March 20 NCAA, NIT, CBI, WNIT, WBI Schedules and Open Thread (and Saturday's results)

It's Angel Rodriguez. You never know what you're going to get, but at least you know it's usually going to be good.

And so departed the less obnoxious other school from Kansas, after recovering from approximately a billion point deficit (okay, just 21) to actually take the lead midway through the second half. It was an absolutely insane comeback after the Shockers, seemingly still back at the hotel, couldn't do anything right at all during the first 10 minutes. Meanwhile, Rodriguez opened with a bang, dropping an absurd 19 points in the first ten minutes of the game. From the middle of the first half to the middle of the second, though, the Shockers beat the stuffing out of Miami, outscoring the Hurricanes 37-19.

Unfortunately, the 23-6 hole they'd dug themselves at the start was too much. Although that mid-game run had erased the lead, it was also unsustainable. Miami won the final 10 minutes 23-14. The big key to the Shocker run had been silencing Rodriguez, who was held to but a single free throw during the Wichita State comeback. He came alive again during the backstretch, however, scoring eight points in the final ten -- which just so happened to be the margin of victory.

And now we stop to consider the future: next weekend, we could very well see Angel Rodriguez facing off against the Kansas Jayhawks for a spot in the Final Four. KU basically nuked UConn from orbit, nearly doubling up the Huskies in the first half. The final margin was only 12 points, as Connecticut tried valiantly to get back into the contest, but by that point KU was on cruise control -- a status made clear by the insane playground lob pass from Devonte' Graham which Wayne Selden viciously buried in the cylinder.

Hate Kansas all you want, but that was beautiful.

Another 11 seed fared much better, as Gonzaga obliterated Utah. The Zags led by as much as 30 points late in the game, partially aided by Jakob Poeltl apparently being unable to play basketball at Denver altitude. Poeltl, the Pac-12 player of the year, was visibly gassed and completely ineffective. The Bulldog win leaves us in the bizarre position of already being guaranteed a double-digit seed in the Elite Eight, as Gonzaga will next face the winner of tomorrow's Syracuse-MTSU game. It also leaves the Pac-12 reeling, with only Oregon left to carry the league's banner.

The day's other drama-free game also came in Denver, where Georges Niang ripped apart UALR with 28 points on the way to an easy 17-point win.

Indiana scored a mild upset over Kentucky, while Duke, Virginia, and North Carolina staved off solid efforts from Yale, Butler, and Providence to survive and advance. All the results, with SB Nation team blog recaps in green:

Today's Men's Schedule

Let's go Jacks! Stephen F. Austin takes on Notre Dame for their second try at a Sweet Sixteen berth. Northern Iowa attempts to claim the Texas state title, facing Texas A&M after having dispatched Texas. Oklahoma is staring straight into the horror of Virginia Commonwealth, a team nobody has ever wanted to play in the NCAA Tournament. Villanova is poised for their annual early exit, with Iowa looming. Maryland has to deal with upstart Hawai'i. And we get the treat of a 10-15 round of 32 game as Syracuse meets Middle Tennessee.

You may want to find other entertainment late, though. I mean, nobody wants to watch Wisconsin struggle to score a point a minute, and Oregon's going to do horrible things to Saint Joe's.

All the undercard action is relatively early, so that's no solution to the evening problem.

Saturday's Women's Results

Four upsets littered the women's bracket as a pair of nines -- Duquesne and Indiana -- joined tenth-seeded Mizzou and 12-seed South Dakota State in the round of 32. The Jackrabbits took off some of the shine off Miami's win over Wichita State by upsetting the Hurricane women, while Missouri ended the career of the most prolific scorer in the history West Coast Conference -- men or women. Lexi Eaton Rydalch, who passed Hank Gathers on that list during the WCC tournament, led all scorers with 22. But she fouled out, and her absence in the closing measures doomed BYU.

There was a tearful reunion in Palo Alto as Tara VanDerveer welcomed her former star and protege Jennifer Azzi to the Maples Pavilion... and then utterly destroyed Azzi's San Francisco squad. In Storrs, Connecticut did what Connecticut does, obliterating Robert Morris in the final game of Sal Buscaglia's coaching career. The Huskies led 41-4 at the end of the first quarter, which in some quarters is considered murder.

Texas A&M fended off an upset bid by Missouri State, while South Florida watched helplessly as a potential game-tying three for Colorado State arced toward the rim... and then bounced harmlessly away at the buzzer. Otherwise, the remainder of the first round went to script.

The Big 12 was 2-0 on the day as Oklahoma and Texas advanced, leaving the conference with a spiffy 5-1 record in the first round. Another Big 12 team picked up a win as well, with TCU escaping Eastern Michigan in the second round of the WNIT. Michigan and UNI also advanced there, while Hofstra delivered a stunning upset to Villanova. And in the WBI, eighth-seeded South Carolina-Upstate continued their surprise run; having already knocked off top-seeded Northern Kentucky, the Spartans sent Western Illinois packing to advance to the semifinals.

Today's Women's Schedule

K-State takes on South Carolina at 6pm on ESPN. Albany will try to pull off a miracle and get into the Sweet Sixteen. There's a WNIT game which is actually really interesting as Nicole Seekamp and South Dakota travel to the Twin Cities to take on Rachel Banham and the Golden Gophers. (It's tragic that this game isn't happening in the NCAA Tournament.)