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-"The Geek"
The Road to Glory
By Ian Bolger
Kid Sports Writer at allonsports.com
The Road to Glory
Every NCAA Men’s Division I basketball tournament starts with 67 teams. There are 4 teams eliminated in the First Four, 32 teams eliminated in the Round of 64, 16 teams eliminated in the Round of 32, 8 teams eliminated in the Sweet 16, 4 teams eliminated in the Elite 8, 2 teams eliminated in the Final Four, and 1 team eliminated in the championship. That means 66 teams are eliminated and 1 team is the survivor and college national champions in basketball. Last year it was the University of Connecticut who miraculously won it all as the #3 seed serving the #8 seed Butler their 2nd straight loss in the national championship. Now, lets go back to the present and go down the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Road to Glory.
The Season
Preseason Rankings
At the beginning of the season, North Carolina Tar Heels was ranked #1 in the nation. Kentucky lost to Connecticut last year in the Final Four and was put as #2 in the nation. Ohio St. was put as #3. Connecticut won the national title last year and there were ranked #4. Butler went to the national championship last year and they weren’t in the preseason’s Top 25.
The Carrier Classic
The beginning of the 2011-2012 season started with #1 North Carolina versus Michigan State on the USS Vinson. This game is commonly called the Carrier Classic in the NCAA. The USS Vinson was docked in San Diego Harbor. President Barack Obama was in the audience watching this game on November 9, 2011. North Carolina went on to win 67-55 versus Michigan State and held on to #1.
Impressive Starts
18 teams out of the Top 25 started 5-0 to start the season and 7 teams out of the Top 25 only lost 1 game. One of the 7 teams was the #8 Florida Gators who lost their 2nd game to the #3 Ohio State Buckeyes. After winning their next 2 games, Florida only dropped 2 spots and became #10 after Week 2. The Top 6 teams stayed the same after Week 2.
Changing #1 Seeds
North Carolina stayed undefeated and #1 for 5 straight games versus Michigan State, UNC-Ashville, Mississippi Valley State, Tennessee State and South Carolina. On their 6th game on the season, UNLV outplayed UNC and won 90-80 taking #1 out of North Carolina’s position. At the beginning of Week 4, UNC dropped to #5 and Kentucky moved up to #1, but it didn’t last long. Kentucky only won 2 games, one versus St. John’s and one versus former #1 ranked UNC by 1 point. Indiana put the upset on their next game with a buzzer beater winning 73-72. At the beginning of Week 6, the Kentucky Wildcats dropped to #3 and Syracuse advanced to be #1 at 10-0 and stayed #1 for 6 consecutive weeks winning 10 consecutive games as #1 seed and became 20-0, but that all changed January 21, 2012. Notre Dame put up a battle and won 67-58 in a Big East match up retiring the Orangemen from #1 and putting Kentucky back in as #1 in Week 12. Kentucky eventually stayed #1 for the rest of the season. Syracuse finished as #2 and UNC finished as #4.
Finishing the Season
It’s not about how you start the season, it’s how you end it. In the ACC, North Carolina won 9 out of their last 10 games, Duke won 8 out of their last 10 games, and Florida St. won 7 of their last 10 games. In the Pac-12, Washington won 8 out of their last 10 games and Oregon and California won 7 out of their last 10 games. In the Big 12, Kansas won 9 out of their last 10 games and Missouri won 8 out of their last 10 games. In the Big Ten, Ohio St. and Michigan St. won 7 out of their last 10 games. In the SEC, Kentucky won 10 out of their last 10 games, Tennessee won 8 out of their last 10 games, and Alabama won 7 out of their last 10 games. In the Big East, Syracuse won 10 out of their last 10 games, Marquette and Notre Dame won 8 out of their last 10 games, and Cincinnati won 7 out of their last 10 games. All of those teams did a good job ending their seasons. Every team should end their seasons just like that, but the question is, can they? Virginia won 5 out of 10 games at the end of the season. Boston College only won 2 out of 10 games at the end of their season. Arkansas only won 3 of their last 10 games. Penn St. only won 2 of their last 10 games. These are all examples of a bad way to end your college basketball season.
Conference Championship Week
You might not have been good during the season, but you can still make it to NCAA tournament if you win your conference championship. It doesn’t matter how big of a conference or how good of a team you are, you can go to the NCAA tournament and maybe even win the national championship if you win you’re conference championship. Vermont, St. Bonaventure, Belmont, UNC Ashville, Montana, Long Beach State, VCU, Memphis, North Dakota, Detroit, Harvard, Loyola, Ohio, Norfolk State, Creighton, New Mexico, Murray State, LIU Brooklyn, Lehigh, Davidson, Lamar, Mississippi Valley State, S. Dakota State, W. Kentucky, New Mexico State, and Saint Mary’s are all teams who won this year’s conference championship and are moving on to the NCAA tournament. Florida State, Vermont, St. Bonaventure, Missouri, Louisville, VCU, North Dakota, Detroit, Loyola, Ohio, Norfolk State, Creighton, New Mexico, Colorado, Lehigh, Vanderbilt, Lamar, S. Dakota State, W. Kentucky, and New Mexico State are all teams who were not the #1 seed but won their conference championship and moved on to the NCAA tournament. Vermont, St. Bonaventure, Florida State, Belmont, Missouri, Louisville, Montana, UNC-Ashville, Michigan State, Long Beach State, VCU, Memphis, North Dakota, Detroit, Loyola, Ohio, Norfolk State, Creighton, New Mexico, LIU Brooklyn, Murray State, Colorado, Lehigh, Vanderbilt, Davidson, Lamar, Miss. Valley State, S. Dakota State, W. Kentucky, Saint Mary’s, and New Mexico State are all teams who won there conference championship and are all going to the NCAA tournament.
NIT Tournament
The NIT Tournament is for teams who did not make the NCAA tournament. The #1 seed teams are Washington, Tennessee, Seton Hall, and Arizona. The #2 seed teams are Dayton, Miami (FL), St. Joseph’s, and Ole Miss. The #3 seed teams are Oregon, LA Salle, Drexel, and Stanford. The #4 seed teams are Northwestern, M. Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Oral Roberts. The #5 seed teams are Akron, Marshall, UMass, and Nevada. The #6 seed teams are LSU, Minnesota, UCF, and Cleveland St. The #7 seed teams are Iowa, Valparaiso, UNI, and Illinois St. The #8 seed teams are Texas-Arlington, Savannah State, Stony Brook, and Bucknell. In the Northwest side of the bracket, in the 1st round, Washington, Northwestern, and Oregon swept through their teams as expected, but Iowa put the upset on the #2 seed Dayton. In the 2nd round of the Northwest side of the bracket, Washington and Oregon beat their teams and face each other in their regional finals. Oregon put up a hard fight, but Washington came out to win and advanced to the NIT Final Four. In the Southwest side of the bracket, in the 1st round, Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and Miami (FL) won as expected, but Minnesota put the bomb on LA Salle and advanced. In the 2nd round of the Southwest side of the bracket, upsets were everywhere. Middle Tennessee and Minnesota passed by the higher seeds and advanced to their regional finals. At the end, Minnesota put themselves on top and will face Washington in the NIT Final Four. On the Northeast side of the bracket, Seton Hall and Drexel won as expected, UNI won with an upset and Mississippi St. and Massachusetts went to 2OT and UMass came out with the win. In the 2nd round of the Northeast, Massachusetts went with the upset, UNI, not so much. In their regional finals, Drexel led at first, but UMass fought through the whole game and came up with the win. UMass advanced to the NIT Final Four. In the Southeast side of the bracket, Stanford won, but the rest were upsets. In their regional finals, it came out to be Nevada and Stanford. Stanford won and they advanced to play UMass in the NIT Final Four. In the NIT Final Four, Washington and Minnesota went back and forth, but Minnesota took out the last #1 seed and advanced to the NIT Championship. Stanford crushed Massachusetts and advanced to face Minnesota in the NIT Championship. When Minnesota played Stanford in Madison Square Garden, they led at first, but they collapsed. Stanford won the 75th NIT tournament.
NCAA Tournament
Selection Sunday
The anticipation grows on everyone in NCAA basketball nation. Fans, players, coaches, all watching ESPN on Selection Sunday to see if they’re team is in the NCAA tournament and if they are, what seed. Kentucky, Syracuse, Michigan State, and North Carolina might have been excited when they got #1 seeds, but UNC-Ashville and Long Island must have been pumped up when they at least got in the tournament as the automatic #16 seeds. Yep, those are the good Sunday’s. In the South Region, Kentucky is #1, Duke is #2, Baylor is #3, Indiana is #4, Wichita St. is #5, UNLV is #6, Notre Dame is #7, Iowa State is #8, UConn is #9, Xavier is #10, Colorado is #11, VCU is #12, New Mexico State is #13, South Dakota St. is #14, Lehigh is #15, and Western Kentucky/Mississippi Valley St. is #16. In the West Region, Michigan St. is #1, Missouri is #2, Marquette is #3, Louisville is #4, New Mexico is #5, Murray St. is #6, Florida is #7, Memphis is #8, St. Louis is #9, Virginia is #10, Colorado St. is #11, Long Beach St. is #12, Davidson is #13, BYU/Iona is #14, Norfolk St. is #15, and Long Island is #16. In the East Region, Syracuse is #1, Ohio St. is #2, Florida St. is #3, Wisconsin is #4, Vanderbilt is #5, Cincinnati is #6, Gonzaga is #7, Kansas St. is #8, Southern Miss. is #9, West Virginia is #10, Texas is #11, Harvard is #12, Montana is #13, St. Bonaventure is #14, Loyola is #15, and UNC-Ashville is #16. In the Midwest Region, North Carolina is #1, Kansas is #2, Georgetown is #3, Michigan is #4, Temple is #5, San Diego St. is #6, Saint Mary’s is #7, Creighton is #8, Alabama is #9, Purdue is #10, NC State is #11, USF/California is #12, Ohio is #13, Belmont is #14, Detroit is #15, and Vermont/Lamar is #16.
The First Four
The First Four match ups are Mississippi Valley St. vs. W. Kentucky, Lamar vs. Vermont, BYU vs. Iona, and California vs. USF. This is the 2nd year the First Four has been developed in the NCAA tournament. In the Miss. Valley St. vs. W. Kentucky game, Miss. Valley St. was winning by 16 with 5 min. in the game. W. Kentucky came back and set a record winning by 1 and playing Kentucky in the Round of 64. In the Lamar vs. Vermont game, Vermont had all the power and won to play versus North Carolina in the Round of 64. In the Iona vs. BYU game, Iona was leading at first, but BYU put it away with a win to play versus Marquette in the Round of 64. In the USF vs. California game, USF led in the first half. Cal tried to come back, but they didn’t have enough. USF won and will play Temple in the Round of 64.
Round of 64
The Round of 64 is 64 teams trying to win and get to the Round of 32. In the South Region, Kentucky, Indiana, and Baylor all won as expected, but VCU, Colorado, and Xavier put the upsets on their higher seed teams, but that’s not all the upsets in the South Region. Lehigh upset Duke and Iowa St. put the reining champions, UConn, in their misery to advance to the Round of 64. In the West Region, all the top seeds won, except #8 seed Memphis and #2 seed Missouri. St. Louis and Norfolk St. put the upset on both of those teams. Now no one wants to be the #2 seed. In the East Region, amazingly all of the top 8 seeds advanced to the Round of 32. In the Midwest Region, the top 3 seeds and the #8 seed Creighton survived, but Michigan, Temple, San Diego State, and St. Mary’s got upsets. Their were 10 out of 32 total upsets in the Round of 64.
Round of 32
The Round of 32 match ups in the South Region are Kentucky vs. Iowa State, VCU vs. Indiana, Colorado vs. Baylor, and Xavier vs. Lehigh. Kentucky demolished Iowa St. and moved on to the Sweet 16. Indiana messed up VCU’s 2nd straight Cinderella run and moves on to the Sweet 16 to face Kentucky. Baylor defeats the Pac-12 champions, Colorado, and Xavier burns Lehigh’s run. Baylor and Xavier will play each other in the Sweet 16. The Round of 32 match ups in the West Region are Michigan St. vs. St. Louis, New Mexico vs. Louisville, Murray St. vs. Marquette, and Florida vs. Norfolk State. Michigan St. and Louisville slipped through their teams to face each other in the Sweet 16. Murray St. and Marquette were in a battle, but Marquette came out with the win. Florida smashed Norfolk St. and advanced to the Sweet 16 to face Marquette. The Round of 32 match ups in the East Region are Syracuse vs. Kansas State, Vanderbilt vs. Wisconsin, Cincinnati vs. Florida State, and Gonzaga vs. Ohio State. Syracuse smoked Kansas State, Wisconsin slipped through Vanderbilt, Cincinnati upset Florida State, and Ohio St. smacked Gonzaga. The match ups in the Midwest Region are North Carolina vs. Creighton, USF vs. Ohio, NC State vs. Georgetown, and Purdue vs. Kansas. North Carolina swept through Creighton to advance to the Sweet 16. USF had a run, but Ohio put it to an end to play North Carolina in the Sweet 16. NC State put the upset on Georgetown and Kansas put the rock on Purdue.
Sweet 16
When you get to the Sweet 16, you’re in the rhythm, you feel like nothing can stop you, but that’s not how to turns out. Kentucky only had 1 loss in the regular season and that was to Indiana. Now they are facing each other in the Sweet 16. Sadly, Indiana couldn’t do it again and Kentucky advanced to the Elite 8. In the other South Region game, Baylor and Xavier was in a brawl, but Baylor put the power on it and advanced to face Kentucky in the Elite 8. In the West Region of the Sweet 16, it’s Michigan St. vs. Louisville and Marquette vs. Florida. Louisville put down all the cards to upset Michigan St. and advance to the Elite 8. Marquette and Florida put all their power in this game to advance to Elite 8, but it looked like Florida had more passion and they advanced to play Louisville in the Elite 8. In the East Region, Syracuse brawled Wisconsin in the Sweet 16. Wisconsin though suffered a horrible way to loss and Syracuse advanced to the Elite 8. 2 Ohio teams played at the other end of the East Region and those teams are Cincinnati and Ohio State. Ohio St. ruled Cincinnati and not only advanced to the Elite 8, but took power of the state of Ohio. In the Midwest Region, North Carolina and Ohio went into the 1st overtime in the NCAA tournament, but UNC cleared their worries and won the game and advanced to the Elite 8. The other North Carolina team, NC State, and Kansas faced, but NC State had to go through the torture of losing in the Sweet 16 and Kansas advanced to face UNC in the Elite 8.
Elite 8
When your in the Elite 8, your so close! If you win, you get to go to the Final Four. This year, it’s in New Orleans. In the South Region, it was #1 Kentucky vs. #3 Baylor in the Elite 8. Kentucky manhandled Baylor the whole game and won to go to the Final Four in New Orleans. In the West Region, it was #4 Louisville vs. #7 Florida in the Elite 8. These 2 teams were not expected to be in this match up. Florida was up the whole game, then Louisville pumped it up and passed Florida to face their bitter rivals, Kentucky, in the Final Four. In the East Region, it’s #1 Syracuse vs. #2 Ohio St. in the Elite 8. Syracuse played their hardest, but they couldn’t do it. Ohio St. won in the Elite 8 and advanced to the Final Four. In the Midwest Region, it’s the #1 UNC vs. #2 Kansas in the Elite 8. This is the 2nd #1 vs. #2 match in the Elite 8. UNC and Kansas were tied at the half, but in the 2nd half, Kansas overpowered UNC and advanced to face the other #2 seed, Ohio State, in the Final Four.
Final Four
The Final Four is the place stars are created. 4 teams face for the National Championship and all their going is New Orleans, Louisiana. The South Region Champion, #1 seed Kentucky, and West Region Champion, #4 seed Louisville are facing each other in the Final Four for the spot in the National Championship. Louisville played with enthusiasm and passion, but couldn’t beat the unbeatable Kentucky. Kentucky advanced to the National Championship. The East Region Champions, Ohio State, and the Midwest Region Champions, Kansas, faced in the Final Four to punch a ticket in the National Championship. Ohio St. led at first, but Kansas wanted it more than Ohio State. Kansas came back and won the game to face Kentucky in the National Championship.
National Championship
The National Championship is a college basketball players dream. It gives them a chance to shine and be seen. These 2 teams are Kentucky and Kansas. #1 seed Kentucky and #2 seed Kansas are try to reach for the national title, and Kentucky came out having it. D. Lamb scored 22 points in the game giving Kentucky the power. A. Davis scored 6, but blocked 6 and had 16 rebounds. That is the main reason why Kentucky won versus Kansas 67-59. The Kentucky Wildcats are your new NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Champions.
WrestleMania XXVIII
By Ian Bolger
Kid Sports Writer on allonsports.com
WrestleMania XXVIII
WrestleMania is the place to be for the WWE. Superstars are made here, this year in Miami, Sun Life Stadium. This year’s attendance broke a record in the WWE with 78,363 fans. This is the 28th WrestleMania with 8 matches to come, including the World Heavyweight Championship, Continental Championship, and the WWE Championship. This WrestleMania is unexpected to who is going to win, because this, is the WWE!
The Matches
Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan (World Heavyweight Championship)
The way Sheamus made it to the World Heavyweight Championship was because he won the Royal Rumble. Daniel Bryan is another competitor in this match. The match was supposed to be long, but it turned out to be very quick. Daniel Bryan gave a “good luck kiss” to his girlfriend, Sheamus came with the sneak attack, pinned him, and he won the match. Sun Life Stadium went nuts. Sheamus is the new World Heavyweight Champion.
Kane vs. Randy Orton (Exhibition Match)
Kane and Randy Orton are the scariest people in the WWE and now they are in a match. It is going to be amazing, and at the end, it was. Randy Orton had it at first, then Kane had it. It went back and forth. Kane tried to pin Randy Orton down 5 straight times, but couldn’t do it. Kane looked like he had the most control, but like I said, it went back and forth. Then it happened, Kane grabbed his throat on the top of the ring and dropped him down with his finisher. Kane pinned him down and won the match. Kane is now the ultimate person to beat.
Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show (Intercontinental Championship)
Cody Rhodes tries to defended his championship by fighting Big Show. At the beginning of the match, Cody Rhodes looked like he had all the power. Then, Big Show manhandled him and won the Intercontinental Championship and is now the new champion.
Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos vs. Beth Phoenix and Eve (Diva Tag Team Match)
Never underestimate the power of the Divas in the WWE. Maria Menounos is an journalist who was interviewing Kelly Kelly, when Beth Phoenix and Eve got mad she was interviewing her and not them. They got in a royal fight and put matters into hand and decided to fight in WrestleMania. The thing is, Maria has never wrestled before, but she did pretty good in the match, too good, because she pinned Beth Phoenix to win the match! Maria and Kelly Kelly ended the brawl with the win.
Triple H vs. Undertaker (End of an Era)
In this match, Undertaker and Triple H try to end each others careers. This year’s match has exciting entrances, Hell in a Cell, extreme rules, and special guest Shane Michaels as referee. Undertaker is 19-0 in WrestleMania and he had all the power in this match. Blood everywhere for a match to never forget. Undertaker did “The Tombstone” on Triple H to go 20-0 in WrestleMania. This match was the longest in WrestleMania XXVIII with a time of 30 minutes and 52 seconds. Undertaker ends the era of Triple H.
Raw vs. Smackdown (Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy)
In this match, Raw faces Smackdown and whoever is the winner of the match, the GM of Raw, Johnny, or the GM of Smackdown, Teddy, will be the GM for both Raw and Smackdown. On Team Johnny, there’s David Otunga, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, The Miz and Drew McIntyre. On
Team Teddy, there’s Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Booker T, the Great Khali and Zack Ryder. This determines whether Raw or Smackdown is better. The way this ended is the same way it ended with the Sheamus vs. Bryan match, but not that quick. Zack Rider talked with his girlfriend, the Miz came with the attack, and Johnny is the new GM for Smackdown and Raw.
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho (WWE Championship)
This match up is for all the marbles, the WWE Championship. This year it’s CM Punk and Chris Jericho. At the beginning of the match, like all other matches, it went back and forth. But Chris came out electrifying, and work out CM Punk. Then, CM Punk came with unanswered strength and made Chris Jericho tap out. CM Punk is the new WWE Champion.
John Cena vs. The Rock
This is the match people have been wait for for a year now. They say that it’s a “Once in a Lifetime” match. It’s the cover of WrestleMania XXVIII. They saved the best for last. It is John Cena vs. The Rock. Cena came out with a heavy start, he even made The Rock go unconscious for 10 seconds. Then, Cena was going to do his finisher, but The Rock got up, pinned him down, and won the match. The Rock has won the match and has all bragging rights on John Cena.
Thanks for reading!
-"The Geek"
