March Madness Hangover: First Weekend Edition

If you are like me, you woke up on Monday morning with a serious March Madness hangover. From Thursday at noon, until Sunday at around midnight, you were consumed with college hoop. There were the buzzer beaters, controversial missed calls, upsets, and an urge to set fire to your bracket. Definitely enough to make you feel basketball drunk. Here are a few thoughts from what was a wild, first weekend.

Representing B1G Time: Coming into the NCAA Tournament people from Charles Barkley, to fans of teams in the ACC and Big East were praying for the B1G's downfall harder than Biggie felt his enemies were on Life After Death. They were hoping the conference would prove that it was overrated, and have a lot of teams get sent home before we even got to the Sweet Sixteen. That definitely was not the case.

Outside of Wisconsin, the B1G acquitted themselves well during the first weekend. There were dominant performances by Michigan State and Michigan in what were expected to be tough tests. The conference also had controversial(Ohio State) and gutty(Indiana) wins in games on Sunday. Minnesota got a solid win in their first game. They ended up losing to Florida, in a game that was the nail in the coffin to Tubby Smith's tenure there. Then, Illinois fell victim to a questionable call, that cost them a chance to win the game against Miami.

All in all, it was a very good showing for the B1G in the first weekend of the tournament. There is still much work to be done, but to completely silence the naysayers, I think they need to place a team, maybe two in the Final Four. Nothing that I saw from them this past weekend makes me think that is impossible.

"Gone-Zaga"- The groundswell against Gonzaga coming into the tournament was very strong. They were perceived as the weakest #1 seed, and picked by many to be the first #1 seed to be dismissed from the tournament. Their "Second Round"(still can't get used to calling it that...) game against Southern did nothing to change that. On Saturday night, Wichita St hit the Zags with one of the more special three point shooting performances and sent them back to Spokane. This was all that people needed to confirm in their minds that Gonzaga did not belong mentioned with the "elites". There loss will forever tarnish what was a great season for this group, and give pause to people from here on out about giving a team outside of the "Power Six" conferences a number one seed. The Zags had a great chance to change perception, and blew it.

Gulf Coastin- Filling out my bracket, I placed Georgetown in the Final Four. Needless to say, I expected their game against Florida Gulf Coast to be a relatively easy win. Clearly, the Hoyas came in thinking the same thing, and in the end we both were wrong. The crazy thing is, as I watched the game, I found myself saying forget the bracket, this team is fun to watch.

As a favorite, you can not allow the underdog get confidence. You need to exert your will on the team, and make them feel they do not have a chance. Watching the game Friday, FGCU turned the tables on Georgetown, and made it seem like they were the favorites coming in. It was impressive to watch the confidence, attitude, and borderline disrespect they came at Georgetown with. It reminded me of the year that Golden State was the eight seed in the NBA playoffs, and beat Dallas in the first round. They punched them in the mouth, got them down, and kept beating on them with flair. That confidence helped them to a win against San Diego State Sunday night as well, and set them up for a game with Florida in the Sweet Sixteen. Not sure if they can get a win in that one, but I'm looking forward to seeing how they compete.

Well there are my thoughts as I work my way through this March Madness Hangover. The good thing about this hangover is, you don't have to lie in a prayer, and say "If You make me feel better, I'll never do it again". You simply woke up Monday morning, and thought, "I can't wait to start it all over again on Thursday night". At least that is what I was thinking. Is it Thursday night yet???

I'm Jimmy L. Wilson Jr. and I approve this message

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Mr. Wilson's B1G All Conference Team

 We are coming off of one of the most interesting, intense, and fun B1G regular seasons in recent memory. There were many great individual performers throughout the conference. As we turn our attention to the B1G Conference Tourney in Chicago, and with March Madness fast approaching, here are my picks for the All-B1G Conference 1st team.

Victor Oladipo- Oladipo has been the best player on the regular season champion Indiana Hoosiers. He also is my pick for the B1G Player of the Year. During conference games he averaged 13.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.0 steals. On top of that, playing as a guard he led the conference in field goal percentage at 57 percent. He came up huge in all of Indiana's biggest games. Including this road win against Michigan State.. The Hoosiers have a great chance to win the National Championship, and if they do, expect Oladipo to lead them to it. 

Trey Burke- The Michigan Wolverines were a minute away from clinching a share of the B1G title. A lot of people will remember the final free throw that Burke missed, but that does not discount the work that he did all season. Without him, the Wolverines would not have been in that position. He led the conference in scoring and assists with averages of 20.2, and 6.4 respectively. He showed a great command of trying to make others around him better, but being able to take over a game when need be. This was on display at Purdue. Some Wolverine fans do not like to hear this, but the Wolverines will go as far as Burke takes them during the month of March. 

DeShaun Thomas- DeShaun Thomas is the forgotten man on Ohio State. The media loves Aaron Craft, and let them tell it, he's the only player on the court for the Buckeyes. Even searching Youtube for a video with Thomas, all I got was Aaron Craft videos. Despite that fact, Thomas was second in the conference in scoring at 19.7. He also got 5.6 rebounds per game. The Buckeyes are a balanced team, that could cause trouble for teams come tournament time. Even though the name you will hear the most is Craft, beware of Thomas, who is a scorer who can put in buckets from all over the floor. 

Cody Zeller- Coming into the season, Zeller was the odds on favorite to win the B1G Player Of The Year. He played to those expectations, it just happened to be a year where his Hoosier teammate Oladipo, and Burke became the conference poster boys. Zeller was third in the conference in scoring, and second in rebounding with averages of 17.1 and 8.2. He showed up with a monster game in the biggest one of the season at Michigan to win the outright B1G regular season championship. Zeller is another key cog in what could be a special season for the Hoosiers. 

Adreian Payne- This last spot was one that could have went to many players. Trevor Mbawke of Minnesota, the aforementioned Aaron Craft, and Jared Berggren of Wisconsin were all worthy candidates. However, I am giving my last spot to the most consistent Michigan State Spartan, Adreian Payne. Payne finally showed Spartan fans the talent that he has teased them with for two years. With averages of 11.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1 block, he was a big part in the Spartans having a shot at the conference title. They will need him to stay aggressive, and active as they head into the tournament. 

Well, there you have my All-Conference picks for the B1G. I would also like to salute my pick for Coach of the Year Bo Ryan of Wisconsin. Gary Harris of Michigan State who is my pick for Freshman of the Year, and Victor Oladipo who edged out Aaron Craft as my pick for Defensive Player of the Year. 

Feel free to leave a comment letting me know what you think of my picks. You can also follow me on twitter at @JimmyLWilsonJr and let me know there. 

I'm Jimmy L. Wilson, Jr., and I approve this message.