Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. After going to the wake of my grandmother's brother-in-law, my family went to my grandparents' house to eat and watch the NCAA Tournament games. I remember this slate of games being a bit hard to watch. I definitely lost interest and felt a bit frustrated as this North Carolina team, during a down year, was one game away from the Final Four after defeating Tennessee. The one saving grace of this Tar Heels team was backup power forward Julius Peppers, who was quite the baller and athlete as a 6'6'' bowling ball of a power forward. 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. This set of games was disappointing in the moment, with Wisconsin frustrating LSU with its defense during a boring 61-48 victory. I especially remember eventual top NBA Draft pick Stromile Swift struggling against the Badgers. As for UCLA vs. Iowa State, this was a rematch of a classic Sweet Sixteen game from the 1997 NCAA Tournament, during which the Bruins won late on a Cameron Dollar layup. Iowa State would get revenge three years later, crushing the Bruins by 24 points and looking like a very formidable foe for #1 Michigan State a couple of days later. Little did I know that Michigan State vs. Iowa State would ultimately feel like the national championship game, not a good sign for an Elite Eight matchup. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I was so pumped up for this opening set of Thursday night games of the Sweet Sixteen, especially the Gonzaga game against Purdue. I remember having to run to the mall after school with a friend, who wanted to get some new shoes, hearing the amazing Supergrass song "Pumping On Your Stereo" for the first time, thinking that Gonzaga would knock off Purdue. That would not be the case as Purdue surprisingly handled the Bulldogs, ruining my dreams of Gonzaga making the 2000 NCAA Final Four. With that said, the Syracuse-Michigan State game was a classic. The Spartans had a miserable first half, getting down at halftime to a game Syracuse team in front of a stunned crowd at the Palace of Auburn Hills. As was the case during a second-round comeback against Utah, Michigan State would take control of the Syracuse game in the second half, leading to an all-timer of an Elite Eight matchup two days later!