ETSU, Pitt-se?

[captainsblog]

Fine. SUNY-Binghamton lost to Duke; understandable, given it was virtually a home game in Greensboro for the cheatin' Devils.

And mine own secret upset choice Cornell didn't do as well in the second half against Mizzou as they did holding them to a mere (and spread-beating) 29-25 lead through the first 20 minutes.

Only MAAC champion Siena holds a prayer for maintaining the dignity of Upstate New York- against The Ohio State University later tonight. As if.

No, this rant is directed at one of the 324 Big East entrants, seeded first in its region, which I watched during cardio this afternoon as it was trying desperately to avoid the ignominy of being the first 1-seed ever to lose a first-round game to a 16th-ranked opponent. In this case, it was the Buccaneers of East Tennesee State University, who made a far better showing than their Big Kid Tennesee U counterparts in scaring the living shit out of the Pitt Panthers for most of today's 40 minutes. With under 2 minutes to go, ETSU was within a single three-point shot of tying the game, and their bigger, stronger, faster Big East opponents responded by,....

by,....

stalling.

For most of the last 120 seconds, while CBS showed graphic graphics of other 1-16 near-upsets (it'd never happened and, sadly, still hasn't), Pitt players literally stood on their spots just over the midcourt line and dared the Davids of Tennesee to foul them. For most of those ten real-time minutes, none of them did.

If you're a 1-seed, why not rise to the challenge of such an inferior opponent, instead of hiding in the rulebook which lets you just stand there for 20 seconds at a time while the shot clock runs down, depriving the underdog of a chance to triumph?

The better team won, as it was supposed to. The bigger hearts lost, and will eternally have my respect.