From 65 to 16. The first two rounds of the NCAA tournament produced the requisite amount of surprises, shocks and expected routs. The state of Texas did not fare very well with only Baylor surviving to the round of sixteen. Baylor, however, had a pretty tough time just getting past Sam Houston State in the first round. A brilliant defensive strategy from Bearkats coach Bob Marlin which involved installing a triangle and two defense, kept the vaunted Bears backcourt off their game throughout. As a Southland Conference fan, I was extremely proud of the effort put forth by the Bearkats. They showed the country that the SLC is capable of producing a team that can play with the big boys. Now they just need a team to get over the hump and produce an upset in the first round.
Coach Marlin is being mentioned as a candidate for the head coaching job at Houston, another program that went out in the first round. Tom Penders steps down after taking his fourth team to the Dance and with a career 648 wins. The hot name in the Houston coaching search appears to be former Aggie coach Billy Clyde Gillespie but the Cougars could do much worse than to hire Marlin, a class coach who has proven he deserves a shot at the next level.
Another coach to keep a close eye on is Johnny Jones at UNT. Four 20 win seasons and two NCAA tournament appearances in the last four years will get your name out there. Jones has apparently interviewed at Auburn, an SEC school Jones knows well with his roots going back to LSU. Whether Jones jumps ship at UNT remains to be seen but two things are clear as we head into this off-season: 1) Jones would leave the program in far, far better shape than how he found it, actually making it the kind of job that would be attractive to up and coming young coaches across the country. 2) Even if Jones leaves, North Texas cannot go backwards, the next step for this program is to win an NCAA Tournament game and the Mean Green must make that their expectation. If Northern freakin' Iowa can get into the sweet sixteen, so can the Mean Green. The Bearkats and the rest of the Southland Conference should feel the same way after what we witnessed over the weekend.
As for the other Texas teams in the tourney, Texas saw their "Titanic" of a season finally sink mercifully to the bottom of the ocean. How one team goes from the highest of highs, to one and done is a great mystery of our time but it is one that Rick Barnes will have to figure out and quick.
Tony Barbee looks like he is building a solid program at UTEP. Barbee, a John Calipari desciple, is focused and intense, and not afraid to take chances on risky players like Derrick Caracter. It's a mind-set that could pay some big dividends or backfire miserably. If Barbee can run a clean program and continue to recruit well, the Miners could be a yearly participant in the Big Dance, and can generate a lot of excitement around El Paso, just as the programs in Las Cruces and Albuquerque have done.
The Aggies are taking a lot of heat for falling to Purdue, but honestly, the Boilermakers were placed as a fourth seed for a reason. Just because they were banged up and less than stellar down the stretch does not mean they can't play. The Aggies had a good year and are finally creating an identity all their own in College Station.
Baylor...well Go Bears. The last Texas team standing gets my support. Hopefully they will give us some exciting basketball this coming week. Love the backcourt of LaceDarius Dunn and Tweety Carter, but my favorite Bear is Quincy Acy, a player I had the chance to watch in high school. Tremendous hops on that young man and a good kid as well.
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