MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Peterson

Well, I got one of them right. I had Illinois and Michigan winning. I kept waiting for Illinois to make a run and it never happened. You can’t shoot 34 percent from the field (23 percent from three) and expect to win. Especially against UConn.

Yet they kept jacking up the threes. Illinois ended up 6 for 26 from beyond the arc. That’s just not going to get it done. UConn is good but is also a team that can be beaten. It took a Braylon Mullins miracle for the Huskies to beat Duke and a poor shooting Illinois team that allowed them to advance to the final.

That being said playing in the final for the third time in four years is a remarkable feat. If Danny Hurley wins Monday night he’ll be considered one of the top five college coaches of all time. And to think he was even considering the Lakers job.

Michigan looks unbeatable at this point. The Wolverines aren’t just winning they’re destroying their opponents. They blew out Arizona and they blew out Tennessee. Their average margin of victory in the NCAA Tournament is over 22 points per game. They were too deep for Arizona and they’re too deep for UConn. Yaxel Landeborg is ready to go. I like Michigan to cut down the nets.

How did Mick Cronin and UCLA let Aday Mara get away?

It was bad enough that we had to sit through a concert before the UConn-Michigan game but did anybody catch that Dr. Naismith bit? Seven guys on the panel on TBS (about 4 too many) and then some type of ridiculous quiz from a Capital One spokesman called “Dr. Naismith”. It was supposed to be entertaining apparently but it was a complete swing and a miss. It was bad TV…painful to watch.

If Michigan does beat UConn it’s good to know head coach Dusty May isn’t going anywhere. he informed university officials that he’s not pursuing other opportunities. In other words he’s not leaving for North Carolina. With Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd signing a new deal with the school and the Chicago Bulls’ Billy Donovan stating he won’t consider the job until after the NBA season is over, North Carolina has nowhere to turn. No, Hurley doesn’t want it either.

If North Carolina wants a head coach with ties to the school and has had plenty of college coaching experience over the last five years there’s a perfect candidate just waiting for a call. How about Hubert Davis?

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So UCLA is still a blue blood school after all – the Women’s team. I’m not a big UCLA fan or Women’s College Basketball fan for that matter but it was nice to see someone not named UConn or South Carolina win the championship. Is Tennessee still in the mix?

With one and done coaches and instant gratification the order of the day you have to give UCLA and Cori Close credit for sticking it out. Close was the head coach at UCLA for 15 years before finally winning a title.

I wonder if she wants the North Carolina job?

That’s my principle.

Tim can be reached at tim.midvalleysports@gmail.com or on Twitter (X) @tspeterson40. Facebook – Tim Peterson.