Recap of March Madness Day 3

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Sorry this is a little late, but I wasn't by my computer last night. And just a disclaimer: as you can see from my Day 1 and Day 2 entries, these thoughts are my opinions. As such they're inherently biased, which I realize isn't exactly in line with journalism objectivity. So if any Duke fans are reading this, sorry.

Continue after the jump.

What I liked

• Villanova looking like the Final Four team I thought they could be. After playing sluggish for all of the first half against American, the Wildcats just absolutely dominated UCLA (who for the last few years reminded me of the Philadelphia Eagles of earlier this decade in that they made three straight Final Fours but never won a championship). For the Wildcats, their 89-69 victory moved them to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in five years, and also tied the single-season school record for most wins.
• Similarly, UConn destroying Texas A&M. So far my national champion pick has beat two teams (granted Chatanooga and the Aggies) by a combined 82 points.
• The end of the Gonzaga-Western Kentucky game. True, my buzzer beater definition wasn't met, but anytime you have a team tie it up with under 10 seconds to go just to have the other team go coast to coast to win the game as the clock is about to expire, that's special. Unfortunately I was at my friend's a cappella concert instead... yeah.

• Duke winning. As the most despised team on facebook, I know I'm not alone in these sentiments. Plus, Villanova would've had an easier time with Texas than they will with Duke. Just like the Gonzaga game, I unfortunately missed the majority of this for that a capella concert, which is too bad. Seeing Duke lose a double digit lead would've been nice, but also, I would've seen one of the greatest saves in recent college basketball history. I'll admit that was a great play by Scheyer. However, Duke did get a lucky break when no Texas player could corral a Duke-missed foul shot with 11.2 seconds left.
• On the flip side, Maryland played an awful game. I expected the Terps to lose, but I thought they'd hang around for more than the first 1:12 (the last time they had a lead).

• The Villanova Duke game and the North Carolina Gonzaga game.  Though I had Texas against Villanova, the Blue Devils almost certainly make this a better game.  Villanova really must pound the ball inside if it wants to make the Elite Eight. As for UNC, it will be interesting to see if Lawson can play two halves at full speed. He clearly was rusty last night in the first half, but exploded for 21 of his 23 points in the second half. Can Gonzaga pull off another upset to reach its first Elite Eight since 1999? Let me know in the comments.