By Tony Duckworth, Sr., tonyduckworthsr@gmail.com
Madness Meltdown. Pressure can bring the best and worst in competition. Recent examples include Duke and Houston in this year’s Final 4.
ESPN’s March Madness Pain Index points out the Blue Devils and Cougar’s win probability deep into the second half of two games.
Advertisement
Duke’s Peak win probability was 99% with 8:17 left in the second half, leading by 14 at 59-45.
The Blue Devils converted just one field goal in the final 10:30 of the game, and Cooper Flagg‘s 3 to put them up 9 with 3:03 left. Houston ended the game on a 15 – 3 run in the final minute-and-a-half to capture the game. Playing with a lead in basketball is difficult, and when you don’t put the biscuit in the basket, leads evaporate.
Houston’s Peak win probability was 94% with 15:48 left in the second half, leading by 12.
Houston Coach Kelvin Sampson, who was seeking his 800th career win, said it best. “At the end, you’ve gotta get a shot.”. The Cougars trailed the Gators by two with 19.7 seconds remaining. We have seen the play, but I don’t get why Houston didn’t attack the basket to score, be fouled, or be awarded the opportunity at an old-fashioned three-point play. My point is, that a three-point attempt typically limits you to an attempt. 3-point shooters are rarely fouled, and in this instance, a shot was not attempted.
Advertisement
While two of the three games had end-game meltdowns, the Final 4 was wildly entertaining.
MOP. Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. During the Gators’ six March Madness wins, Clayton Jr amassed 22.3 points, 3.3 assists, and 3.3 rebounds per game while making big shot after big shot. While Clayton was dubbed the “closer” by CBS commentators during the dance, his most impressive stat put him in the company of one of the all-time greats. Clayton Jr joins Larry Bird (1979 Final 4) as the only other men’s basketball player to score 30-plus points in the Elite 8 (regional final) and Final 4 semifinal. Jr had a special run.
Caitlin Clark accomplished the above on the women’s side with back-to-back 40-plus point games during Iowa’s recent national championship season.
Gators. Florida won their third men’s basketball national championship in 2025, making it the Gators’ third in school history. UF is the only Power 4 university with three basketball and three football national championships. The Gators join Connecticut as the second team to win three national championships in the last twenty years. Florida’s previous hoops naty was in 2007. While I am not a fan of Todd Golden, he is the youngest coach (39) to win a title since N.C. State’s Jim Valvano (37) in 1983 against Houston. The above facts are courtesy of CBS Sports.
Advertisement
Florida’s new basketball mascot should be the Cats. They won game after game, coming from behind late. In this year’s version of March Madness, the Gators had nine lives.
Bracket. My 2025 pre-tournament MM bracket was not great. I was 48 – 15 overall. However, I had a first. I selected the correct Final 4 teams, the national championship matchup, and the correct champion. I’m not sure if I will ever do that again.
Masters. Spring is here. Azaleas are blooming. Master’s Week is back!
It is hard to argue that there is another sporting event that has better coverage from start to finish than the Masters. There is no argument that the venue is the grandest of them all. Can you say “Amen Corner”? Yes, no other sporting event compares to the venue nestled in Augusta, GA.
Advertisement
Here are a few Masters facts a fan might find interesting: 1934 was the first Augusta National Invitational Tournament currently known under a different brand | 1949 is the first title that also awarded the coveted green jacket to the winner | 1997 awarded the youngest champion who is known as Tiger … he was 21 | Jack Nicholas has the most wins (6) spanning three decades between 1963 – 1986 | Tiger has five championships followed by Arnold Palmer’s four titles | the 2025 purse is $20,000,000.
Four rounds of Masters action begins on Thursday. The build-up to Sunday’s final round is a grind, but the anticipation for the golf world is best summarized by Jim Nance. It is “a tradition unlike any other”.
Follow Tony Duckworth on the X platform at @tonyduckworthsr. Duckworth is a native of Macon and currently resides in Albany. Tony worked in intercollegiate athletics for thirty-one years. Between 2007 – 2023 he was an NCAA Division II Director of Athletics at three different universities, including Albany State, following ten years as a head men’s basketball coach at two colleges.
