"The Stack" 3-14-17
DeMarcus Ware is retiring after 12 seasons in the NFL. He finishes with 138.5 sacks, good for 8th all time.
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
The NCAA Women's Tournament bracket was revealed Monday night and Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies take a 107 game winning streak into the tournament.
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
The Stack is back on this Tuesday and while the NCAA Tournament hasn’t officially started (it will really start with on Thursday) we do have the First Four tipping off tonight in Dayton with two matchups. We’ll preview those and get to some other headlines so let’s get right to “the stack” for today, Tuesday, March 14th:
NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament bracket revealed
The women’s selection show took place Monday and the bracket was revealed. Now we all just get to wait and see who UConn will destroy in the Final Four and national championship. There seems to be quite a few people who are wondering what the selection committee was doing with the way they seeded some teams most notably Northern Iowa and Drake being on the same seed line of eleven despite Drake winning three more games this year. Northern Iowa probably shouldn’t even be in the tournament. A team like South Dakota State is far more deserving and I’m not saying that to be a homer. It’s the honest truth. Just look at the RPI and SOS as well as wins against the top 50. Seems like the Summit League was much better than the Missouri Valley Conference this year. The fact that Western Illinois is a #14 seed is laughable. Know what else is laughable? South Carolina having to fly out to Stockton, California, for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. Give me a break committee. This was not your best work. In fact, it’s about as bad as I’ve seen in a long time. I’ll take #1 seed UConn in the Bridgeport Region to reach the Final Four in Dallas along with #1 seed Notre Dame in the Lexington Region, #2 seed Oregon State in the Stockton Region and #3 Washington in the Oklahoma City Region mainly because I don’t want to see Baylor win it. My big upset that is most likely not to happen? #14 Western Illinois beating #3 Florida State. Should be a fun tournament, but one that may be marred in controversy.
DeMarcus Ware retires
Former Dallas Cowboy and current Denver Broncos linebacker/defensive end DeMarcus Ware is hanging up the pads after 12 seasons. Ware was one of the more disruptive pass rushers of his time. His 138.5 career sacks is good enough for 8th all time and he was a nine-time Pro Bowler. He went to Denver in search of a Super Bowl title and he got it a couple of years ago. Offensive lines, quarterbacks, coordinators and coaches will all sleep better knowing that they won’t have to gameplan for Ware anymore. He was tremendous. Hats off on a tremendous career.
#16 Mount St. Mary’s vs. #16 New Orleans 6:40 PM ET TruTV (Dayton, OH)
The first of the four First Four games from Dayton pits the NEC champions against the Southland champions. It’s been a while since New Orleans was in the tournament. The Mount is probably better, but I like New Orleans to come through and get a victory.
Pick: New Orleans
#11 Kansas State vs. #11 Wake Forest 9:10 PM ET TruTV (Dayton, OH)
Kansas State plays really well against Baylor for some reason. They’ve been close against the likes West Virginia and Kansas, but ultimately didn’t get the job done. Wake Forest has played in a better conference and while they may not be that much better, I still think I give them the slight nod here.
Pick: Wake Forest
Coming up Wednesday: First Four reaction, other First Four picks and more
