Madness! Semi-Final Results  

What a thrilling weekend! More exciting Madness games to get to today. As the championship approaches, the level of play and passion is only heightened. I like to believe that the distraction caused by our own Madness tournament was the reason that the NCAA tournament seemed a tad uninspiring this year. How could they possibly compete?

Anyways, we know how excited you are to find out the winners, so without further ado, here's how it all turned out:

The East

1: Ohio St. vs.
2: Florida

Basketball outcome: Florida in a close game.
Football outcome: Um, we know how this one goes.
Overall winner:The Gators in the non-upset upset.

Frazier - Well, this one went as expected. Ohio St. may have a good young basketball team, and a dominant player in Oden, but they hardly have the pedigree of the defending champs. The Buckeyes are used to controlling the action around the rim, but Florida simply had too many bodies. Horford forced Oden to play a rough and tumble game, while Noah added his brand of ball-hawking to control the flow of the game. Richard and others provided depth in the paint, and Oden was simply overwhelmed. While Conley is a great player, the mix of Brewer and Green was simply too much for him to contend with. Florida had the depth and athleticism to win the day. It was a good, close game, but the Champs pulled away late. As for the football game? Well, we all know what happened there. It was pretty much the same as the BCS Championship game except Ginn wasn't able to return the opening kickoff. While it was nice to see him healthy for the duration, it really didn't matter as the Gators triumphed easily (again).

Walter - Somewhat anticlimactic, yet still laden with future professionals, this is the preeminent matchup of the second round. On the hardwood, I still can't shake the sneaking suspicion that the Big 10 just stinks in basketball. The tourney has done nothing to dissuade this opinion, with OSU being the only team left, and needing a miracle against Xavier to avoid succumbing to the same fate as the likes of Wisconsin, Purdue and Michigan State. Florida, on the other hand, has looked dominant during the tourney, and ran through the entire SEC this past season. The SEC, by the way, has done very well in the tourney. On the gridiron, well, we know how this goes. Say what you will about Troy Smith's off game, and the loss of Ted Ginn to injury, but the Gators simply broke out the whupping stick against the Buckeyes and I just cannot go against them here.

The West

1: Wisconsin vs.
6: Texas

Basketball outcome: Texas in a close game.
Football outcome: Texas in a close game.
Overall winner: Longhorn upset city!

Frazier - Wow! It's an incredible 6 over 1 upset! A bigger shocker than anything the "other" march madness had to throw our way this year. The basketball game was moderately uninspiring. Texas didn't play well at times, but Wisconsin was completely incapable of scoring. The tremendously overrated Alando Tucker choked in another big game, and it was Taylor who almost led the Badgers to the win. However, Texas had Durant, the best player on the court at all times, and it was his big day that made the difference. Wisconsin didn't have anyone athletic enough to hang with the super-frosh, and he made all the plays that mattered in another 35 point, 17 rebound epic. As for the football action? Well, Wisconsin tried to grind things out with sufficient offense and tough defense. It looked like a repeat of the A&M debacle for the Longhorns. However, Colt McCoy was able to lead his troops on the one drive that mattered. In a low scoring battle, it was the 4th quarter touchdown drive that made all the difference. Maybe it wasn't pretty, but it was another Longhorn triumph. Overall it was a great day for the state of Texas, and tough loss for the scrappy, but boring and uninspiring Badger bunch.

Walter - How 'bout them Longhorns! Admittedly, this is a tremendous matchup for Texas. Wisconsin proved that they suck at basketball when they got handled by UNLV, and while they had a great football season I cannot honestly say they are ready to compete with a national title caliber team like Texas. On the court, Texas is by far the more talented team led by their super trio of Freshmen Durant, Augustine, and Abrams. For the Badgers, after Alando Tucker they don't have a ton. On the football field, PJ Hill and John Stocco are a formidable run-pass duo, but Texas has it all over the Badgers in the trenches. Texas has the bigger, badder OL, and outside of all everything Joe Thomas, the Wisconsin OL would have a miserable time trying to block Tim Crowder and co.