OK, it’s time for SU to acknowledge those of you from the intergalactic subscriber base who put their reputations on the line with fearless NCAA Final Four predictions.  Let us summarize what we heard from the SU faithful:

• Mark N. leads the charge with his prediction of Gonzaga topping UNC in the finals.  He is well positioned certainly.  Well done!
• There was a lot of love for Northwestern from P. Friedman and Jeff.  SU likes the passion for the Wildcats and they had a strong comeback against Gonzaga.
• P. Bok did well by picking both UNC and Oregon in the Final Four and was impressed by Oregon going in.
• Of course, SU crashed and burned with Arizona.  But the important thing is putting your picks out there and manning up.

I have to admit: I watched a lot of the early rounds but I have minimal interest in the Final Four.  I still don’t know how Oregon got there – they are not that good and were fortunate to get by Michigan.  You have to feel like North Carolina is ready to avenge last year’s buzzer beating loss and will cut down the nets Monday night.

SU watched a fair amount of last night’s UConn – Mississippi State Final Four game.  The announcers were saying this was one of the biggest upsets ever in NCAA history but I don’t see that.  Mississippi State is a #2 seed and while they were killed by UConn last year by 60 points in the Elite 8 , that was a very different UConn team.  True, UConn came in undefeated but their win streak covered a bunch of players who are no longer there.  It was an upset obviously but not one for the ages.

SU is a major UConn fan and I know there are a few subscribers who are also passionate about the women’s team.  Mississippi State really stymied UConn’s ball movement on offense by clogging up the passing lanes and doing a bit of holding and grabbing.  Here is the thing with “playing aggressively on defense” with this style of play.  SU has seen this before (see Rye High School vs. Blind Brook HS with their football style of grabbing and shoving back in 2006).  What happens is that the refs realize that they can call a foul on every play and may start out that way but as the game goes on, they don’t want to keep doing that and start to pocket their whistles.  The announcers call it “physical play.”  SU sees it as grabbing and holding.  I am not taking anything away from MSU – they executed their game plan and did not back down.  But for the fan, I would rather see the game played with ball movement and cutting, and if the defense is impeding that, then call the fouls.  We don’t need a return to Pat Riley 1990s Knick ball.  In any event, it’s good for women’s college hoops to have some upsets and this will only fuel UConn next season with a stacked roster.

Also, the flagrant foul call at the end of the game was bogus.  How can you review the video and then go back and call a flagrant when there was no foul originally?  The reality is that if there hadn’t been a stoppage in play, it’s possible that the game could have ended and THEN the refs check the video.  Are you telling me they would have gone back and allowed UConn to shoot 2 foul shots then??  I also think there was some acting by Samuelson there.  Thought from those of you that saw that play?

Finally, SU checked out the Kyrgios – Federer match last night which Fed won 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 in a 3-hour slugfest.  It was great tennis and Kyrgios is managing to keep it together much better now.  Of course, he did destroy his racket on the court after losing match point but still progress for him.  He will never be a class act on the court and fans may long for the days of the Big Four and their mutual respect for one another.  But he will be knocking on the door for the next year and will have his share of upset wins.