I'm not sure what's replaced the watercooler as the gathering place in offices of the 21st century but, whatever it is, the buzz around it this morning is the Final Four. For the first time ever all four first seeds have advanced to the final weekend and the biggest beneficiaries are no doubt making themselves known to their co-workers. Maybe it's the receptionist who spends more time discussing her romantic life than studying Pomeroy Ratings or the guy from Accounting who doesn't watch sports but likes to be part of the office hullabaloo but those are the ones counting their winnings right now.
Whether you thought the tournament was boring or scintillating to this point, you'll doubtlessly agree that the top seeds advancing has taken some of the fun out of it. Hopefully it will mean some spectacular basketball on Saturday and Monday but it is antithesis to the surprise and drama that has made March Madness part of the national lexicon.
That surprise was what made us take a chance on Pittsburgh or West Virginia two weeks ago because we've watched for years and knew that it wouldn't come down to the chalk teams. And for that we've been repaid by the heckling of coworkers who wouldn't know Stephen Curry from Eddy Curry. And, worst of all, Clark Kellogg's annual safety dance has finally paid off which ensures another decade of bland picks.
Tyler Hansbrough helped fend off a Louisville rally by scoring 28 points and grabbing 13 boards in North Carolina's win over Louisville, 83-73.
The East Regional Final matchup was like watching two games in one.
In the first half, Louisville pressed the Tar Heels which led to a ton of easy baskets. UNC simply threw over the press and beat the defense back for layups. When they did have to play a halfcourt game, Carolina could shoot anything they wanted because they dominated the offensive glass. Danny Green and Wayne Ellington were awesome, scoring a combined 20 points.
UNC went into the break up 44-32.
The second half was much different. The Cards made a great adjustment of having David Padgett (who Roy Williams successfully recruited to Kansas) at the high post and running screens off him. He found cutters open for layups and/or created a foul on the Heels. It also kept Carolina's big men away from the basket and Louisville found some offensive boards.
One of the underlying stories of the Louisville-UNC game today is a beef between coaches Rick Pitino and Roy Williams. The two are among the greatest coaches in basketball and have taken multiple programs to the Final Four.
That's when Williams was in his second year at Kansas and Pitino was in his first year at Kentucky. They met in Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse and it wasn't pretty. Kansas won 150-95.
Jeff Gueldner, who played guard for Kansas, said multiple people told him Pitino flashed his middle finger when Williams asked about backing off.
Chris Cameron, who was Pitino's sports information director at the time, remembers Pitino throwing a towel. Cameron said Pitino vowed during his postgame news conference that he would never schedule Kansas again.
Understand that Pitino took over a program that was under NCAA sanctions and really wasn't that good. Kansas was two years removed from a National Championship. Pitino was trying to establish his patented press defense which Kansas just exposed and demolished.
"Tell Roy to get on a plane for the first time and let's play the game at Freedom Hall," Pitino said. "Or let's go to Lexington and play it at Rupp [Arena]."
"I don't think it's a homecourt advantage," Pitino said. "I think those are mostly mannequins dressed in powder blue."
Pitino did qualify his comments.
"It's a very strong homecourt advantage but they deserve it because they're the No. 1-ranked team in the country," he said.
He's right. It is a huge advantage and not because ... as all these analysts have been saying ... Charlotte is just two hours away from Chapel Hill. Anyone who knows anything about North Carolina knows that there are more Tar Heels fans in Charlotte than there are in Chapel Hill.
When you look at the scoreboard, you may think that Washington State's strategy of slowing the pace of the game down against North Carolina worked. The Tar Heels scored just 68 points, 42 points below their NCAA tournament average.
However, that strategy only works if you can score more than you allow. Washington State was nowhere close to that ... losing 68-47.
The slow down game may have worked in the Tar Heels favor as their defense was the story. UNC held WSU to just 31% shooting ... including just 2-of-16 from the three-point line. They also dominated the boards (42 to 28). If not for State's Aron Baynes shooting (6-of-8), the Cougars would have shot 12-of-49 (24% to you and me) and been blown out of the water.
North Carolina will move on to face the winner of the Tennessee-Louisville game this Saturday. The taste of their meltdown against Georgetown in last year's East Regional final has left the team bitter ever since.
Washington State has won two things so far against North Carolina:
They are winning the battle of tempo as the game is being played in the 60s. The slow-down game has limited UNC's ability to run up the score and get easy baskets. They've also shut down Tyler Hansbrough to the tune of two points, no made field goals on four shot attempts and five rebounds.
However, the Cougars go into halfime still trailing the top ranked Tar Heels, 35-21.
For one thing, the Heels defense has been splendid themselves ... holding Washington State to just 9-of-26 shooting. They've held the Cougars' leading scorer Derrick Low to just five points.
Plus, despite the style of play and the defensive prowess of Washington State, the Heels still shot 48% from the field even after getting off to such a rocky start. Wayne Ellington (9 points) and super-sub Danny Green (12 points) are leading the way and picking up Hansbrough's slack.
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 9:30 this evening, the Louisville Cardinals will tip off against the Tennessee Volunteers for a chance at the Elite Eight. It's hard to imagine anything else being on the minds of the players and coaches from those two teams but then you remember that Derrick Caracter is part of the Louisville roster. The sophomore forward decided yesterday would be the best time to announce his intention to go pro after this season comes to a close.
"Sometimes it's just best you take your game another way," Caracter said. "I don't want to bring a distraction to the team."
It's not the first time Caracter has put something ahead of the task at hand. He showed up to school overweight as a freshman, missed 16 games that season because of suspensions and time off for personal issues and, when David Padgett's injury had the Cardinals needing him desperately, broke curfew twice and got suspended again. In December, Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports spoke with one of his former coaches, who summed up Caracter's character rather succinctly.
"Derrick Caracter has always been about Derrick Caracter. He doesn't care about his teammates or his school. Derrick could care less about the other players on his team."
He's shown flashes of the talent that made him a top recruit but Louisville will be fine without him and his distractions. It's a shame Isiah Thomas's days appear numbered with the Knicks. Caracter would be a great fit with Zach Randolph.
Here's a reason why coaches shouldn't let cameras into the locker room before games.
When you're going up against the school that pretty much invented the pep-talk cottage industry, you've gotta come up with something better than crumpling up a piece of paper. A little too much comedy and way too much about what happened with a completely different team.
In the East Regional, the forgotten team is Washington State. With UNC blowing away everyone and fans salivating over the Tennessee-Louisville game, the Cougars are right under the radar.
That happens. Carolina and the Vols are relatively close to Charlotte, the site of the games, with Louisville not tremendously far away. Pullman, WA may as well be on the other side of the planet.
Still, WSU coach Tony Bennettknows a bit about Charlotte. After a nice career as a player at Wisconsin-Green Bay, Bennett was drafted by the NBA's Charlotte Hornets.
"I don't think too many people will remember me and be pulling for the Cougs down there," said Bennett, whose fourth-seeded team plays No. 1 seed UNC in the NCAA Round of 16 on Thursday. "They'll be cheering for the Carolina blues."
Usually when your team wins 31 games, spends time as the top-ranked team in the country and makes the Sweet 16, you've got a pretty reliable hand on the tiller. The Tennessee Volunteers, then, are quite an unusual team. They accomplished all of that without a steady point guard.
Ramar Smith started most of the second half but steadily diminishing returns put him on the bench for the tournament opener. Senior Jordan Howell returned to the starting five but failed to make an impression which led Bruce Pearl to turn to J.P. Prince for yesterday's win over Butler. That was unusual because Prince spent most of the year as a shooting guard but Pearl had his reasons.
"J.P. is a stat sheet stuffer. We got a situation where I felt like we needed (Prince) on the floor more because he makes great things happen. I think he makes everyone else out there better."
He did stuff the stat sheet (nine points, seven boards, five assists) but his negatives nearly outweighed his positives. His travel (and sixth turnover) with seconds to play could have cost the Vols the game. Smith came back to score four in overtime and further muddy the picture at the one.
The uncertainty at the point highlights how good a job Pearl has done with this team. Better known for his personality than his tactics, Pearl's managed to turn a team without a key component into a huge winner this season. Now he must make the right choice about who to send into the teeth of the Louisville press.
I'm not sure what's replaced the watercooler as the gathering place in offices of the 21st century but, whatever it is, the buzz around it this morning is the Final Four. For the first time ever all four first seeds have advanced to the final weekend and the biggest beneficiaries are no doubt making themselves known to their co-workers. Maybe it's the receptionist who spends more time discussing her romantic life than studying Pomeroy Ratings or the guy from Accounting who doesn't watch sports but likes to be part of the office hullabaloo but those are the ones counting their winnings right now. 
Tyler Hansbrough
One of the underlying stories of the Louisville-UNC game today is a beef between coaches 
Washington State has won two things so far against North Carolina: 
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 9:30 this evening, the Louisville Cardinals will tip off against the Tennessee Volunteers for a chance at the Elite Eight. It's hard to imagine anything else being on the minds of the players and coaches from those two teams but then you remember that 
In the East Regional, the forgotten team is Washington State. With UNC blowing away everyone and fans salivating over the Tennessee-Louisville game, the Cougars are right under the radar. 
Usually when your team wins 31 games, spends time as the top-ranked team in the country and makes the Sweet 16, you've got a pretty reliable hand on the tiller. The Tennessee Volunteers, then, are quite an unusual team. They accomplished all of that without a steady point guard.
