NCAA Tourney Blogdome: Table For Four

Around the blog and back on Sunday's games in the NCAA Basketball Tournament ...

• Hoya Saxa! What an incredible 48 hours to be a Hoya. After the shot of a lifetime from team bastion Jeff Green to beat Vanderbilt on Friday night, it was looking like we were going to suffer the ultimate letdown. From an incredible high to a feeling of desperation knowing we had come this close to Final Four immortality. That's how I felt with about 8 minutes left in today's game against the Tar Heels. [ Going Deep]

• I Have Never Seen Poorer Late Game Execution. And I coached 6 to 8 year olds. What kind of play call was that? Tie game, 24 seconds left, and we settle for a contested Ellington three? Give me a break. Why not drive Lawson and get him to the line? The most talented team we've had in a long time and we can't buy a basket for the last 12 minutes. RIDICULOUS. [ Heels Blog]

• Quick Billy D Update. I hate to be discussing this on the day that the Gators advanced to their second-straight Final Four, and third overall under our current head coach — but it's impossible to deny its presence surrounding the basketball program right now. UF President Bernie Machen has announced his feelings on the speculation that Billy Donovan may be packing his backs and heading to Lexington to coach the Wildcats. "He owes it to himself to look at the Kentucky job," Machen told reporters, "but we're not going to lose him to anybody." [ Swamp Ball]

• Duck Pride. I just want to express how proud I am to be a Duck right now. I know that we lost today, but we went out fighting until the very end. I take pride in the fact that we gave the defending champs everything they wanted. The game plan was perfect. Horford and Noah didn't kill us. If we shoot threes the way we normally do, we win that game. But, until the end, the Ducks never gave up. They played with pride and heart, and represented our great University well. Hopefully, the football team was taking notes. [ Addicted To Quack]

• Case Of The Mondays: Arriving, Finally, At Four. So, it's Florida, UCLA, Georgetown and OSU. And as much as I'd like to revise my picks and take Georgetown to win the whole thing, I'll stick with OSU. But if there's anyone that can negate the influence of Greg Oden, it's Roy Hibbert. We'll see. (Oh, and by the way, let's not forget Georgetown shouldn't even be here. In case you still agree with Billy Packer [commenter law, I'm looking at you], here's the link.) [ We Are The Postmen]