Sunday’s Elite 8 Games

A look at Sunday’s ‘Elite 8’ matchups.  

6 Creighton (24-12) v 5 San Diego State (30-6) – 2:20 CBS 

Creighton favored by 2 

Despite competing in the Big East for ten seasons now, Creighton still seems to be cast as a formidable mid-major. Maybe it’s being located in Nebraska, in a legendary league that packed its punch on a straight drive north on 95 from DC to New England. And maybe it’s that the Blue Jays were the most successful program in one of the best non-‘Power 5’ conferences in the country – the Missouri Valley Conference. The Jays won a league record 12 tournament titles and 15 regular season crowns.  

Coach Greg McDermott is in his 13th season as the head coach for the Blue Jays, after stops at North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, and Iowa State. McDermott led Northern Iowa to three tournament titles in his five seasons there. McDermott then took the head coaching job at Iowa State, before going 59-68 in four seasons with the Cyclones. McDermott has led the Blue Jays to 20 wins in 12 of his 13 seasons in Omaha.  

In 2014, McDermott s son, Doug, was the consensus National Player of the Year, the Big East Player of the Year, and named a consensus first team All-American for a second year in a row. McDermott became the eighth player in NCAA history to amass 3,000 points or more.  

This is just the second time the Blue Jays have advanced to the ‘Elite 8’, though that term wasn’t coined when they last advanced to the national quarterfinals in 1941. 82 years since their first and only appearance this deep in the tournament.  

When the Blue Jays last advanced to the NCAA semifinals in ‘41, the NIT Tournament was more prestigious. Therefore, the ‘42 team set the standard, advancing to the ‘Final Four’ and finishing third in the 1942 NIT Tournament.  

Hall of Fame coach Eddie Sutton got his D1 start at Creighton, spending four seasons with the Blue Jays before taking the same job at Arkansas. Duke was in a bidding war with the Razorbacks for Sutton’s services in ‘74. NBA Hall of Fame center Willis Reed spent four seasons as the Blue Jays coach in the early 80s. Tony Barone, later a head coach for the Memphis Grizzlies, coached the Jays for six seasons. Dana Altman, the current Oregon coach, spent 15 seasons as head coach at Creighton, preceding McDermott.  

The Blue Jays began the season winning their first six games, before losing their next six games.  

The Blue Jays boast five double-digit scorers, paced by 7’1 junior Ryan Kalkbrenner, who averages 15.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and a remarkable 70.8% from the field, which ranks second in the country.  

All five starters average between 11.8 and 15.9 points per game, and all five starters average playing 29 or more minutes per game. Only one substitute averages double-digits in minutes for the Jays.  

Shout out to Paul Silas, Benoit Benjamin, Kyle Korver, and Nate Funk. 

San Diego State has been a solid mid-major since the turn of the century, winning seven Mountain West tournament titles in the last 21 post-seasons, winning nine of the last 17 Mountain West regular season crowns, and averaging 25.2 wins over the last 18 seasons. 

Still, the Aztecs are in a space they’ve never been before, the ‘Elite 8’. The Aztecs had fell short in their only other two ‘Sweet 16’ appearances, losing to eventual national champions Connecticut and finishing 34-3 in 2011, and losing to Arizona and finishing 31-5 in 2014. The 2011 Aztecs finished ranked #6 in the country, the highest final ranking in the program’s history.  

Steve Fisher came from Michigan and built up the Aztecs program, taking the team to eight NCAA tournaments in his 18 seasons at SDSU, after three trips in the program’s first 30 seasons. 

Brian Dutcher took over the Aztecs program in the ‘17-18 season, and has led the Tecs to four tournament appearances in his five post-seasons. The other season, in 2020, the Aztecs were not only assured of an NCAA berth, but would have likely been a two seed, finishing with their best overall record in their program’s history at 30-2, and finished ranked #6 in the country, matching Fishers 2011 Aztecs team for the highest ranking in the program’s history.  

This is the fourth time in the program’s history that the Aztecs (30-6) have won 30 games in a season, along with ‘11 (34-3), ‘14 (31-5), and ‘20 (30-2).  

Like FAU, San Diego State has nine players averaging at least 15 minutes per game, and none more than 27 per. The Aztecs have only one player that averages double-digit scoring per game – senior Matt Bradley, who averages 12.8 points per game. To exemplify the Aztecs balance, they led by seven points k late in the second half on Thursday without Bradley having scored.  

Seven of the Aztecs top rotation players are seniors. 23 and 24 year olds, versus 17, 18, and 19 year olds in some instances. Senior Darrion Trammell transferred from Seattle University, where he averaged 18.7 points per game over two seasons. He’s bought in to the deep rotation, averaging 9.8 points per game, second in the team in scoring. But, a more than capable 20 point scorer, as shown by his team-best 21 points in the Aztecs ‘Sweet 16’ win.  

The Aztecs strength is their defense, ranking 20th among 363 D1 schools in defensive rating (93.8), and 25th among 363 in points allowed, at 63.1 points allowed per game. The Aztecs have been even better in the tournament, yielding just 57.7 points per game.  

Tony Gwynn became San Diego State’s all-time assist leader when he finished his four seasons with the Aztecs in ‘81. 42 years later, Gwynn remains the Aztecs all-time assist leader, with 590, 111 more than the next Aztec. On June 9, 1981 Gwynn was drafted by both MLB and the NBA. Gwynn is the only MLB All-Star to star on the hardwoods for the Aztecs, as former 15 year veteran first baseman Tony Clark ranked second on the Aztecs in scoring in his sophomore and junior seasons in ‘92 and ‘93, before leaving for the major leagues.  

Shout out to the late great Gwynn, Clark, Michael Cage, and Kawhi. And, Coach Fish’.  

5 Miami (28-7) v 2 Texas (29-8) – 5:05 CBS 

Texas favored by 3.5  

Miami is in the ‘Elite 8’ for a second season in a row, losing to the eventual national champion 

Kansas Jayhawks in the quarterfinals. A Final Four berth would be a first in the Hurricanes program’s history. 

Miami’s basketball program folded following the ‘70-71 season, and didn’t re-emerge until the ‘84-85 season, when the Canes hired former Clemson coach Bill Foster, who stayed for five seasons. Leonard Hamilton led the Canes to three NCAA tournament appearances, including a ‘Sweet 16’ visit in 2000, leading a job with the Washington Wizards. Both Perry Clark and Frank Haith saw modest success over their 11 seasons between them at Miami, with both making one tourney appearance with the Canes. 

The emergence of the Canes program began with the hiring of Jim Larrañaga in 2011, following a 27-7 season at George Mason, five years after leading the improbable 11 seed Patriots to the Final Four, the highest seed to ever reach the Final Four. 

After just one ‘Sweet 16’ appearance in the program’s first 59 seasons eligible for the NCAA tournament, Larrañaga has led the Canes to four ‘Sweet ‘16’ appearances, and their only two ‘Elite 8’ appearances in ‘22 and ‘23.  

Under Larrañaga, the Canes have won 25 or more games in a season in five of the last 11 seasons, including this season’s 28-7 Canes, after never reaching that mark in their first 60 seasons. The Canes have reached 20 wins in eight of Larrañaga’s twelve seasons, after notching the mark just 11 times in their first 59 seasons.  

The Canes started the season winning 13 of their first 14 games, before going 12-6 over their last 18 regular season games.  

The Canes are led by junior Isiah Wong and senior Jordan Miller, both projected to be second round picks in the 2023 NBA Draft. But, Wong could stay, and Miller is the only senior among their top nine players in games and minutes. Wing averages a team-high 16.3 points per game, while Miller averages 15.1 points per game, shooting at a 54% clip.  

Collectively, and at all levels, the Canes shoot very well, including 48% from the field, 79% at the line, and 37% from beyond the arc. Among the ‘Elite 8’ teams, the Canes were the only team to rank in the top four in each of the categories among the eight quarterfinalists, including second in field goal percentage, and the best free throw percentage.  

The Canes roster features two Maryland kids, and another from Middleburg – Miller. Anthony Walker, a 6’9 junior, won back-to-back 4A state titles with Perry Hall in ‘17 and ‘18. Walker ranked eighth in the. Abe’s in both points and minutes this season, and seventh in rebounding. Freshman Christian Watson, who is from Lanham, and played at St John’s, has played sparingly in ten games. Miller, who played at Loudon Valley, and led them to a state title and a 30-1 record in his senior year, transferred to Miami after three years at George Mason, Larrañaga’s former school.  

Shout out to Rick Barry, Tim James, ‘Moochie’ Norris, Johnny Helmsley, Guillermo Diaz, and Shane Larkin.  

Despite all of the money and resources in Austin, and despite all of the basketball talent in the ‘Lonestar State’, Texas is looking to advance to just their second Final Four in 75 post-seasons, after advancing in ‘43 and ‘47. 

The Longhorns program had been in sort of a tumble period over the last handful of years, after coach Shaka Smart went back home to Wisconsin following the ‘21 season and took the same job at Marquette after six seasons in Austin, and two years left on his contract. Former assistant and Texas Tech coach Chris Beard was hired, but didn’t last through his second year, after he was let go after domestic violence allegations arose in early December. Top assistant Rodney Terry was named the interim head coach and has guided the Longhorns to a 22-7 record under his leadership, and an ‘Elite 8’ berth. 

Terry was named the Spirting News Coach of the Year in 2023, but still hasn’t had the ‘interim’ tag removed. Terry was an assistant under Rick Barnes for nine seasons, and was instrumental in the recruitment of both Kevin Durant and DJ Augustin. Terry was hired as the Fresno State head coach in 2011 and led the Bulldogs to four 20-win seasons in four of his last five (of six) seasons with the Dawgs. Terry returned to Austin as an assistant to Smart after three seasons as the head coach at UTEP. 

The ‘Horns didn’t win a NCAA tournament game under Smart in his six seasons in Austin, but won their first tournament game in eight years last season under Beard in a first round victory over Virginia Tech.  

Everything is big in Texas, except perhaps basketball. The university built the new Moody Center, a multi-purpose arena, in 2022, which holds a relative paltry 10,000 fans for basketball. The state has more than four dozen high school football stadiums that hold more people, including more than three dozen built 40 or more years ago.  

The Longhorns current #5 national ranking matches the highest ranking they’ve ever finished with, after receiving that ranking following the 2003 season, when they finished 26-7 and advanced to their only Final 

Four in the last 74 post-seasons. That team, led by point guard TJ Ford, was a one seed, but lost to Carmelo Anthony and Syracuse in the semifinals, 95-84. Ford, a sophomore, was named the National Player of the Year and left for the NBA.  

These Longhorns were just the fourth in the program’s history to win a conference tournament championship, after they routed top seed Kansas in the final, 76-56. It was the Horns second Big 12 tournament title in three seasons, with the two being the first since winning their only other two tournament titles in back-to-back seasons in ‘94 and ‘95, winning the Southwest Conference tournament.  

The Longhorns are led by senior guard Marcus Carr, who has played in 163 games in his college career, and 30 games in each of his five seasons of college ball, which included one year at Pittsburgh, two years at Minnesota, and two years with the Canes. Carr has scored 2,333 points in his college career, adding 745 assists and 547 rebounds.  

Dylan Disu, the Horns senior 6’9 ‘big man’, is questionable for today’s game, after playing just two minutes in their ‘Sweet 16’ victory over Xavier on Friday. Disu scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Longhorns second round victory over Penn State, when he first aggravated the foot injury. Senior guard Sir’Jabari Rice has been vital off of the bench for the Horns in the tournament, scoring 23, 13, and 16 points in their three tournament games, producing a team-best 17.3 points per game in the tournament.  

Shout out to KD, TJ Ford, BJ Tyler, DJ Augustin, Abe Lemons, Tommy Penders, LaMarcus Aldridge, Avery Bradley, Chris Mihm, PJ Tucker, Johnny Moore, and Royal Ivey.