NCAA Final Four, 2020 Tournament (And You Thought You Weren't Going to Get It This Year

Two weekends, they would have played the 4 games to break the Elite 8 down to the Final Four.

The Tribune's picks:

MIDWEST WINNER

#1  Kansas

EAST  WINNER

#2  Florida State

*************************

WEST WINNER

#3  Seton Hall

SOUTH WINNER

#3  Michigan State

**************************************

These are particularly hard as I like all four teams.  If I go with Little Guys, I'd pull for Dayton and Gonzaga.  If I go with the Big Guys, it would be Kansas and Michigan State.

Decisions, decisions.

MY FINAL FOUR

*************************

MIDWEST WINNER

#1  Kansas

EAST WINNER

#1  Dayton

***********************

WEST WINNER

#1  Gonzaga

SOUTH WINNER

#3  Michigan State

I'll split the difference.

At least Kentucky is not in there.  I have never liked Kentucky.  And now, I also would have been pulling against UNC and Duke, two teams I've always liked in the Big Guys.  But Duke now is one of those one-and-done schools (like Kentucky) where they get all new starters every year.  I don't like UNC because of what they did to the Silent Sam statue.

So, who would your Final Four be?

--B-BallDog

LAUGHTER HELPS WITH THE "V":  To the tune of Paul Simon's "Fifty Ways to
Leave Your Lover":

"Sneeze Into Your Sleeve, Steve
To Keep Virus Free."

"Those Little Dogs Had Their Biggest Day": Wofford College Beats UNC!!

There has to be a lot of smiles on the campus of Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, today, as their team, the Terriers played National Champs University of North Carolina and BEAT them!!!

I went to the Spartanburg Herald Journal which, of course, had the story on the front page.

"Those little dogs had their biggest day.

"Wofford stunned the college basketball world Wednesday by knocking off fifth-ranked defending national champion North Carolina 79-75 at the Dean Smith Center."

Last night I had seen on the TV listings that UNC was playing Wofford, but chose not to watch it, figuring it would be a Tarheel blowout.  I sure wish I had, though.  When it comes to the Big Boys in college basketball, I am a big Tarheel fan.  But, I always pull for any of the Little Dogs when they play one of the Big Dogs.  And I sure would have been pulling for the Wofford Terriers.

In case you're wondering about Wofford College, it was established in 1854 and in the fall of 2016, had 1,692 undergraduate students.  Their teams are called the Terriers.

I imagine they have quite the thing to remember about their college years now.

I Am So Proud of These Guys!!  --RoadDog

Saying Goodbye to My Cousin Graham

I was sad to get a call from my mom on Saturday that my cousin Graham had died in Warsaw, North Carolina, after is long and hard-fought battle with cancer. He had it for around 13 years and there were so many times we all thought he was going to die only to have him rebound and be his old self a few weeks later. Unfortunately, the cancer would always come back and this last time it was becoming apparent that this time he wouldn't rebound.

I was very glad to get to see him twice when I was in NC over Thanksgiving, the second time, Nov. 30th, he was out of his hospital bed at his house and in the family room watching college football on his big screen TV and cheering on his beloved UNC (even though they lost to Duke). This was the Graham I'll remember. His wife Vicki was having trouble with the remote and Graham was there giving her instructions. He was nice enough to let us tune into the Georgia-Georgia Tech game, though.

Graham was my oldest cousin, some eight years older than me (born in 1943) and Mom regarded him more as a brother than a nephew as they were only 13 years apart.

I'll Sure Miss Graham.

Rivals.com Top 64 College Basketball Teams

Sad to see, but my alma mater didn't make the list...again!!! That would be Northern Illinois.

However, there are "several" of MY teams on the list:

1. North Carolina
4. Kansas
6. Tennessee
7. Indiana
15. Marquette
16. Duke
18. NC State

21. UConn
25. Southern Illinois
27. Butler
32. Gonzaga
36. Notre Dame
38. Davidson
39. Virginia
40. Vanderbilt

41. Xavier
43. Wisconsin
44. New Mexico State
45. Illinois
48. Maryland
50. Oklahoma State
52. Virginia Commonwealth

53. Georgia Tech
54. Western Kentucky
57. Georgia
58. Purdue
62. Minnesota

NCAA Basketball. What Gets Me Through the LONG Winter. --RoadDog