Gopher broke

One could see this coming. Yessir. One could. They had been dodging bricks for three weeks, but they finally took one to the ol' noggin, courtesy of the Iowa State Cyclones. I speak of the Golden Gophers of Minnesota, of course. The Gs played well enough to win, if only Iowa State had been willing to give them a few more points here and there; but the Cyclones were stingier than a CEO passing by a Salvation Army bucket. "No points for you!" seemed to be their mantra for the night.

Oh, well. It's been that kind of a year. But it doesn't take away from the Maroon and Gold's 16-4 showing in the Big10 and their #6 seed. Nor does it dampen the fun this season produced. There were a hell of a lot of entertaining matches this year. We can all hope for an off-season in which the young ladies get healthy, and look forward to the arrival of the Misses Harms, Love, Tabberson and Haugen.

Unfortunately for Gopher fans, this was probably the only real upset in the second round. Michigan over St. Louis might have been to some, but not to anyone who's seen Michigan on one of their good days. Western Michigan over Tulane, I guess, is another, although Tulane's true strength was a question mark headed into the tournament. So we are left with 5 Pac10 teams, 4 Big10 teams, 3 Big12 teams and 1 each from the WAC, MAC, SEC and MWC. Shall we take a look at the regionals? Why, yes, we shall.

Penn State regional

The Lions are set to annihilate Western Michigan (sorry, Broncos) while Illinois and Cal-Berkeley battle for the right to take them on in the final. You would think the Illini would have had enough of the Nittanies by this time, but the Golden Bears are probably thinking they have a shot. I'm picking Cal over Illinois, because I like Cal, but this should be a great match. It would be cool for Don Hardin to make the round of 8 before hanging them up. Regardless, Penn State wins this region.

Washington regional

Michigan advances on the strength of back-to-back 5-gamers, 15-13 over Kentucky and 15-12 over the #13 seeded Billikens. I think they have a genuine opportunity to upset the Cooperless Huskers, but maybe they used up all their good fortune in the first two rounds. Washington plays Utah in the other semi-final, part of the Karma Collision in this regional involving former Utes Airial Salvo of UW and Sydney Anderson of NU. I have no dog (husky or whatever) in this race, but the opportunity for Irony to make a fool of herself is intriguing. Nevertheless, I pick Michigan to upset Nebraska and UW to beat both the Utes and the Wolverines and advance to Omaha. Take that, Irony. Feeling lucky? Well are you, Punk?

Texas regional

This is the region without Gophers. Bum. Er. Texas two-stepped into the semi, crushing Lamar (25-8 in g3) and Wichita State, and will face the Spicery Bruins, winners over LSU in a struggle of sorts, and Duke in a breeze, just a plain breeze. Meanwhile, Oregon will face the Gopher-slayers from Ames, since the Ducks dispatched Delaware and North Carolina. The Ducks are also the only birds left in the tournament, for what that is worth. I pick Texas to beat Oregon in the final, although if the Cyclones play anywhere near the level they played Saturday night this tournament could be birdless one day earlier. Contrary to popular belief elsewhere, UCLA, even with Whoa! Nellie!, has no chance.

Fort Collins regional

This has been the most predictable of all the regions and will probably remain so this weekend. The Cardinal, the school too lazy to come up with a real nickname, will probably knock off the youthful Gators, although Florida did sweep a decent Colorado State squad to advance while Stanford was going 4 with (an albeit better) Long Beach team. I've been touting Florida all year and maybe they will break through in Fort Collins, but my gut says that's wishful thinking (and loosen the belt, for cripesakes!). On the other side, Hawaii, an impressive 3-0 winner over USC at the Galen Center, take on Purdue, another Big10 team that went 5 in each of its first two rounds, including 16-14 over Louisville. I don't think the Boilermakers can take down a top 10 team. They haven't yet anyhow. So I'm going with Hawaii against Stanford in the final and Stanford to advance. Boring, I know.

That takes us to the Omaha extravaganza, which is still pencilled in on my calendar. I've waffled so much about attending, I've been thinking about joining Ditherers Anonymous. But I'm of two minds about that.

Ciao for now.

[Correction: Stanford, of course, swept the Beach. I was thinking of LBSU-Pepperdine. My point was that Florida's sweep over CSU, a team they lost to earlier this year, may mean the team is peaking at the right time; however, Long Beach just beat CSU so it may not matter -- i.e., Stanford may just be too good. For what it's worth.]