Photo: Getty Images
Houston basketball is back in the form of Cougars basketball! They shut down Buddy Boeheim and Syracuse to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1984, aka the era of Phi Slama Jama. They will play #12 seed Oregon State with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
While Vegas and many others have the Cougars as the favorites to advance, ESPN apparently has a different take. This morning, they released an article titled "Reseeding The Men's March Madness Field For The Elite Eight." The ranking goes like this:
- Gonzaga
- Baylor
- Michigan
- USC
- Oregon State
- Houston
- UCLA
- Arkansas
Here is their reasoning: " [Quentin] Grimes is averaging 18.0 PPG while connecting on 41% of his 3-point attempts. Houston's three opponents in the NCAA tournament have combined to make just 39% of their shots inside the arc. Its offense needs Grimes, though. It stalled when he went to the bench with his second foul in the first half of Saturday's win over the Orange. Yet, the Cougars know how to win ugly, too. Their path has been fortuitous. Oregon State will be the fourth consecutive double-digit seed this team has faced in the NCAA tournament."
Six?!?! Are you kidding me?!? Don't get me wrong, they're not the best, but putting USC and Oregon State, the team they are favored to beat, ahead of them? No, just no. This team is much better than that. They've showed nothing but heart, a love of the game, determination and all the other things you need to win, they've shown it all. Dejon Jarreau is not playing through the intense pain of a hip pointer just to be ranked behind a #12 seed and a #6 seed. Not sure what tournament ESPN has been watching but c'mon guys, do better than that.