The NCAA Tournament is here and there’s more news, commentary and analysis than any of us can possibly keep up with. To make things a little easier, we’ll bring you a list of daily links gathered about teams in each of the four regions all the way through the Final Four.

Midwest Region

• Where does Bill Self belong in the hierarchy of active college coaches? ESPN.com’s Jason King believes Self belongs at the very top.
• The triangle and two defense that Kansas utilized towards the end of the game against North Carolina on Sunday left Roy Williams and the Tar Heels very confused. This defensive tactic demonstrated that fact that Williams was decidedly outcoached by Bill Self.
• Kansas senior guard Tyshawn Taylor has had a pretty well-known love/hate relationship with Kansas fans. Taylor does not understand how fans cannot love him because he says, “I’m a lovable guy, man.”
• North Carolina sophomore forward Harrison Barnes likely played the final game of his collegiate career Sunday. After a disappointing performance, Barnes went mostly quiet with many questions remaining.

West Region 

• Florida‘s late game collapse versus Louisville on Saturday was quite similar to the Gators’ collapse against Butler in last season’s Elite Eight.
• Louisville guard Russ Smith is well known for his erratic play on the court, but his play Saturday versus Florida was very steady.
• Peyton Siva battled foul trouble all game long in the Cardinals’ victory over Florida; however, Louisville was still able to cut down the nets and celebrate a trip to the Final Four.
• Louisville head coach Rick Pitino believes that the Kentucky/Louisville matchup in the Final Four will be “awesome.”

• Kentucky head coach John Calipari has led the Wildcats to consecutive Final Fours, yet he is still viewed as a villain by many. Here is a pretty thorough scathing of Calipari.
• Kentucky standout freshman forward Anthony Davis went down with a knee injury in the early part of the second half of the Wildcats’ victory over Baylor. Luckily for Kentucky fans, Davis merely bumped knees with Baylor forward Perry Jones III and claims he is perfectly fine.
• Kentucky won its Elite Eight matchup with Baylor mostly due to an electric first half. The first half attack was led by Kentucky forwards Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Terrence Jones.
• Baylor’s loss to Kentucky meant the end of Bears’ senior forward Quincy Acy‘s collegiate career. Baylor sophomore guard Brady Heslip referred to Acy as the “heart and soul of this team.”

East Region

• Ohio State’s trip to the Final Four is exactly why sophomore forward Jared Sullinger bypassed entering the NBA Draft and returned to school.
• Ohio State sophomore swingman Lenzelle Smith Jr. was a key factor in the Buckeyes’ victory over Syracuse. Smith finished the game with 18 points.
• Current Ohio State point guard Aaron Craft said he has a great respect for the work ethic of former Duke point guard and current Ohio State video coordinator Greg Paulus.
• Regardless of its loss to Ohio State on Saturday, Syracuse had a very successful season, especially considering the turbulence that surrounded the program all year long.

WCarey (318 Posts)

This entry was posted on Monday, March 26th, 2012 at 11:48 am by WCarey and is filed under 2012 ncaa tournament, Tidbits. Tagged: kansas, kentucky, louisville, ohio st. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.