HOYA SADNESS BRACKET: SWEET SIXTEEN

In case you have been living under a rock trying to avoid the coronavirus over the past few months, we have been slowly revealing two monster 64-team brackets: one for Hoya Madness (The Delusional Bracket) and one for Hoya Sadness (The Cynical Bracket). Importantly, the date range for these high highs and low lows will only span the last 16 years of this program’s history (the entire JTIII and Ewing eras). First and Second Round matchups are now complete and we are on to the Sweet Sixteen!

Below are the links to the First and Second Round matchups:

HOYA MADNESS ROUND 1 BRACKET RESULTS

HOYA SADNESS ROUND 1 BRACKET RESULTS

HOYA MADNESS ROUND OF 32 BRACKET RESULTS

HOYAS SADNESS ROUND OF 32 BRACKET RESULTS

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Cynical Bracket

The C.J. Fair Region - Sweet 16

(1) Syracuse 58, Georgetown 55 - March 15, 2013: Syracuse needed a third game against the Hoyas to finally eke out a victory, with this one coming in an overtime thriller in the BET semifinals. This was one of the saddest nights at the Garden for Georgetown fans and it marked the last time the Hoyas and the Orange played each other in the Big East Tourney. C.J. Fair’s dunk over Otto was not enjoyable. And that fifth foul on Markel Starks was a travesty.

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(5) Utah 75, Georgetown 64 – March 21, 2015: Sadness in Portlandia. The #5 seeded Runnin’ Utes handed Georgetown a tough loss and prevented the Hoyas from advancing to the Sweet 16 for (what would have been) their first trip since 2007. After the Hoyas’ surprisingly hot start, Utah chipped away at Georgetown’s 11-point lead; the second half was a back and forth contest until DSR was whistled for a suspect traveling violation in the last two minutes. Peak’s 18 points weren’t enough, as DSR missed all seven of his three-point attempts and Utah shot a ridiculous 32 free throws. After the game, Jabril Trawick had this to say: “I’m disappointed, but I still have my head high. Surprisingly, I didn’t cry or anything. I had a great time. It’s been a great experience. The group they have coming back is going to be a special team.”

(2) West Virginia 60, Georgetown 58 - March 13, 2010: This one still hurts. Having avenged losses to South Florida, Syracuse and Marquette, the Hoyas stormed into the BET championship game and almost completed the Revenge Tour against the Mountaineers, but they fell just short, as Da’Sean Butler hit a ridiculous jumper with only a few seconds to play. Two weeks after Austin was diagnosed with diabetes and Georgetown got pasted by West Virginia in Morgantown, the Hoyas put up a valiant effort and clawed back from an 8-point deficit with seven minutes to go, but alas, it wasn’t enough.

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(3) Maryland 76, Georgetown 75 – November 15, 2016: One week after the U.S. presidential election, this loss was a harbinger of things to come for the Hoyas. After the Hoyas blew a nine-point lead with 2:21 to go, Melo Trimble hit two free throws with seven seconds left to give the Terps a stunning one-point victory. Despite Peak’s 19 second half points and Georgetown outscoring Maryland 37-17 from the line, a series of brutal turnovers in the final two minutes doomed the Hoyas. Tre Campbell stepped out of bounds. Melo Trimble was fouled on a long inbounds pass with seven seconds left. And Jagan’s last-second layup was blocked as time expired. This game was brutal.

The Armon Bassett Region - Sweet 16

(1) Ohio 97, Georgetown 83 - March 18, 2010: The #3 seeded Hoyas were pummeled by the #14 seeded Bobcats in a game that was never close. Armon Freaking Bassett put up 32 points as he hit almost every shot he took. Chris Wright led the Hoyas with 28 points, and Monroe had a solid 19 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists. But there was no defense. None. And this was a Georgetown team that was peaking toward the end of the season and had a real chance to go to the Final Four.

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(4) Cincinnati 72, Georgetown 70 - March 8, 2012: The Bearcats stunned #11 Georgetown in a double overtime thriller in the quarterfinals of the BET. Although the slugfest between Yancy Gates (23 points, eight rebounds) and Henry Sims (22 points, 15 rebounds) was fun to watch, the outcome left Hoyas fans wanting more. The teams combined to shoot 4 for 31 from beyond the arc. After Cincy erased an 11-point deficit in the last eight minutes of regulation, the Hoyas could never regain control and faltered at the end, despite some heroics from Henry, including a game-tying bucket at the end of the first overtime. The silver lining is that Cincy would go on to upend Syracuse the very next day.

(2) Virginia Commonwealth 74, Georgetown 56 - March 18, 2011: #11 VCU pasted the #6 Hoyas in a game that was never close. Brandon Rozzell came out of nowhere to hit six threes for the Rams, and Hollis Thompson’s 26 points came too late. Lubick, Sims, Benimon and Vaughn combined for only 2 points in 51 combined minutes. This was Chris Wright’s first game back after fracturing his wrist two weeks earlier.

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(3) Ohio State 67, Georgetown 60 - March 31, 2007: In a foul-plagued slugfest, Ohio State more or less controlled this game from the start, despite Greg Oden’s constant foul issues. Hibbert and Jonathan Wallace scored 19 apiece, but Hibbert was in foul trouble of his own, and Jeff Green only contributed nine points on a total of five shots. The Hoyas had zero bench points and couldn’t match the speed of Mike Conley (15 points, six assists, five rebounds) and Jamar Butler (ten points).

The Steph Curry Region - Sweet 16

(1) Davidson 74, Georgetown 70 - March 23, 2008: This #10 seeded Davidson squad overcame a 17-point second half deficit to edge the #2 Hoyas in Raleigh. Curry scored 25 points in the second half, Roy Hibbert was in constant foul trouble and the Hoyas just didn’t have an answer. This was another potential Final Four team and it was also the final game played by star seniors Hibbert, Wallace and Ewing Jr. Those of you who attended this game (in North Carolina!) will remember it as basically a home game for a team seeded tenth. Those of you who watched this one at home will remember that our lead was so big that CBS switched games in the second half. Yeah.

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(5) South Florida 72, Georgetown 64 - February 4, 2010: The Dominique Jones “yes sir” game. After crushing Duke a mere four days earlier, the Hoyas squandered a 13-point lead at home, while allowing Dominique Jones to score 22 of his game-high 29 points in the second half to stymie the #7 Hoyas. After hitting an array of shots from all over the court, Jones was seen nodding, smiling and yelling “yes sir” to a stunned Georgetown crowd.

(2) NC State 66, Georgetown 63 - March 18, 2012: The #11 seeded Wolf Pack stunned the #3 Hoyas in a nail biter. Hollis Thompson put up 23 points, but it wasn’t enough, as a foul-plagued Henry Sims had only four points in 21 minutes. This was the last hurrah for Sims, Thompson and Jason Clark, who was visibly upset in the post-game press conference. Loved this team.

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(3) Syracuse 58, Georgetown 57 - March 10, 2006: In the semifinals of the BET, Gerry McNamara willed the Orange to another stirring victory en route to winning the conference championship the following night. After squandering a 15-point halftime lead, Georgetown failed to hang on in the waning seconds. McNamara hit a three with 48 seconds to cut the deficit to one point; after a Demetris Nichols steal, Eric Devendorf then hit the game-winning layup to give the Orange the victory by a single point. Hate Gerry Mac.

Cynical Bracket

The Dunk City Region

(1) Florida Gulf Coast 78, Georgetown 68 - March 22, 2013: No explanation necessary. This loss came less than a week after the heartbreaking loss to Syracuse in the BET, making it possibly the worst week in the history of Georgetown basketball since at least 1985.

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(5) Cincinnati 58, Georgetown 46 – February 23, 2011: Chris Wright breaks his hand. After surging through the Big East in late January and February, #11 Georgetown stumbled in a big way at home when it got bullied by a very physical yet unranked Cincy squad. This was the beginning of the end for the Hoyas, as Chris Wright fractured his hand and the Hoyas went on to lose their next four games.

(2) Pittsburgh 74, Georgetown 65 - March 15, 2008: The Hoyas fell short in the Big East championship game, as Pittsburgh avenged its loss from the previous year to send the Hoyas packing. Ronald Ramon and Sam Young led the way for the Panthers, as Hibbert’s 17 points weren’t good enough.

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(3) Florida 57, Georgetown 53 - March 24, 2006: In what would prove to be the closest Tourney game Florida played en route to winning the title, Georgetown damn near pulled off the upset until Darrel Owens’s potential game-winning three clanked off the rim with seven seconds to play in this NCAA regional semifinal matchup. The Hoyas were up by a point with 38 seconds to go before Corey Brewer hit a crazy, off-balance shot for which he was rewarded with a free throw (we were all left to loathe everything about this play: the sequence leading up to the shot, the shot itself and the foul on Bowman). Joakim Noah had 15 points to lead Florida. This would be the last game for seniors Bowman, Owens and Ashanti Cook.