Elite Eight thoughts

A few thoughts looking back on the round that was:

• I was so happy to see Bruce Pearl and Tennessee break through last night. Pearl gets a lot of flack, most of it undeserved. Considering what happened in December with Tyler Smith and the other three players, I wouldn’t have been surprised if this team missed the tournament. Instead, they’re one win away from the program’s first ever Final Four.

The dig on Tennessee these past few years is that it doesn’t play to its potential nearly often enough. A lot of letdowns and head-scratchers. So when Smith was kicked off the team, those left behind realized that couldn’t happen anymore.

I don’t know if I have the heart to pick Tennessee over Tom Izzo — why would anybody pick against Sparty in March at this point? — but the outcome of Sunday’s game isn’t as significant as the fact that Tennessee somehow made it there.

• Surprisingly, my bracket is still in fairly good shape. I only got five teams through to the Elite 8 but I still have three Final Four picks alive. My original Final Four was Kentucky, Ohio State, Baylor and Kansas State.

• Am I the only one who finds it hard to believe that Tennessee had never made an Elite 8 before Friday?

• I’m already hearing people call for Purdue as a national championship favorite next season. At the beginning of this season, I said Purdue would contend if Hummel stayed healthy. He didn’t. So I’m done making predictions on the Boilers based on Hummel’s health.

• The SEC has two teams in the Elite 8. The only other league with two is the Big 12 (Kansas State, Baylor). Wouldn’t have guessed that.

• Perhaps my favorite college basketball player had his career come to an end last night: Ohio State’s Mark Titus. Mark The Shark, a walk-on known for his blog (clubtrillion.blogspot.com), very well may be the best unguarded shooter I’ve ever seen. Check out his “training video” on YouTube. If you’ve seen HBO’s Eastbound and Down, you’ll catch the obvious influence of the training video Kenny Powers used to try to get back in the majors.

• Why does everyone think J.P. Prince’s block saved Tennessee last night? Was Evan Turner really going to make that one-handed shot? Turner wasted his chance by taking such a long time to take the first shot.

Heading down to the Carrier Dome about 4:30 or so. Looking forward to the game.