Mar 12, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) brings the ball up court around Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jizzle James (2) during the first half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images
The brackets are out, and it’s full-steam ahead for March Madness.
Let’s muse.
Keshon Gilbert
T.J. Otzelberger dropped a bomb at his NCAA Tournament press conference Sunday, announcing that Keshon Gilbert would not be on the floor for the remainder of the season.
It’s obviously a big hit for the Cyclones – Gilbert averaged 13.4 points and 4.1 assists per game this year.
Otzelberger said that Gilbert just needed to get right, and it was evident that Gilbert wasn’t the same player recently as he was earlier in the year.
I don’t want to spend too much time on Gilbert here, since he won’t be on the floor, but I encourage everyone to tune into Williams & Blum on the silver linings here.
The fortunate part of this is that Iowa State kept that internal until its No. 3 seeding was announced by the committee – some teams were kept out with injuries being used as a crutch for the group’s decision. It very much could have made a difference between a 3 seed and a 4 or a 5, but the Cyclones got as good of a draw as they could ask for.
Also, Tamin Lipsey is expected to play.
The matchup with Lipscomb
Lipscomb plays a slow-paced style of basketball, averages just 9.5 turnovers per game (14th in the country), and makes 9.9 3-pointers per game (29th).
Each of the latter two are traits of teams that found success against Iowa State this year, and this is a team that’s certainly capable of shocking the world this week.
The Bisons have six players that shoot 34 percent or better from the 3-point line including Atlantic Sun Player of the Year Jacob Ognacevic, who averages 20 and 8.
That said, Lipscomb lost to Arkansas and Kentucky by a combined 45 points in the only two games it played against teams in the tournament field this year.
Elsewhere in the region lies the trio of Ole Miss, North Carolina and San Diego State on the other side, along with Tom Izzo & Michigan State, Shaka Smart & Marquette, Dusty May & Michigan, and Bruce Pearl & Auburn. There’s a lot of intrigue.
The women turn around and play in the First Four
On the women’s side, it will be Iowa State against Princeton in the ‘play-in’ round on Wednesday night.
Princeton made the tourney on merit – it lost to Harvard in the Ivy League tournament and earned its spot on resume.
The Tigers took Utah to the brink in a 3-point loss before nearly sweeping the slate in its last 20 games, which included a pair of wins against the same Harvard team it lost to on Friday.
The winner of that game will take on No. 6 Michigan. The Wolverines aren’t slouches, but they do start three freshmen.
But, it’s March and you still have to get there. Bill Fennelly, Audi Crooks & Emily Ryan had some great quotes on the draw. Anything can happen in March.
Quick hits
I’m keeping these limited to the brackets we saw today as it’s the only thing I pay attention to (mostly) this week of the year.
The committee leans on Tucker DeVries’ injury as a reason West Virginia was snubbed.
The whole thing is in bold because it’s absolute crap. Tucker DeVries hasn’t played a game for West Virginia since December 6. He didn’t even play in 1/3rd of the team’s games this season.
Committee references Tucker DeVries injury for not selecting WV. The guy hasn’t played in over 3 months. Didn’t play a single Big 12 game. That is not a reason when he only played 8 games all season.
— Chris Hassel (@Hassel_Chris) March 16, 2025
And there it is…
UNC AD & Committee Chair “Tucker DeVries being out went into consideration.”
He’s been out since Thanksgiving! WATCH THE GAMES!
WVU has a better resume with no DeVries than Carolina & Xavier!
They won at the PHOG, beat IowaSt, & won 10 XII games. STOP! https://t.co/OvybGwS7Rx
— Ryan McIntyre (@Moneyline_Mac) March 16, 2025
It’s ridiculous that they’re looking at injuries at all.
We’ve got to fix who gets put on the committee. It’s the NCAA, so I have little faith that it will ever happen, but North Carolina Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham being the chairman of the group while the Tar Heels qualify with *that* resume should tell you all you need to know.
Now, UNC did get left out of the tournament while Cunningham was on the board two years ago, but I don’t buy there wasn’t some ribbing against WVU and Indiana.
Give me Rothstein, Fanta and a few others that watch this sport 365 days a year.
Speaking of Rothstein, and I’m not sure if you all remember Wally Szczerbiak shitting on Tyrese Haliburton a year ago, but Jon had a great quote tonight on CBS in response to the claim that UNC would make a run.
This is an instant classic from @JonRothstein🤣 pic.twitter.com/nk8TpXNdrl
— Cyclone Dave (@CycloneDave69) March 17, 2025
Meanwhile, Drake gets Missouri in a 6-11 game in Wichita, with former Cyclone Caleb Grill and former Hawkeye Tony Perkins. It’s probably the closest thing to a Big 4 Classic game we’ve seen since Fran pulled the Hawkeyes out of that deal.
Drake, 11-seed vs 6-seed Missouri in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Bulldogs with 30 wins. Tigers 22-11, with a couple familiar names. Former Hawkeye Tony Perkins, and former Cyclone Caleb Grill. Grill averages 14 pts/game, Perkins 9. Should be fun. pic.twitter.com/sERtUUofd7
— Mr. SOUNDOFF (@johnsears) March 16, 2025
UC Riverside is listed to play in both the NIT and CBI!
It’s likely that Riverside accepted a bid to play in the CBI before learning of their spot in the NIT, and that they won’t actually be playing in both tournaments.
BUT, it would be cool to see. At the very least it will be interesting to see how both parties handle it.
HOW IS THIS GOING TO WORK? I DON’T CARE
THIS IS AWESOME https://t.co/i5qWpgpWw9 pic.twitter.com/hM8jZx2oPs
— Sam Federman (@Sam_Federman) March 17, 2025
The five games (not including Iowa teams) I’m most excited to watch are:
No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 12 UC Riverside – I feel like both of these teams were under-seeded and each has capabilities of making a big run.
No. 8 Louisville vs. No. 9 Creighton – Could switch my pick for this game 200 times between now and tip and still feel wrong.
No. 7 Kansas vs. No. 10 Arkansas – Bill Self vs. John Calipari in the first round.
No. 2 St. Johns vs. No. 15 Omaha – I don’t know if it can happen, but the trash can celebration postgame would be electric.
No. 6 Illinois vs. Texas OR Xavier – It feels like both games will be a buzzsaw no matter what happens.
And a message for everyone as these tournaments take place over the coming days – what a certain team does in the tournament does not justify it’s seed.
Just remember that.
