McArthur Court Proves to be West Coast Friendly in Mythical March Madness Elite Eight

Two top seeded teams from close by, one very close, took on two true Cinderella's in Mythical March Madness, so would common expectation and geography prevail?

Publisher's Note: This is our go at Mythical March Madness and now entering the third round. The tournament and results are determined using all-time odds for each seed in NCAA Division I Men's Tournament history for advancement in each round. The roll of dice with rolls of six or below representing the higher-seeded team and rolls of seven or greater representing the lower-seeded team determine the results. If the game is written up as close then the roll of the dice went to the eighth, ninth, or tenth roll. If it is written up as a blowout then it was decided with few rolls needed. This is the Thursday action moving the tournament from "Sweet 16" to "Elite Eight."   

No. 3 - Oregon 82  No. 10 - Utah State 70

Oregon head coach Dana Altman suggested in his pregame comments that he was going to give the Aggies standout guard Sam Merrill all the credit for being the player he is and would set his defense to keep the other Utah State players under control. Altman wasn't kidding and his plan worked to perfection as Oregon survived one of the true top upsetters in Mythical March Madness in beating Utah State 82-70 and moving on to the Elite Eight. 

The empty McArthur Court had no fans, no cheerleaders, and no bands, but it was easy to see that the Ducks were more comfortable.

Merrill averages close to 21-points and was averaging closer to 27 in his first two NCAA Tournament wins for the Aggies. Merrill hit three three-pointers and sliced his way to the basket for another 14 points, added four made free throws for 24 points, but Oregon held the rest of the Aggies to 46 points. Neemias Queta was held to 13 points and forward Justin Bean to only six points.That was good enough.

Oregon was led by tandem of leading scorer Payton Pritchard, who finished with a game high 26 points and Shakur Juiston scored well over his single-digit scoring average with 19 points and scored nine of those from the free throw line as the Aggies were a little sloppy on the defensive end. The best description may be they were a little handsy. 

Oregon led in points in the paint, points off turnovers, and bench points on their way to going 27-7 for the season. Utah State with a sensational run finished up at 28-9 for the year.

No. 1 - Gonzaga 66  No. 12 Yale  61

It wasn't easy as Yale and their head coach James Jones came out in a Syracuse zone and really confused Gonzaga and actually did a decent on the Bulldogs inside game. On top of that, Gonzaga shot poorly hitting just six of 14 from three-point range and shooting 34 percent overall. 

The game was sloppy and choppy and that is just what Yale ordered up in this David and Goliath battle. Yale was led by an unlikely player as Matthue Cotton scored 17 points as a surprise starter. At 6-5 and a bigger guard he gave the Yale Bulldogs some more height. He also provided needed offense. 

In the final minutes, Yale got to within four at 62-58, but that as close as it would get. Yale's Eric Monroe knocked down a three pointer late, but free throws pushed Gonzaga to the 66 points before Monroe hit the late three. 

Give Yale credit as most of the game was much more uneasy than Gonzaga head coach Mark Few and his team expected.

Yale finishes the season at 25-7, while Gonzaga goes to 34-2 and prepares to play Oregon on the Ducks' pseudo home floor for a trip to the Mythical March Madness Final Four.