The only matchup between two non-Power 5 teams, 9^th seeded Boise State faced off against 8^th seeded Memphis.  Both teams entered the game with matching 12-1 records with their one loss coming in upsets; Temple knocking off Memphis and BYU beating Boise State.  In this first year of the new 12 team format, both schools felt a lot of pressure to show that the non-Power 5 programs deserved to be included.

Boise State got on the board first with a passing touchdown by quarterback Hank Bachmeier on the opening drive of the game.  After a couple stalled drives by both teams, Bachmeier hit leading receiver John Hightower for a 60 yard touchdown to put Boise up 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter started with both teams struggling to get anything going on offense but Memphis took advantage of a better punting game to win the field position battle and midway through the second quarter, the Tigers started a drive at midfield and quickly took advantage thanks to a 6 play drive that ended with quarterback Brady White finding receiver Kedarian Jones in the corner of the endzone to make it a 14-7 game.  Boise State’s offense couldn’t do anything on their next drive but their defense came up big, intercepting a Tiger pass to give the Broncos the ball deep in Memphis territory.  However the Bronco’s offense could only manage one first down and they had to settle for a field goal to give themselves a 17-7 lead.  Boise State looked like they had the chance to score again late in the half but Bachmeier was intercepted and Memphis took advantage, putting together an excellent final two minutes that culminated in Brady White hitting leading receiver Damonte Coxie for a 27 yard touchdown right before half.  Both teams headed into the locker room with Boise State up 17-14.

Memphis received the kickoff to start the second half and a nice 30 yard return set them up in good field position.  The Tigers continued their momentum from the end of the first half, putting together a nice drive that culminated with running back Kenny Gainwell punching it into the endzone from the 2-yard line to give the Tiger’s their first lead of the game, 21-17.  The teams exchanged punts before Gainwell once again showed off, this time breaking a few tackles to turn a short pass into a 60 yard gain and a 1^st and goal at the 4.  After an incomplete pass by White, Gainwell finished the drive himself with a 4-yard scamper to extend the Memphis lead to 28-17.

Boise State was on the ropes and after a three and out, Memphis landed what looked like the knock out punch as White and Gainwell teamed up for what would be the third touchdown of the day for each of them, giving the Tigers a 35-17 lead to start the fourth quarter.  The Broncos weren’t done though, keeping calm despite the large deficit, they put together an efficient mix of running and passing plays that ended with Bachmeier’s third passing td of the day to make it a 35-24 game with 8 minutes to go.  Momentum seemed to be swinging the Broncos way as they forced a three and out and then quickly moved the ball into Tiger territory.  The clock was becoming an issue though, forcing Boise to abandon their running game and rely on the passing game, which had been hit or miss all season.  This time it missed as Bachmeier threw his second interception of the game, ending the Broncos drive.  Memphis managed to burn a few minutes off the clock, ending the Broncos hopes and coming away with a 35-24 win to advance to the second round.

Memphis quarterback Brady White and running back Kenny Gainwell were the stars of the game.  White had 325 yards passing and 3 touchdowns, with only 1 interception, while Gainwell ran for 2 touchdowns and caught one other.

It’s the final #6 CFP and winners of 3 straight as well as PAC12 champions taking on winners of 7 straight and winners of their fourth straight Sun Belt Conference title, finishing the season 20th in the final committee poll.

Both teams combined only lost 3 games all season and present a pretty good challenge for each other with their high scoring offenses and conference MVP’s in tow. Justin Herbert and Darrynton Evans put on a good show for everyone.

Justin Herbert gave himself some more publicity for the 2020 NFL draft finishing the game 18 of 21 for 242 yards, 4 TD’s and no INT’s.

Darrynton Evans finished the game with 26 carries for 154 yards and three scores but it wasn’t enough as the Ducks stopped a late drive to defeat the Mountaineers 35-28 to move on to round two.

They await their fate until the rest of the first round is finished. Stay Tuned!

Dominating run by National POTY runner-up Udoka Azubuike against the national POTY Obi Toppin propels Jayhawks to title.

1 Kansas vs. 1 Dayton- Udoka Azubuke continued his “disappointed he did not win the NPOTY award” tour and wasted little time taking down Obin Toppin and the Flyers.

Azubuke accounted for all but two of the Jayhawks points through the first ten minutes of the game but held Toppin in check on the big stage. Devon Dotson had another remarkable game from the free throw line and matched Azubuke in scoring as they both finished with 19 a piece.

The Jayhawks continued their destruction of other teams offense and held Dayton to their lowest point total of the season with 61 and Toppin with 15 points and 6 turnovers. Kansas moves on to their 12th NCAA final(5-6) 79-61.

1 Gonzaga vs. 3 Michigan St.- Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman took on Filip Petrusev, Corey Kispert and Killian Tillie in a showdown for the ages.

Both teams already knew the winner would get Kansas but did not want to spend everything they had on this victory. They traded punches early and often and Xavier Tillman hits a three at the buzzer to end Gonzaga’s season.

The Spartans move on to take on Kansas in the title game and not with many fresh legs after several OT’s to get there. MSU 98-95 3OT.

Championship Game:

1 Kansas vs. 3 Michigan St.- The Spartans and Jayhwaks have faced each other 14 times in historic fashion. The series is tied 7-7 with the last win coming for the Jayhwaks in 2018 via 92-87.

This rivalry is one that can go either way every-time the two teams meet(kansas leads in scoring 1125-1118) and the match up between two future HOF coaches in Bill Self and Tom Izzo is one to enjoy.

It also provided us fans with a one on one match-up between Udoka Azubuke and Cassius Winston and neither player backed down.

Regulation would not be enough and the Spartans had no answer for Azubuke in OT as the Jayhawks made everything in the extra period and MSU couldn’t make anything. Kansas wins their 6th overall title 89-81 in OT

#1 Kansas versus #12 Liberty –  Liberty guards McGhee, Cuffee and Pacheco-Ortiz Continue to give teams fits during their cinderella run through these pretend NCAA’s. Liberty had no answer for the Jayhawks Udoka Azubuike as he finished with a monstrous double-double of 35 points and 20 rebounds. At one point in the game Azubuike outscored Liberty on his own little 12-0 run in the second half to put the game away. Kansas 89 – 74

#2 Kentucky versus #6 Iowa – The match-up of all match-ups between Luka Garza and Nick Richards did not disappoint. Neither chose to play very much defense and each ended with double-doubles. Iowa continues to represent the physical toughness of the B1G and moves onto the Elite 8 to face off against Kansas. Iowa 81 -79 OT

The Elite 8 showdown for a chance to the Final Four between #1 Kansas and #6 Iowa did all it could to make itself an all-time great NCAA game. The triple OT thriller brought the Lucas Oil Stadium crowd to it’s feet to stay halfway through the second half.

The battle between Wooden Award Finalist Luka Garza and Udoka Azubuike was one for the ages and defensively got both layers into foul trouble late. Azubuike sat through the first OT period but returned midway through the second to give the Jayhawks a spark that Garza could squelch. Kansas 101 – 98 3OT

The Kansas Jayhawks are the Midwest regions representative in the Final Four.

The second round of the East Region only had one major shock as a B1G team blew a big lead in the second half.

No. 1 Dayton 85, No. 8 Colorado 67 Dayton avenged one of its two losses by baffling the Buffaloes. Obi Toppin and Jalen Crutcher combined for 32 points, while Trey Landers added a triple double with 10-10-10. Colorado led 10-7 early but then the high flyin’ Flyers scored 20 straight. Colorado had two use a pair of timeouts within seconds of each other because Dayton’s smothering defense was too much

No 12 Richmond 69, Maryland 68 Jacob Gilyard hit a three-pointer as time expired to give the Spiders an upset. Richmond trailed by 11 points with 4 minutes left, but Maryland missed 8 of 10 free throws down the stretch to let Richmond back in the game. Blake Francis scored a game-high 22 points to help the Spiders.

No. 3 Villanova 61, No. 6 Penn State 57 In one of the most boring games in NCAA Tournament history, Villanova escaped this back-and-forth game. Justin Moore scored 11 points to lead the Wildcats. Neither team led by more than five points and neither team shot better than 30 percent from the field. The Federal Communications Commission threatened the NCAA with sanctions if it ever aired a game this ugly again.

No. 2 Florida State 80, No. 12 Utah State 66 Another laugher in the East Region. Ten Seminoles scored at least five points and Utah State turned the ball over 14 times in the first half as Florida State jumped out to a big early lead. Trent Forrest grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and dished out 17 assists.

On to the Sweet 16 round in NY city, MSG and some good match-ups! No.1 Dayton versus No. 12 Richmond and No.3 Villanova versus No. 2 Florida State.

#1 Kansas versus #9 Marquette – These two teams haven’t seen each other since early in the regular season in 2018 and back then Markus Howard and Sam Hauser were almost way too much for the Jayhawks. This time senior Udoka Azubuike was all Marquette could handle finishing with a triple-double 25 pts, 14 rbs and 10 blocked shots(new career high) #1 Kansas 91 – 68

#4 Wisconsin versus #12 Liberty – The Flames cinderella run continues for this pretend March madness behind hot shooting guards of Liberty as Darius McGhee, Elijah Cuffee and Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz lit the badgers up for 17 total threes and 10 of them coming in the first 15 minutes of the game. Wisconsin never recovered although they made it close in the end. #12 Liberty 84 – 78

#3 Duke versus #6 Iowa – Luka Garza continues to make an argument for the John Wooden Award given to the best overall player in College Men’s Basketball. Exploiting Duke’s foul trouble early on the Hawkeyes went to Luka early and often and had 21 points at halftime. He finished with a double-double in the big win moving to the sweet 16. #6 Iowa 81 – 74

#2 Kentucky versus #10 Arizona State – John Calipari has been here many times and he may just have the best team to win it all. Nick Richards continued his onslaught of opposing post players with his versatility of posting up and just beating them to the hoop. #2 Kentucky 76-54

The sweet sixteen is next week featuring a hodgepodge of seeds from the Midwest and all being played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

#1 Kansas versus #12 Liberty

#2 Kentucky versus #6 Iowa

No. 1 Dayton 91, No. 16 Robert Morris 50

Obi Toppin and Jalen Crutcher are too much for Robert Morris, which is still gassed from its double overtime win in the First Four, ironically on Dayton’s home court.

No. 8 Colorado 65, No. 9 Florida 59

Not sure why the committee placed Colorado in the same bracket as Dayton since they played earlier this year. But the Flyers get a chance for revenge in round two.

No. 12 Richmond 70, No. 5 Butler 68, OT

The Butler didn’t do it. The Spiders did. They bit the Bulldogs as a sexy upset pick coming out of the First Four. Blake Francis looked like Steve Francis, scoring 30 points.

No. 4 Maryland 90, No. 13 Akron 56

The Terps pulled away in the second half to cruise to an easy win. Anthony Cowan Jr., was a one-man wrecking crew, scoring 18 points, while dishing out 11 assists and grabbing 14 rebounds to go with 10 steals. He was six fouls away from a quintuple double and was only in the game to see if he would be allowed to commit 10 fouls.

No. 6 Penn State 56, No. 11 NC State 50

In one of the uglier tournament games in recent history, the teams combined for 45 turnovers and 35 fouls.

No. 3 Villanova 72, No. 14 Hofstra 70

Desure Buie had a last-second shot go off the back of the rim and Villanova escaped with a hard-fought win. Neither team led by more than four points and the Pride opted to go for the win at the end after calling a timeout to set up a play.

No. 10 Utah State 81, No. 7 West Virginia 74

The game wasn’t as close as the score indicates as four Aggies scored in double figures. Utah State led by as many as 20 in the second half before a late flurry of WVU garbage buckets made it respectable.

No. 2 Florida State 91, No. 15 Northern Kentucky 75

NKU gave the Seminoles fits early but they eventually pulled away as Malik Osborne scores a game-high 17 points.

Stay tuned to MOTSAG next week for the results of the 2nd Round Matchups in the South Region. Matchups are as follows:

• #1 Dayton vs. #8 Colorado
• #12 Richmond vs. #4 Maryland
• #6 Penn State vs. #3 Villanova
• #10 Utah State vs. #2 Florida State

We will ask for your opinions in Twitter polls soon so again stay tuned into MOTSAG.

The play-ins are complete and it’s time to take a look at what happened in the Midwest Region that will be entertaining to say the least! All games lead to the Final Four in Atlanta and go through what is sure to be a good Sweet 16 in Indianapolis. Below are the pretend results and a couple typical upsets!

• #1 Kansas vs. #16 Siena – Kansas 94-61
• #8 Houston vs. #9 Marquette – Marquette 62-61
• #5 Auburn vs. #12 Liberty – Liberty 81-80 2OT
• #4 Wisconsin vs. #13 North Texas – Wisconsin 55-45
• #6 Iowa vs. 11 East Tennessee State – Iowa 68-65 OT
• #3 Duke vs. #14 Belmont – Duke 75-64
• #7 Providence vs. #10 Arizona State – Arizona State 79-73
• #2 Kentucky vs. #15 North Dakota State – Kentucky 74-51

Stay tuned to MOTSAG next week for the results of the 2nd Round Matchups in the South Region. Matchups are as follows:

• #1 Kansas vs. #9 Marquette
• #12 Liberty vs. #4 Wisconsin
• #6 Iowa vs. #3 Duke
• #10 Arizona State vs. #2 Kentucky

We will ask for your opinions in Twitter polls soon so again stay tuned into MOTSAG.

Dayton Play In Games

Us bored folks here at MOTSAG decided to take a stab at a pretend March Madness. With almost no empirical evidence as such each of us will choose who we think “could” win in our bracket, which we stole from Joe Lunardi’s posts this past week. His tweets can be found following him or by checking out his bracketology here.

Richard, Zack, Scott and myself will be bringing you our choices in articles that are just our thoughts on what the final results might be!

• Play In #1 16 Boston University versus 16 Robert Morris, winner gets #1 seed Dayton in East Region
  • Robert Morris 71-68 2OT
• Play In #2 12 Texas versus 12 Richmond, winner gets #5 seed Butler in the East Region
  • Richmond 65-59
• Play In #3 11 NC State versus 11 UCLA, winner gets #6 seed Penn State in the East Region
  • NC State 84-63
• Play In #4 16 Prairie View A&M versus 16 NC Central, winner gets #1 seed Gonzaga in West Regional
  • Prairie View A&M 65-62

We will ask you your opinion in twitter poll’s and see what happens with both brackets! Have fun!