A crazy day in the tournament

First off, so much for that LIU preview.  Life and work got in the way, plus the fact that my two kids seem to always be on our computers, so I wasn't able to get online. Not that it matters, if you really wanted a preview you should read Joe Rexrode in the Lansing State Journal or any number of other professional sportswriters who really know what they're talking about.

Could yesterday have possibly been more perfect from an MSU Spartan fans' point-of-view?  The afternoon really reached high drama early when the official "sexy" Final Four pick, Missouri, went down at the hands of Norfolk State.  I watched almost the entire second half of that game, and I was scratching my head wondering why Missouri was so highly lauded.  Not only did they play poorly, but they played stupidly.  I just don't understand teams that jack up three-point attempts early in the shot clock and have so many wasted possessions. Missouri is a quick team and did a good time of kicking the ball out to their wings, but otherwise I was not impressed with the way they approached the second half of that game.

Later on in the evening, Michigan lost to the real "Ohio", Ohio University--and within moments of Michigan's loss, Duke was defeated by (underrated) Lehigh.  Two of my most hated schools go down in flames within a half-hour of each other, I don't think life could possibly get sweeter from my perspective as a sports fan.

Finally, at 9:30, I poured myself a glass of the (highly unmanly) moscato, parked myself immediately in front of the television, and dug in for the MSU/LIU game.  As expected, the experienced Blackbirds gave the Spartans a battle and did a great job of hanging with the Spartans for the first half, and the initial couple minutes of the second half, but MSU's defense stiffened in the second half--and LIU had absolutely no answer for MSU's big men, Nix and Payne (and I'll throw in Draymond Green, as well).  According to their roster, LIU doesn't have a player taller than 6' 7", and MSU has six players taller than 6' 7".  MSU took advantage of that mismatch and it seemed that LIU just gave up trying to defend the paint as the game progressed.

I have two brackets going: one for what I think will happen, and one for what I hope will happen. I went 25-7 in my "intelligent/analytical" bracket and 28-4 in my "emotional" bracket.  Isn't that the way it always goes?

Next up for MSU: Rick Majerus and the St. Louis Billikens.  The Billikens are a bigger team than LIU and play a much slower style.  They sound similar to Wisconsin.  It should be an interesting tussle between MSU's big men and those from St. Louis.