Arkansas over Duke, 76-72 at the Charlotte Coliseum.
Most Outstanding Player:
Corliss Williamson, Arkansas
Leading Scorer:
Khalid Reeves (Arizona) – 137 points/27.4 ppg.
Fun Fact:
Then Arkansas Governor, Bill Clinton, was in attendance at the Final Four, as well as the Regional in Dallas the week before. It just so happened his brother had a wedding nearby, so it worked out.
Check out our discussion on this year’s tournament and who to keep in mind when filling out your brackets. Subscribe to The Piffcast on iTunes here.
(3) Michigan, (3) Seton Hall, (1) Illinois, (2) Duke
National Championship:
Michigan over Seton Hall, 80-79 at the Kingdome in Seattle, WA
Most Outstanding Player:
Glen Rice, Michigan
Leading Scorer:
Glen Rice – 184 points/30.6 ppg.
Fun Fact:
Two #16 seeded teams (Princeton and East Tennessee State) came within one point of upsetting #1 seeds (Georgetown and Oklahoma). All four #11 seeds advanced to the second round (Minnesota, Texas, South Alabama and Evansville).
Check out our discussion on this year’s tournament and who to keep in mind when filling out your brackets. Subscribe to The Piffcast on iTunes here.
(1) Duke, (1) UConn, (4) Ohio State, (1) Michigan State
National Championship:
UConn over Duke, 77-74 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg Florida
Most Outstanding Player:
Richard ‘Rip’ Hamilton, UConn
Leading Scorer
Rip Hamilton – 145 points/24.1 ppg.
Fun Fact:
UConn’s win snapped Duke’s 32-game win streak with the biggest point-spread upset in National Championship history. Duke had tied the regular season record for most wins (37) before the tournament.
This month, college hoops takes center stage. What better way to get you prepared for March Madness than talk to a pro that knows everything going into the tourney? Scott Phillips from NBC Sports and I talk about the elite teams, stars who should shine, the bubble teams, potential Cinderellas and more. (Interview starts at the 30:35 mark if you want to jump ahead)
TJ and I also get into some TV talk, the Ballpark Foodie series, and tease next week’s “Selection Monday” show for our TV Character Madness Tournament. We also introduce the Piffcast Cork Board for those of you who have a project, event or cause you’d like to promote. Listen to find out more about it.
Join the conversation by interacting with us on Facebook or Twitter!
Conference tournaments are underway and the NCAA tournament is near. On top of the usual annual March Madness traditions (like bubble teams, brackets, Cinderellas, and buzzer beaters), another favorite of mine is the “One Shining Moment” montage that concludes the tournament and all of college basketball for the season.
The song was written by David Barrett about College Basketball National Championship and made it’s debut as the winning team cut down the nets in 1987. He was inspired to write it on a napkin in 1986 while watching Larry Bird play on TV from a local bar in Michigan. Other versions of the song have been performed by Teddy Pendergrass, Luther Vandross, and Jennifer Hudson.
From now until the end of the NCAA tournament this year, we’ll post a “One Shining Moment” of the Day. Appropriately so, David Barrett’s 1987 version and the song’s debut on the CBS broadcast will be our first.
The 44th President of the United States LOVES his sports. He is an unapologetic Chicago White Sox fan. He fills out March Madness brackets for both Men and Women’s tournaments on SportsCenter each year. He also has no problem mixing it up on the White House basketball court.
So on his 54th birthday, lets put the partisan blah blah blah on the back-burner and appreciate something we all enjoy…Sports.
March Madness
I look forward to the President’s annual segment on ESPN where he joins the rest of the nation in the Madness. Since he was elected, President Obama is interviewed by college basketball reporter Andy Katz from the White House to talk out each of his picks. Last year he took regular season undefeated favorite Kentucky to win it all (like many of you did) over Nova, and was obviously incorrect as Duke beat Wisconsin in the National Championship.
President Obama finished in ESPN’s 72.9 percentile in 2014 and was most successful in 2011 with a bracket in the 87.4%. Both years, UConn won the National Championship and he didn’t pick them. The President did choose a National Champion for his first year in office, North Carolina in 2009.
ESPN isn’t the only network who gets to share air-time with the Commander in Chief as one of CBS’s best color analysts, Clark Kellogg, took him on in a game of HORSE…err POTUS.
I don’t even want to know what would’ve happen if the President got skunked.
He Loves His Chicago Teams
Despite referring to his White Sox’s home stadium as “Kaminskey Field” early in his first term, the President has never wavered as a Chicago die hard. When the Bulls re-signed All-Star Jimmy Butler to a longterm deal, he was on it…
butler's a great player on o and d; let's sign him up long term. go bulls! https://t.co/IqbyUmcbmJ
(Ironic that it was Mike Ditka handing the President his jersey since he also wanted to run against him for a Senate seat in 2004)
The ’85 Bears and the Blackhawks may be the only Chicago teams that the President has hosted at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but he always seems to get a quick shoutout in for his favorite squads when he hosts other teams.
We all remember the drama surrounding Red Sox DH David Ortiz’s selfie with the President and the handful of athletes who make a thing out of not going to visit the White House, despite it being a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (looking at you, Tim Thomas)…
michaelpiff 