Day 4, final segment

#3 team (Syracuse) in the Big East plays the #11 team (Marquette) from the Big East in a second round matchup. Syracuse sleepwalked through it for too long, with 17 turnovers. The last one was the worst, with 'Cuse getting called for a backcourt violation on an inbounds pass near midcourt out of a timeout with ~45 seconds left and the game tied at 56. Marquette hit a 3-pointer (great passing to get an open look, by the way), 'Cuse missed a 3-pointer, and Marquette hit their foul shots.

So if you're scoring at home, the list of end-of-game brain farts in games today reads pretty long:
Game 1 (UW vs UNC) - in the last 5 seconds, UW guard laucnhes half court shot with 2 seconds still left on clock, UNC player tries to catch it and fumbles it out of bounds instead with (arguably) 0.5 seconds left. Officials don't review to check clock, and UNC player possibly goaltends final shot, though it;s not called.
Game 4 (Arizona vs Texas) - Texas called for 5 second violation up 2 with 14.5 seconds left. Then fouls Derrick Williams as he shoots a 3 footer, giving him a 3-point play, Texas loses.
Game 6 (Marquette vs Syracuse) - With ~45 seconds left, Syracuse inbounds out of a timeout at midcourt, and is called for a backcourt violation on the entry pass. Then down 5 with < 15 seconds left, Syracuse drives for a free layup instead of shooting the three. Then, with < 10 seconds left (down 5 again), Syracuse again drives, AND Marquette fouls the guy (though he missed the shot to no 3-point play attempt). Plus 17 turnovers for Syracuse in the game.

As you can see, it wasn't just the losing teams that experienced serious brain-lock at the end of their games.

Kansas did their Kansas thing, let an inferior team hang around for the first half and some of the second half, before finally asserting themselves and pulling away. You are officially on notice. The other teams left in your region? A 10 seed, an 11 seed, and a 12 seed. As a Bill Self team, I fully expect one of these teams to give you a dogfight to the very end. There is no reason this should happen. Should you lose to one of these teams, I think the volume of times you have fallen to inferior foes and generally underachieved in the tournament will start to outweigh even the championship you guys won back in 2008. That's no easy feat.

When they're on, Notre Dame is a sharp-shooting creative offensive team. When they're not, we see them for what they really are: a jump shooting team, and jump shooting teams don't tend to remain hot enough for 6 games come March Madness time. Florida State brought it harder offensively than I (or Notre Dame, seemingly) expected, and their defense gave the Irish fits, and the game was never close for the entire second half.