Buffalo and Central Michigan Advance to Sweet 16

I had a seat on press row reserved for the Ohio State vs. CMU contest tonight in St. John Arena. After much internal debate, I decided to stay home and watch it from home. Why? Mondays are a particularly busy day for me, I root for OSU and all MAC schools, and Buffalo was playing at the same time.

After a rough day at work, I sat down at the computer and put both games on. I loaded up our internal word processor to pre-write both recaps, and waited. I had no idea what to expect.

What I got was pure joy.

The Buffalo and Florida State game was close early, before the breaks started to go Buffalo’s way. And by breaks, I mean Summer Hemphill growing into the player we all know she will become, and the Buffalo stars doing what they do. Stephanie Reid hit a bunch of “was she trying to do that?” shots. Having watched her for as long as I have, the answer is yes.

In the Central Michigan game, things were a bit more tense early. The home team Buckeyes, with Kelsey Mitchell, literally one of the best players ever, were up in the first quarter. However, the Chippewas were shooting like ass, so I knew if they started hitting, they would make it a game. Hit it they did, and both MAC squads won with double digit wins.

I am not going to lie, I was on the edge of my seat for both games as they reached their conclusion. Even though I know Buffalo and Central Michigan are capable teams with a bunch of great players, I just felt that the home teams would make a run. They did, and both MAC squads handled them as a great team should.