Third Round Update: You Fought the Law and the Law Won

Counselors dominate Calcutta heading into Sweet Sixteen

On to the Sweet Sixteen!

The Calcutta heads to the Sweet Sixteen and the Barristers head into the regional semifinals in great shape after dominating the third round with four teams advancing. Benefiting from some first round upsets, the Counselors took full advantage of teams that won emotional upsets in the first round (SFA, Mercer) only to get spanked in the court of law on Sunday afternoon.

Here's a capsule look at all of the Calcutta squads, even the one we've lost going into the round of 16....

Counselors roll into Sweet 16

The Counselors. The Counselors threatened to tie the second round record of five wins [Catholicz - 1999 & 2009], but Gonzaga could not hold on late against 1-Arizona and had to settle to match their 2012 effort when they last won the crown. The damage was already done by the lawmen earlier in the day when 4-UCLA and 11-Tennessee took care of business against double-digit seeded teams. The Morning Line favorite's powerhouse team 1-Virginia took care of 8-Memphis with relative ease sending them to the next round in terrific shape and with nine wins notched on their dance card. Unless everything falls apart in the regional semis, it looks like the Counselors will be sipping from the Chalise in two weeks.

Elders looming

Elder Statesmen. Right behind the Counselors are the Elders who were terrific in round one. I was remiss in my last column to mention they were a couple moments away from an unprecedented first round sweep. New Mexico State lost in OT and Manhattan took Louisville deep into the night. The next round had them come back to earth going 2-4, with 3-Iowa State advancing (barely) along with 6-Baylor. Neither of those two teams look to be a major threat to win the national championship, but if Baylor knocks off the Counselors' 2-Wisconsin Badgers in the Sweet Sixteen they could make things interesting. Another solid Calcutta performance by the old guys.

The Bunch's squads are all hot entering the Sweet Sixteen

The Bunch of Chieftans. Of any Calcutta squad, this one probably has the three teams playing the best hoops in the tournament. 7-UConn was impressive in Buffalo disposing of second seeded Villanova and 8-Kentucky came into the NCAAs with a chip on their shoulder. Add top-seeded Florida and the Chieftans could roll in some Calcutta dough before this thing is over. They'll have a say in this thing going forward as matchups with the other three teams in the top four await in the next round. Always a threat.

The Win-Docs. I give Artie credit for not texting me after the Cuse loss, that's class or he lost my number. The Win-Docs marched on through the third round going undefeated with their remaining three teams. 4-Michigan State had a brief scare from Harvard, but ultimately prevailed and will take a big swing at the Counselors top team in the regional semis. 4-Louisville will battle with the Bunch's Wildcats in the battle of Kentucky where there is no love lost between the teams or coaches. The Flyers get somewhat of a break having to face 10-Stanford instead of 3-Kansas, but at this juncture of the tourney, everybody can play. They may sit in fourth, but the Docs are ready for major surgery in the Sweet Sixteen.

The Commishioners: Is there any other way to describe them?

The Commishioners. Team Futility continued its historical ways losing both 3-seeds and advancing a 10-seed in the Stanford Cardinal. If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around, does it make a noise? They sit in fifth with 5 points, but are on the road to Nowheresville. Thanks a bunch, Creighton.

Catholic Boyz: Took the collar in round 3.

The Catholic Boyz. When 2-Villanova went down late Saturday night, so too did the hopes of the Catholic Boyz. Mathematically eliminated from title contention, they can only hope to run the table with the 4th-seeded Aztecs from San Diego State. Good luck with that.




Dos Amigos. They may sit on the bottom half of the Calcutta today, but with 1-Arizona and 2-Michigan still alive and many of the top seeds faltering in the first two rounds may provide the defending champs with a little bravado. The Amigos with a run of the table could be singing La Cucaracha song before this Calcutta is in the books. An AZ-Mich title game gives them 12 points and some dough-ray-me.

   

The Tax Men. It's never fun to be the first team out, but someone always gets the honor. The Tax Men's championship drought hits the 10-year mark. Thanks for coming, It's been real.

Unfortunately--not tax deductible.

I did receive this video link from the Tax Men's captain this morning in my inbox (click skip ad at beginning)....

 

 Sweet Sixteen recap next Saturday. Good luck!