A 12 months in the past, they each busted the brackets.
Now, it seems the brackets might bust them.
A 12 months in the past within the NCAA males’s basketball event, UCLA fought its manner to the Closing 4 whereas USC rolled to the Elite Eight.
Now, it seems each must battle their manner out of the First Weekend.
A 12 months in the past, the Bruins’ Mick Cronin and the Trojans’ Andy Enfield carried out a few of the finest teaching magic of their careers.
Now, it seems they’ve been cursed with extra hats than rabbits.
The revealing of the March Insanity brackets Sunday, whereas crammed with the standard native hope, somberly set each UCLA and USC on a doable March towards insanity.
Each face tall duties to advance to the Candy 16. And if both makes it that far, the remainder of the trek is so troublesome that any success might match final 12 months on the miracle meter.
As massive dances go, each groups are going to need to do some severe waltzing simply to outlive, not to mention make it to the Closing 4 in New Orleans.
Begin with UCLA, which ended the season with championship effort and well being however was seeded solely fourth after collapsing towards highly effective Arizona within the Pac-12 event closing Saturday night time.
The Bruins could have a first-round breather Thursday in Portland, Ore., towards an Akron crew judged to be the 127th finest within the nation. The one query in that sport shall be, what the heck is a Zip?
However then it will get fairly robust, fairly quick.
Their second-round sport in all probability could be towards St. Mary’s, a sensible crew with the Twelfth-ranked scoring protection within the nation. The Gaels have wins towards Gonzaga and Oregon, neither of which the Bruins might beat. The Gaels even have March’s secret sauce — a trio of veteran guards in Alex Ducas, Logan Johnson and Tommy Kuhse.
It could be a troublesome sport towards what's more likely to be a St. Mary’s-heavy crowd. If the Bruin survive, they then would journey to Philadelphia for an East Regional that certainly will really feel like a sluggish climb up the “Rocky” steps.
Their first opponent there in all probability could be defending champion Baylor, which flew below the radar for a lot of the 12 months, however the Bears nonetheless can fly. They beat Kansas, Villanova, Michigan State and Iowa State. Freshman guard Kendall Brown shall be a first-round NBA choose. They’re primed once more.
If UCLA might knock off the champions, standing between the Bruins and the Closing 4 in all probability could be an excellent greater hurdle: a Kentucky crew that spent a lot of the winter as probably the most harmful within the nation. The Wildcats function the possible Wood Award winner, rebounding machine and inside pressure Oscar Tshiebwe. They will hit the Bruins the place they harm probably the most.
If UCLA nonetheless is standing after two weekends of battles and may swagger once more into the Closing 4? Most likely ready for them in New Orleans could be Gonzaga, which beat the Bruins by 20 this season after profitable on a 40-foot, time beyond regulation buzzer-beater in final 12 months’s Closing 4.
Man, that will be some rematch of a rematch, proper? However the Bruins have to deal with worst issues first.
Then there’s USC, which, regardless of its school-record 26 wins, misplaced three of its final 4 video games and beat just one ranked opponent all season. The Trojans paid for his or her big-game struggles with a seventh seed and a first-round date in Greenville, S.C., towards savvy Miami.
The Hurricanes are a kind of veteran transfer-led colleges like USC final 12 months. The Hurricanes function guard Charlie Moore, who’s attending his fourth college in his sixth school season. Their expertise led to wins at Duke, at Virginia Tech and at house towards North Carolina. They simply might put on down a Trojans crew that already seems weary.
However Enfield has carried out arguably his finest teaching this 12 months after shedding star Evan Mobley to the NBA, so the Trojans might pull off the victory, simply in time for a extra sizable job.
Hiya, Auburn. Yeah, that Bruce Pearl-coached crew had an abbreviated keep within the SEC event however spent all 12 months across the prime of the polls and has one of many event’s finest gamers in doable No. 1 draft choose Jabari Smith. The Tigers are extremely proficient and skilled and are going be the hardest of outs.
If USC can overcome these odds and advance to the Midwest regional in Chicago? Um, let’s discuss then.
If nothing else, the 2 tournament-tested coaches are prepared.
Cronin is thrilled that his crew’s season-long harm plague has disappeared and enthusiastic about how the Bruins competed towards a doable national-champion Arizona crew.
“What’d we educate you final 12 months, you already know?” Cronin requested reporters Sunday. “It’s all how we begin enjoying now. You simply gotta win one after the other … you begin desirous about whoever you might have an opportunity to play after that, you’ve received issues.”
Enfield embraces the challenges and feels his Trojans are good and skilled sufficient to deal with them. They have been, in any case, 10-1 in video games determined by 5 or fewer factors. And 4 of their 5 starters performed in final 12 months’s event
“I’m simply actually blissful concerning the progress of our crew and the place we're proper now,” he instructed reporters Sunday. “It’s a credit score to our gamers. They did a terrific job this season.”
Oh, yeah, don’t overlook the third native crew to qualify for the event, Dedrique Taylor’s shocking Titans from Cal State Fullerton. The Huge West event champions could have a shot to finish a legendary teaching profession once they face Duke and retiring Mike Krzyzewski within the first spherical.
If the Titans win that sport in one of many largest upsets in event historical past, they may advance to the second spherical to in all probability play … who cares? Cal State David could have toppled Coach Goliath!
Let the insanity start.
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