Gators Fall Forward Into the Elite Eight

Whether it was a viral attack or simply the pollen allergy season hitting me, I found myself last night in the throes of coughing fits and upper respiratory congestion... and consequently sadly but wisely decided to forego getting up early this morning to run a 10K race in the middle of the alligator-friendly, soggy wilderness they call Paynes Prairie.  Instead I slept in...hooray, I feel a lot better now!  I went to one of the last two surviving Radio Shacks here in Gainesville to pick up a cheap MP3 player, only to discover that (1) they didn't have any more MP3s and (2) they are closing down in nine days.  Sorry to hear that...Radio Shack's always been a fun place for me to browse through, and I've bought quite a bit of stuff there over the years.  Anyway, between last night and this morning word has spread throughout Gainesville and beyond of late last night and the miracle three-point buzzer-beating shot of junior Florida Gator guard Chris Chiozza...as he was falling forward...that gave them a thrilling 84-83 overtime victory over Wisconsin and advances them to play South Carolina (for the third time this year) in the Elite Eight game tomorrow.  It was funny to hear the sports commentators on TV talking about how Florida and Wisconsin...after all the previous games in the tournament...had finally put on a show worthy of the hyped-up excitement of "March Madness".  As if either team actually wanted to have their contest so painfully drawn out the way it was, just to be considered worthy enough for others to watch!  Actually, until last night I felt that Florida had been unfairly slighted and ignored by the national sports media...we're talking about a team devoid of superstars and coached by someone in only his second year with the school...a team with a losing record two years ago and which settled for going to the NIT last year!  Regardless what happens tomorrow between the Gamecocks and Gators, it has already been a great season for Florida basketball...

I was tempted to wait until the Final Four lineup was set before writing my "basketball" article, but I think this weekend's games promise some interesting basketball to discuss.  This is the schedule, for the next round, which will determine each region's champion and the Final Four field:

Saturday (today):
West Region
Xavier vs. Gonzaga, 6:09 pm, site: San Jose
Midwest Region
Kansas vs. Oregon, 8:49 pm, site: Kansas City

Sunday
East Region
Florida vs. South Carolina, 2:20 pm, site: New York
South Region
Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 5:05 pm, site: Memphis

Today's games...according to the NCAA website, will be shown on TBS and tomorrow's are on CBS...but knowing how television programming can suddenly change, I wouldn't bet my house on that information.  As for the Final Four, should Florida get by South Carolina...and they split their regular season games...they will have the advantage of playing the Xavier/Gonzaga winner in the first game, on Saturday.  I'm glad about that because I'd like to see the Gators get to the championship game and Kansas is so hot right now I don't know whether anybody can stop them. As for which teams I want to win...disregarding their real chances...I'd like to see Florida, Xavier, Oregon, and North Carolina make it to the Final Four...fat chance of all that happening, though.  Anyway, the Final Four games are to be held in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, March 31 and Monday, April 2.  The Saturday games will pair up the East/West and South/Midwest winners.  May the best team win...unless it's the Gators, and may they win even if they're not the best team!