THE POP EXPOSE – ‘The 2020 NCAA TOURNEY That Wasn’t’ By Mitchell Smith!
This Monday would have been the NCAA basketball championship. Normally we would be coming off a month of wild games with last second shots, crazy upsets, and 2 teams left playing for the championship. As we all know that came to a screeching halt 3 weeks ago. So I thought it would be fun to take the last bracket projection and take my picks to the finals. So first round I predict would have been one of the craziest first rounds we have seen in a while, but all 4 number 1 seeds survive Gonzaga, Kansas, Dayton, and Baylor. All my number 2 seeds advance Kentucky, Florida State, San Diego State, and Creighton. All my number 3 seeds advance Michigan State, Duke, Villanova, and Seton Hall.
My 4 seeds Oregon, Wisconsin, and Maryland advance, with a surprise upset by the Vermont Catamounts knocking off Louisville in stunning fashion as Anthony Lamb nails a half court shot as time expires to win by 1. Notoriously a 5 seed gets knocked off. This year was no exception, Michigan, Ohio State, and Butler all escape the dreaded 12 seed, but Liberty who won their first ever tournament game last year knocks off Auburn who had high hopes as they were a final 4 team last year. That’s the way the cookie crumbles though and on to the 6 seeds. 6 seeds had a split Iowa and Virginia advance but Indiana upends BYU and Syracuse who beat UCLA in the play in game takes care of Penn State.
My 7 seeds make out pretty good, Providence, West Virginia, and Illinois advance as number 10 Texas Tech takes care of Arizona. That brings us to the 8-9 matchup which the 9 seed notoriously have a better record, and this year stays to suit as Rutgers, Florida, and Oklahoma advance leaving only Houston as the 8th seed to advance. Some hard fought games, overtime games, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but nothing too crazy after 2 days of play as far as upset city goes. Round 2 Houston puts up a good fight but they have no answer for the big guy of Kansas and Kansas moves onto the Sweet 16. Baylor has found itself in the playoffs and they take care of Rutgers in a 30 point rout. 2 teams though pull the big upset as Oklahoma knocks out Gonzaga and Florida takes down Dayton. My 2 seed had another good round but not perfect, Kentucky, Florida State, and Creighton advance, but San Diego falls short to last years runner up to the championship, Texas Tech. Michigan State, Duke, and Seton Hall all advance to the sweet 16 plus one very surprising team who takes out the 3 seeded Villanova the Syracuse Orange. My 4 seeds do good work as Wisconsin, Maryland, and Oregon advance, along with my 5th seed Ohio State. Elite 8 time. Maryland rolls past Florida and SUs run comes to an end as Florida State closes them out for another nail biter. Oklahoma and Oregon battle and Oklahoma shoots and airball three as Reaves is able to grab it and lay it in for the tie. Oklahoma squeaks out the win in overtime to advance. Seton Hall advances along with Creighton, Baylor, and Duke, and Wisconsin’s Davison drops 33 points as they knock off number 1 Kansas.
Final 4 Maryland plays one of their strongest games of the year and pulls out a win against Florida State. Oklahoma plays a great game, but Seton Hall just has to many weapons to guard and Seton Hall moves into the Final Four. Baylor was ranked high all year and what a year they had, but they never imagined Creighton would rain down 3s seemingly at will and the last number 1 seed falls. Another great game by Wisconsin almost slips away at the buzzer as Duke’s Carey Jr gets a clean shot off at the buzzer but draws the back of the iron. Seton Hall played a great game but Maryland controlled the tempo and rolled into the finals. Creighton keeps the hot 3 point shooting going and takes care of Wisconsin. Maryland played as good as they have all year long but foul trouble plagued them down the stretch and Creighton is crowned 2020 Champion.
Who do you think would have won this years tourney? Make the JUMP TO THE FORUM and let us know!
