College Basketball

Hello ladies and gentleman, boys and girls of all ages.  Thank you for tuning in and reading my latest blog on 'Life of a Student Athlete,' by your own, Austin Hopcia.  Today will will spend most of the time on College Basketball and maybe take a look into some High School hoops if we have time.  College Basketball is probably my most favorite sport to watch.  I just love the passion and love for the game that these kids have.  The joy on their faces when they win, and the disappointment when they lose.  It is just so exciting to watch and I just love College Gameday Saturday's.  I could probably watch a College Basketball game every night, especially if it has good teams.  All the upsets that go down is pretty cool to see too.  All the Cinderella tournament teams making runs, it's awesome.  Last year there were three teams with double-digit seeding that made it to the Sweet 16.  And for the first time ever there were two Number 2 teams get knocked out in the first round of the tournament.  Lehigh, a program that hasn't really received much publicity ever, sure got it last year.  They beat the Duke Blue Devils in a game where they had control for most of it.  Duke mad a run in the end but it wasn't enough as they lost 75 to 70.  Unfortunately Lehigh would lose their next game.  The other 15 seeded team to move on came from Norfolk State.  Norfolk State is located out in Virginia, a small school in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, or the MEAC.  The Spartans beat the Missouri Tigers, a team who a lot of people, like myself, thought could possibly make a run to the National Championship.  They lost 86 to 84, very disappointing.  I was shocked and a little angry not gonna lie.  They ruined my brackets, but good for Norfolk State.  Last year Kentucky was the National Champion, and almost the entire roster on that team went to the NBA.  This year there was a new team and new faces, but they were looking for the same success.  John Calipari had a good grip he felt on his team and thought they had a quality chance at repeating.  The once ranked #3 team in the Preseason polls has struggled mightily early.  They've lost 3 games already, and only one was a good loss, which was to a hot Duke team.  But they've lost by double digits to Baylor and Notre Dame.  They also barely beat unranked Maryland in their opener.  The seasons young, but they've dropped out of the polls; it should be interesting to see if they can make a comeback.  My team in College Basketball is Syracuse.  I've been an Orange fan for a little while now, I'm not really sure how long.  But, I am like a die-hard Syracuse fan.  They're probably the team that if they lose I freak out.  I get mad when the Bills, Sabres, Yankees, Heat and Miami Hurricanes lose, but it is nothing compared to Syracuse basketball.  And the last two years I must say they've been really good.  Every game day they have, I have to wear something of theirs.  Whether it is a T-Shirt, sweatshirt, pajama pants, or a pair of shorts for basketball that don't even fit anymore.  I even have tie that I'll wear on game days for me if I have to.  Yesterday they had a game against Long Beach State, and unfortunately I wasn't notified until it was too late, but luckily they still won the game in blowout fashion.  Last year they lost in the Elite 8 to Ohio State 77-70.  The last time they won the title was back in 2003 with Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara.  I didn't really know that much about them then and don't really remember that.  I'm just waiting for the day I can see them bring one home, hopefully it could be this year.  We've lost a lot of key guys to the NBA draft, but we're still full with talent and ranked 4th in the country with a 7 and 0 record early.  We have a lot of young guys but a couple returning guys that could do big things this year.  Brandon Triche, C.J. Fair are my main boys on this team.  Michael-Carter Williams, a guard who didn't even play in a lot of the games, but leads the nation in assists and is on early Naismith Player of the Year Watch.  So far they're off to a hot start and hopefully they will be able to keep it going and have a similar record to last year except with a different result.  Last year it was 33 and 1, this year, I want a better ending though.  Less than a month remains until Conference play begins.  Teams are still out preparing and getting their teams ready for their big games.  Duke is the best team I've seen personally, although they aren't ranked number one, Indiana is, they are hot and have beat some really good teams.  They've already beat three Top-5 teams in Kentucky, Louisville, and Ohio State.  I think they are poised to make a run, until they face Syracuse of course.  Thank you all for joining me today, I hope you have a good weekend and I also hope that you guys will join me for next time.