson in the CAA semifinals 56-48, outrebounding the Tigers 38-31 and holding Pat Kennedy's crew to 3 of 20 three-point shooting. Mason meets Virginia Commonwealth tonight in the finals. The Rams won the only regular season meeting between the two schools 76-71 January 24th--Eric Maynor scored 8 of his 28 points in the game's final four minutes...Mason was in position to win after hitting 50% of their threes and outrebounding VCU by 13. While the Rams look like the smart pick-- this is March and Mason is magical in March...plus they have Doc Nix and the best pep band around the beltway.
AU needed a three in the final minute and a free throw with 3.6 seconds remaining to nip Army 61-60...Brian Gilmore stepping up on both accounts. Gilmore also scored the team's first 12 points of the second half--taking the Eagles from a 38-27 deficit to a 39-38 lead. Their reward: a finals date Friday afternoon at Bender Arena against second seed Holy Cross. Each school won on its home court in their regular season matchups; the Crusaders prevailing 71-62 in Worcester while the Eagles won 56-50 in DC. By the way, the McDonald's next to Bender Arena on the AU campus is participating in the Shamrock Shake promotion. I'll pick the game later this week after more research (and more than a few Shammys).
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