City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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Philadelphia played host to the Sweet 16 on Friday night as Notre Dame and North Carolina advanced to Sunday’s East Regional final.

One game featured almost no offense and the other made up for it. Here are four takeaways from what shook down at the Wells Fargo Center as the second game crept into early Saturday morning:

1. The Tournament is liable to crank up the craziness at any moment.

Wisconsin and Notre Dame was an absolute snoozer for about the first 30 minutes or so. Downright lousy offense from both sides – especially the Irish – made it seem like the Badgers were going to slide on to the Elite 8 with an ugly win. But nothing is a certain in this tournament.

Wisconsin and Notre Dame decided the game with the best, and most perplexing, minute of the second weekend so far. The Badgers took the lead with 61 ticks left, then lost it after a loose ball foul gave the Irish two free throws. Then Vitto Brown hit what looked like a game-changing 3-pointer with 27 seconds left, which put Notre Dame in a major hole.

But the Irish rattled off an astounding 8-0 run with Demetrius Jackson sealing it with a steal in the final three seconds.

“I was just trying to play aggressive defense and help our team win the game,” Jackson said. “In that same possession we realized we had a foul to give. So just playing aggressive and just kind of going for it and the ball kind of fell into my hands. So I knew after I stole it they had to foul us. So got fouled and wanted to go to the line and knock the free throws in.”

2. It’s a good season to be a Notre Dame fan in Philadelphia.

Do you happen to like Notre Dame athletics and live in or around the city of Philadelphia? Well then it’s probably been an enjoyable five months for you.

(You’re going to want to skip this part, Temple fans)

On Halloween, Temple hosted Notre Dame in the school’s most-hyped football game in school history. ESPN’s fabled College Gameday was outside of Independence Hall, there was a great crowd at the Linc and the Owls had a late lead. But the Irish scored a touchdown with 2:09 left (from Roman Catholic’s own Will Fuller, no less) and Temple’s dream win was denied.

Five months later and the Irish are back in South Philly, again coming up with a win it didn’t look like they’d get. Notre Dame can’t seem to lose in Philadelphia, and if that trend continues Sunday, Irish fans could be booking trips to Houston for the Final Four.

3. North Carolina’s performance was reminiscent of Villanova’s.

Villanova is not playing at the Wells Fargo Center this weekend. No, the Cats got shipped to the South Region, where they’ll play Kansas tomorrow in Louisville for a trip to the Final Four. But just because Jay Wright and co. are on the road, doesn’t mean there isn’t a team playing like Villanova in Philly.

The Tar Heels played absolutely lights out offense. Getting easy looks at will and hitting an impressive 51.6 percent of their field goals – including 11 of 20 from beyond the arc -- in a 101-86 win over Indiana. Villanova hit 62.7 percent of its shots as it dominated Miami on Thursday night, and the two teams have been arguably the two best offenses in the tournament.

4. The Tournament is always better with a clear underdog.

The second weekend of this tournament – at least two days through – has not come close to matching the madness fans saw last weekend. Granted, the bar was set incredibly high. But in Philly and elsewhere, there was no real underdog left. Sure, Syracuse and Gonzaga played as 10 and 11 seeds, respectively, but those programs aren’t Cinderellas.

The Wells Fargo Center was packed and there was a great atmosphere from pregame until after midnight with four traditionally strong programs playing in South Philly. But every team’s fan base was clear and there was no one team for those who just came as unaffiliated basketball fans to rally around. Three years ago when Philadelphia last hosted the Big Dance, Florida Gulf Coast provided the story of the tournament. Sure, that’s tougher to come by on the second weekend, but March is just more fun with an underdog.