The Sun Devils beat a Sweet 16 team and other random observations on NCAA 1st and 2nd Rounds

First, the best part -- the University of Arizona lost in the first round to Purdue. You were my new favorite team Purdue but Florida woke up in the last five minutes of their game against you.

Probably one of the most ho-hum 1st and 2nd rounds I can recall in the past few years. Now granted I did not plant myself and watch all the games over the past 4 days that CBS dictated we watch but what from what I did see, nothing really left me saying "wow, what a great game." In fact I missed the entire first day of games because I took my daughter to Six Flags in San Antonio that day (look for a post/rant on that one soon.)

I was not surprised to see Texas lose. I was however surprised to see them get dominated like they did by USC, a team who represented one of ASU's two Pac 10 wins this season. Texas hoops has had some very good players over the past few years. Unfortunately it appears that Barnes is great at recruiting some of the best talent in the nation but hasn't found a way to get all the egos to fit together. Now if Kevin Durant would have had an experienced, junior or senior point guard to play with, this year's team could have potentially been a 1 or 2 seed in the tourney and probably would be preparing to play in the sweet 16.

Not surprised either by Wisconsin departing early. I have not been impressed by them or Ohio State this year. I was shocked to see Vanderbilt knock off Washington State. Wazoo blew a huge lead and lost in overtime. Even though they didn't win the Pac 10 this year, I thought they were the best *team* in the conference (UCLA clearly has the most talent.)

Final thought is on former Sun Devil point guard Kevin Kruger. For those of you who don't know, Kruger is the son of UNLV coach Lon Kruger and took advantage of a rule that allowed student-athletes who had completed their undergraduate work to transfer to another school for their final year of eligibility without having to sit out a year. Kevin has had a great season for UNLV and in my opinion, is the reason UNLV is in the Sweet 16.

I should just get over the fact that he left the Sun Devils without an experienced point guard and could have been a difference maker in the dozen or so games they lost by 5 points or less this season. In fairness to him, when he came to ASU, his dad was coaching in the pros. Had his dad been coaching in the NCAA at the time, Kevin probably would not have gone to ASU.
So Kevin, thanks for all you contributed to ASU hoops during a very difficult few years there. Congrats on your upset of Wisconsin. Unfortunately I think your tourney run is about to end against Oregon (yes, I clearly have a Pac 10 bias.)