What I saw this weekend No. 1

I think I’m going to start a series of notable things that I saw over the weekend. So here are some things that I saw over the weekend.

NCAA: The Men’s and Women’s Final Four has occurred, and both events have been exciting.

On the Men’s side, San Diego State won an instant classic over Florida Atlantic on Lamont Butler’s last second jumpshot. The Mountain West, a league that has been a punchline in March, will now play for a national championship.

But credit must be given to FAU, who proved that they belonged by going up double digits on one of the best defensive teams in the country. And while the Owls ultimately came up short, C-USA also proved that they are a conference to be reckoned with going forward.

Butler’s game winning shot sent San Diego State to it’s first title game in school history.

The shot here will live in infamy, as it’s the first game winning final four shot that came when the team that won the game was down. Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

The second game wasn’t as dramatic, as UConn dispatched a very good Miami team by 13 points. The Huskies shot 9-26 from the three point line, and while the Hurricanes cut the deficit to single digits in the second half, their rally came up short.

So now the title game to be played tonight is an SDSU vs. UConn matchup that sees one of the top offensive teams in the country match up with one of the best defensive teams in the country.

UConn has been the best team in the tournament, but they will face a stiff test against SDSU.

A battle of one of the best programs in college basketball vs. a team that is trying to win its schools and conferences first basketball title. Both teams are hot, both teams are firing on all cylinders and it should produce a great game.

On the Women’s side, both LSU and Iowa advanced to the championship game after the Tigers defeated Virginia Tech and the Hawkeyes defeated the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks.

In the championship game, LSU dominated behind a 102 point outing, the most points scored by a Women’s champion ever. The Tigers shot a staggering 64% from three, 54% from the field and had 14 offensive rebounds. They finish the season with a 34-2 record, with only losses to South Carolina.

The Tigers won their first NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship on Sunday, April 2.

Clark, who had 40 points against South Carolina, was the best player on the floor in both of Iowa’s games in Dallas.

And while Catlin Clark continued to dominate with a 30 point, 8 assist outing, it simply wasn’t enough. Iowa was outrebounded by 11 and had 16 turnovers. as an aside, Clark may be the most fun player to watch. Reminds me of a young Stephen Curry as he rose to fame at Davidson and the young Warriors.

The officiating was… questionable at best. I don’t like to rag on the refs, but there were some tough calls on both sides that did affect the game. I foresee robot umpires in the future, and I don’t know if it will be better, but it may provide better consistency.

NBA: We are coming down the final stretch of the season for professional basketball and things are very interesting. The Sacramento Kings finally clinched a playoff berth for the first time in 16 years, which happened before the weekend, but is still very notable.

In the East, Brooklyn and Miami are fighting for the sixth/seventh seed. The Nets have a two game lead over the Heat, and even after the trade of both KD and Kyrie might escape the play-in tournament.

Chicago still holds the last spot in the play-in in the East, having a four game lead over Washington. The Pacers and the Magic still have an outside chance at the postseason, but it would require a lot of help.

The Nets still are not in the play-in tournament, but it could come down to the wire. Credit: Nets twitter

In the West, things are still very fluid. The 4 – 10 seeds are separated by 5.5 games. As of the time of this post, The LA Clippers/Golden State Warriors are tied for the 5 and 6 seeds has a half game advantage over the Lakers, which would keep both teams from avioding the play-in tournament.

Dallas still has a chance to make the postseason, but it’s gonna be tough after their loss to Miami. Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The final play-in spot is currently held by Oklahoma City, as they lead Dallas by a game in the standings. The good news for the Thunder is they own the tiebreaker over the Mavericks. The bad news for the club is they have a rough end to the year, while Dallas has a fairly easy schedule.

Utah still has an outside chance at the playoffs, but it will require some magic pixie dust and a prayer to occur.

In other news the NBA has a new collective bargain that was agreed to on Friday. You can read more about it by following the link provided: NBA, NBPA agree on new 7-year collective bargaining agreement.

MLB: The MLB season has started in earnest, and while it’s way too early to say what squads are good and what teams may have long seasons, I am still gonna share some early thoughts.

The Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers are the two teams that still don’t have a win to start the year. Both teams have been in rebuilds for some time, and it looks to be another rough year for both of these squads.

The Philadeliphia Phillies also remain winless after a sweep at the hands of the Texas Rangers, this, IMO can be chalked up to a slow start and I don’t think it’s indicative of how the club will peroform this season.

The American League East and National League Central look to be tough divisions once again while the American League Central may once again be the weakest division in baseball.

But again, it is way too early to say what is happening…

Thanks for reading.