2011 NCAA Tournament: Brandon Knight, Demonte Harper, Juan Fernandez and other studs of Day 1

By Ted on Friday, March 18, 2011
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Gus Johnson had his moment last Saturday in the Pac-10 finals:

.. but honestly, you had to be a little sad he's in Cleveland right now on Thursday, Day 1 (OK, Day 3 technically) of the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Not sad that he's in Cleveland per se -- city gets sh*t on way too much -- but sad because he wasn't calling any games, and there were no shortage of daggers.

By our count, four games -- Butler, Temple, Morehead State and Kentucky -- ended with game-winners. You can halfway include Richmond over Vanderbilt in there too.

Thursday is always a tougher day to hit the bar for these games. First of all, chances are you had to work -- with the notion of work the next day as well. That's rough. Secondly, it was St. Patrick's Day. If you're not Irish, and over 25, that's a very tough social scene to embark upon. If you're a dude, you will be challenged to a fight within 10 minutes. If you're a girl, you will be groped. It's just the way of the world on 3-17.

Point being: chances are better you hit the bar this evening. We're partial to Georgetown in the late slot (several of us are alums), but don't sleep on Indiana State-Syracuse. It's a Gus game, which always get wild. The last time we can remember Gus calling a late Friday 'Cuse game vs. a much-lower seed? This happened:

Could it happen again? 'Cuse has been inconsistent as heck this season. Don't be surprised. If you need a 15 vs. 2 possibility, look at LIU-UNC. Yea, UNC came on strong late, and while they trailed in every game of the ACC Tournament, they did make the finals of said tournament. But -- LIU plays at a frenetic pace and could get off to an early lead. This is the 20th anniversary weekend of Richmond over 'Cuse, which was one of the first 15/2 epics, so anything can happen.

And now, for our money, the shot of Thursday -- just because it sent home Rick Pitino, and thus allowed a ton of potentially inappropriate jokes to be spoken in bars ("another early exit for Pitino," etc.)

Note that Bill "ONIONS!" Raftery is associated with this call: