#15 Norfolk State vs. #2 Missouri

[Da Coach]

Great game between #15 seed Norfolk State and #2 Missouri. This game should have been a walkover for Missouri, but Norfolk State has kept it close all the way.-
Norfolk is up by 6 with 2 minutes left-

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201203160367

But the play-by-play announcer (Marv Albert) just made an assinine statement.
Albert stated that one of the reasons Norfolk State was able to play so well and hang with Missouri was because they have the advantage of playing the game in a neutral arena.

I guess he just assumes the game should be played on Missouri's home court, since power-conference schools would never play on a low-midmajor's home court. But how is playing on a neutral court an "advantage" for Norfolk State? Btw, Missouri has thousands more fans than NSU in the arena at Omaha, so they should have the clear advantage.

The last time a #15 seed upset a #2 seed was Steve Merfeld's Hampton Pirates in 2001 when they upset Iowa State.

[Da Coach]

Norfolk State has a 6'10" center named Kyle O'Quinn, who is a relatively unknown big man who is having the game of his life....kind of remiscient of another midmajor big man with an Irish surname back in 2006.

O'Quinn, a senior from Jamaica, NY, has 26 points and 14 rebounds. He averages 16 and 10 on the season.

Norfolk State leads by 1 with 10 seconds left.

[Da Coach]

Norfolk State pulls the huge upset 86-84 over Missouri. What an incredible game. Good thing Norfolk State had the advantage of playing on a neutral floor!

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201203160367

[BostonBird]

crazy part is ISU beat norfolk state 68-36 this year. What a turnaround for them.

[Da Coach]

They also lost to D2 Elizabeth City State.

But today they had the luck of the Irish (Kyle O'Quinn) on St. Pat's day.

[TheAsianSensation]

Norfolk State was one of the catastrophic losses on Drexel's at-large resume, too.

BTW, don't bother listening to anything Marv Albert says. I mean, he calls a mean game, but he knows nothing about college basketball. It's easy to tell when Marv says stuff like that and Guokas was suggesting NBA timeout tactics that don't work in college because you can't move the ball up.

[tornado]

Marv Albert repetaedly called the Mizzou players "Presley" instead os Pressey - as if they were relatives of Elvis...
he's a dope....

Anyway -- the four guard offense with no true BIG MAN does have trouble when a big guy on the opposint team has a good game!


BTW -- after the Duke & Mizzou loss Seth Davis tweeted & made some sort of comment about how this is BAD for college basketball because those big-name schools
are the ones responsible for the "millions" of dollars that support "Hundreds of thousands of college kids on scholarship"...

...oh - so I get it, Seth -- the mid-majors should either be excluded from all D-I National Tournaments - or they should be forced to start the games with a 25 point deficit??
it's obviously very important that we let the big boys wion, huh...did you not notice that the viewership and revenue was an ALL TIME HIGH last year with TWO little guys in the Final Four?
In fact - TV viewership was UP 4% yesterday over 2011 because people LOVE seeing the little guys hold their own....you think a ton of 1st & 2nd round 40-pt blowouts is better?

[Bravesfan]

BTW -- after the Duke & Mizzou loss Seth Davis tweeted & made some sort of comment about how this is BAD for college basketball because those big-name schools
are the ones responsible for the "millions" of dollars that support "Hundreds of thousands of college kids on scholarship"...

...oh - so I get it, Seth -- the mid-majors should either be excluded from all D-I National Tournaments - or they should be forced to start the games with a 25 point deficit??
it's obviously very important that we let the big boys wion, huh...did you not notice that the viewership and revenue was an ALL TIME HIGH last year with TWO little guys in the Final Four?
In fact - TV viewership was UP 4% yesterday over 2011 because people LOVE seeing the little guys hold their own....you think a ton of 1st & 2nd round 40-pt blowouts is better?

That is outrageous. ABSOLUTELY outgrageous! And this is from a guy who I thought was more complimentary to the mid-majors over the years. I guess that's not the case anymore.

And is he that stupid to think that the mid-majors don't bring in extra revenue to the tv networks everytime they win? In other words, more revenue to the company he works for? I guess he doesn't get that either!

That's very shallow thinking from Seth, and if he really feels this way he should just come right out and say that he is for a split into to Division I divisions, the BCS Division, and the "Basketball Sub Division". The sooner he and others admit this, the faster they can spearhead this to happen. But you know something, even if they do this, it won't happen anytime soon. Why? Because the mid-majors have more than proved themselves deserving of playing with the "big boys", and the public loves this. That's why there won't be a split anytime soon even with the outcry from many fans and coaches of BCS basketball.