Four teams share early lead
AMHERST – In a wild and wooly first round that saw a 16-seed upset 1-Purdue and 2-Arizona and 4-Virginia making early tee times, the 2023 Calcutta got off to a rousing start.
Four teams (Win-Docs, Catholic Boyz, Counselors and Chieftans) are tied atop the leaderboard with three other squads within a point or two. It has the makings of possibly the most competitive Calcutta in years.
The Win-Docs were rolling early with hopes
of setting Calcutta history with a first round sweep. Going 4-0 on Thursday,
the Docs were surgically moving through its early opponents with precision. St.
Patty’s Day rolled around however, and the Docs went 1-3, but didn’t slip down
the leaderboard. 5-Duke’s region is
suddenly wide open and a big matchup with 5-Tenessee (Elders) on Saturday could
vault them and the Docs into the Sweet Sixteen with a good chance to have three
horses still in the race.
The Catholic Boyz also had a big Thursday holding serve with their top seeds and taking advantage of an upset by 15-Princeton over 2-Arizona (Slayers). The Boyz are back in town was heard playing in the Calcutta once again and today could decide whether they can start distancing themselves from the rest of the pack with four teams in action. A big matchup between 2-Marquette taking on 7-Michigan State (Counselors) looms on Sunday for two of the top teams to date.
The Counselors have started to rebound
from last year’s debacle and after being shut out on Thursday, banged the gavel
on Friday with five wins, none that were really in doubt. They’ll be taking a recess today, but will come
back strong on Sunday with strong arguments to be at the peak of the Calcutta
by Sunday night. In addition to the big showdown with the Boyz, the
3-Gonzaga-TCU tilt with the Chieftans is another huge game amongst the leaders
on Sunday.
Speaking of the Chieftans, they also had
a big day, devouring their Friday opponents to tally four wins on the day and
gain a slice of the lead. Surviving a 14-Kennesaw State (Commish) upset scare
early in the afternoon, their top seeds mostly rolled. The 13-Furman buzzer
beater was the difference for the Bunch, but they’ll play the underdog role in
four of their five games slated for the Round of 32. They’ll at least get an accidental win as
they face off against themselves in the KSU-Kentucky fixture (that’s soccer
talk).
Immediately behind the top four squads
sits the Elders alone in fifth place one win behind and smarting from the
4-Virginia buzzer beater loss to the Chieftans (Furman). The old guys caned
four opponents, but face an uphill battled as Tennessee heads up against a hot
Duke squad and will face a 1 and 2 seed in two other contests. But don’t think
the sextugenarian duo has started to shake their fists at the sky just yet.
Oh, Amigos….losing a top seed when all
your eggs were in that basket. But, hey they had 16-FDU so all was not completely
lost (close, though). The Knights
actually outplayed the Boilers all night and only need to beat a 9-seed to
advance to the Sweet Sixteen. They sit
in sixth place tied with the Slayers with three wins. However, if Alabama rolls……
But if ifs and buts were candy and nuts we’d all have a merry Calcutta.
The defending co-champs have some work
to do. They face two difficult 4-5 games over the weekend and the Commish’s
morning line “kiss of death” was being whispered around the office all morning
on Thursday. It’s unlikely the engraver
will be putting the Slayers on the Chalise this year.
Sitting in his mom’s basement is the
Commish. An agonizing Friday complete with a computer slam after the 9-FAU
buzzer beater (Slayers getting revenge) and Kennesaw giving up a 13-point lead
in the final 10 minutes puts the potential three-peat in serious jeopardy. Can
only max out with 10 wins if Kansas or Texas run the table, so rooting for a
whole lot of whupping up against each other up above.
