Back in the Building...

...Blogger we back on the map...

Sorry.

Other than being swamped at work (March is now our worst month, with the state wrestling tournament, the A-10 basketball tournament, state basketball playoffs and spring training), we've been too busy with nothing worth talking about here at TJD. Well, except for the brain overload that is Facebook, but that's another post.

And now that I've recovered from the sudden obliteration of my NCAA tournament brackets - Friday and Saturday were a bloodbath - here's what's left of my coherent thoughts on the tournament to this point:

Xavier begat Gonzaga, which begat Butler... who's next, I wonder?

Might be Dayton, actually. I had them beating West Virginia just because I thought WV was shaky and Dayton was better than their seeding. Their won-loss records also enlightened me to a new tip for next year.

Turns out that the California team that got screwed wasn't St. Mary's - it was San Diego State.

I don't remember the last time a team got knocked out of the field, then played its way back in like Maryland did. I had them dead in the water after Cleveland State upset Butler to win the Horizon, and then they make a run in the ACC tournament to get off the bubble. Kudos. (Although Grievis Vasquez will be the next Sasha Vujacic, and may actually get punched in the face.)

Pro Tip: If your best player and All-America candidate gets all of seven shots in an NCAA tournament game, you need to lose.

Villanova's not that big of a shock if you look at the big picture. They were an overlooked team - and probably rightfully so - in the Big East with Louisville, UConn and Pitt all being No. 1 at one point during the season and Syracuse's run through the Big East tourney. But they were ranked all year and they're a veteran group, with a coach that knows how to adapt to his personnel and use his team's strengths.