Saturday night you will say goodbye to “the narratives” (such an overused word these days) surrounding Tony Bennett and the Virginia Cavaliers or Matt Painter and the Purdue Boilermakers. Neither coach has been to the Final Four.
It’s been 35 years since Virginia has reached college basketball’s promised land; 39 for Purdue. It’s the proverbial “something’s gotta give” game as one side will finally see the “they just don’t make deep runs in March” motif put to rest for good (or at least for a long while). The time is now for either the Purdue Boilermakers or the Virginia Cavaliers to get “off brand,” and the opportunity to do so begins Saturday night at 8:49 EST on TBS.
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Right now, the bookies favor Virginia to be the one who flip the script.
Odds Shark has #1 seeded UVA a 4.5 point favorite over #3 seeded Purdue. They set the over/under at 126, which sounds exactly like the kind of game that Bennett and the Cavs want. UVA is notorious for their boring low-scoring brand of ball that was perfectly exemplified by last night’s 53-49 win over #12 seed Oregon.
If a British soccer announcer was calling Virginia’s games, he would refer to their style as “pragmatic.”
Although it may be ugly, you can’t argue with the results as Bennett has guided Virginia to four 30 win seasons and four ACC regular season titles.
Also, you might recall his father Dick Bennett (Tony was an assistant on that staff) and Wisconsin eliminating the Boilers from The Big Dance the last time that they advanced to this round (2000).
Bennett the elder played this stall ball, slow it down style as well, but it was enough to get the #8 seeded Badgers to the Final Four, where they fell to eventual national champion Michigan State, back in the salad days of Tom Izzo’s anger management skills.
It was perhaps the most memorable NCAA Tournament in recent memory for the Big Ten, as it was both the last time that they produced the winner, and three of the Elite 8.
Getting back to tomorrow night’s match-up, while we already spoke of both of these teams getting off brand this weekend, it really is astounding just how much both teams were on brand last night.
Purdue blew an 18 point lead in the second half. Yes, you read that right. In the end it was just an epic #fakerally for Tennessee, just like the epic fake rally that Iowa “accomplished” against them in the previous round, but this was all too familiar for Purdue.
To be a Boiler backer is to watch every single game in a state best personified by the Kermit the Frog biting his nails or Jordan Peele sweating bullets gif.
Last night’s 99-94 win over Tennessee in Louisville is exhibit A as to why.
For the Cavs, they once again looked like a team that was great in the regular season, but under-achieved during March Madness.
If Virginia loses tomorrow, this will be the fourth time Bennett has had a #1 seed (fifth time he’s had a top two seed) and he’ll still have no Final Fours to show for it. Overall, he is 13-8 in nine NCAA tournament appearances, including a 10-6 record at UVA.
The signature song off the “Virginia is for Tournament Chokers” LP is last year’s upset at the hands of the UMBC Retrievers, the very first and only time that a #16 seed has beaten a #1 seed. However, I would argue that the 2016 Regional Final, played three years to this past Wednesday at the United Center in Chicago is actually a much worse signature loss.
The Cavs blew a 16 point lead to a #10 seeded Syracuse team that most people believed only got into the dance due to their brand name.
This game truly initiated this narrative around Tony Bennett and Virginia, with the UMBC loss being just the logical next step. Still, it can all be put to rest with a win in Louisville late Saturday night.
For Purdue, they are also trying to exorcise demons from the 2016 NCAA Tournament. #5 seeded Purdue blew an 11 point lead with under three and a half minutes to play to #12 Arkansas Little-Rock. Again though, the chance is there to make it all ancient history.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.