Winthrop Moves On.org

Winthrop University, the team from the Big South who went 28-4 during the season and sweeping through their conference with 17 wins and no losses, defeated the highly favored Notre Dame on Friday. Winthrop was rewarded with their #22 ranking and 28 wins with a #11 seed, while Notre Dame was rewarded for their 24 wins in the Big East with a #6 seed.

The game was fairly close throughout the first half. Winthrop then went on a power-run and was up by at least 20 points. With a little dumb Irish luck, Notre Dame was able to close the gap and before Winthrop started lighting them up again to win by 10. Notre Dame was given extra tissues as they cried their eyes out after the game. "But we're from the Big 10" many of them were heard saying. An assistant coach for Notre Dame was over heard saying, "Maybe the Big 10 really does suck!"

Coach Marshall, who has guided Winthrop to their 7th NCAA tournament appearance said, "If that 20-point lead had evaporated and we had lost the game, I was going to be the dumbest coach in America".

Winthrop was led by senior Torrell Martin, who had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Craig Bradshaw, the senior from New Zealand, who had 24 points. Bradshaw, who's 6'10", towered over the leprechauns from Notre Dame.

Despite the fact that the game was being played in Spokane, Washington, the crowd could hear Regis Philbin, a 1922 graduate of Notre Dame, screaming from his hospital bed in New York after the loss. Even the sponge-bath from Kelly Ripa could not ease his pain.

The Winthrop game was the most predicted upset in the first round of the tournament. However, it is very difficult to figure out why it was so predictable. Was it because the drunk Irish just weren't that good or if it was because Winthrop is that good. No matter, Winthrop moves on to the next round while Notre Dame goes home to drink some green Miller Lite pretending that they really are Irish Catholics.

In other basketball news, Maryland narrowly escaped with a win against Davidson, Boston College proved that Texas Tech and Bobby Knight suck, too, North Carolina handily defeated one of those directional Kentucky teams, and Virginia and Virginia Tech proved that they got seeded much too low. Georgia Tech did disappoint by losing, and Duke fulfilled everyone's dream by losing.