Elite Eight

Two Cardinalen schools, Alexandria University and Costa Alta Military Academy, are in the Elite Eight of the NFCAA college basketball tournament. Alexandria University won against South Cadonia University, while Costa Alta Military Academy defeated Drop Corps University. Alexandria University will face the first-seeded Joclyn State University Eagles, who are seeking revenge for their previous losses to Alexandria University. Costa Alta Military Academy will play against Semendy Tech, another Joclyn school. Both teams will need to adapt their playing styles to be successful in the upcoming matches. Hello, everybody. Good evening. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good night. Good time of day. Wherever you are. Thank you for tuning in to the Cardinal and correspondence sports wrap up podcast today. Of course, I am here, big Ronnie Ray Mac in the house coming to you live. Very excited to discuss the results and upcoming matches in the NFCAA college basketball tournament, the ultra 64 showdown. There are two Cardinal and schools left as we enter into the elite eight round. Elite eight kind of says it right there means that there's eight teams left in the competition. Don't think we need to say too much about that. Two of those teams, one quarter 25% are Cardinal and what an incredible accomplishment for these schools. What great honor they bring to our nation only if they make it to the final and win though. First off, we've got Alexandria university, the swordsman, the crimson gold coming into this match, hot, feeling good after beating off South Cadonia university, the Val Noren school, um, pretty straightforward game, though it was a little narrow, ended up being a six point margin of victory in the end. Alexandria university won 83 to 77 junior small forward Alejandro Lalua went off. He scored 27 points, was four for eight from behind the three point line. So pretty good. 50% we'll take that. We'll take that. Um, did a good job without moving the ball around, hit his shots down low at the mid range shots. Really good display from the young man hats off to you, Mr. Lalua. Make that victory feel good about it and we hope that you're rested up for the upcoming match. Sophomore point guard, D'Angelo Fox, again, another incredible display from the young man. He had a double double with points and assists, 11 points, maybe not his most productive night, but he didn't put up 13 assists, which is pretty remarkable at this stage of the competition, especially going up against a team as good as South Cadonia university, um, really a tremendous display. So we'd love to see that happen. The key to the victory for Alexandria university was playing efficient basketball. They really minimized all their turnovers. They didn't try to force any complicated shots or any, uh, too complicated offensive sets. Did a good job about getting down low, getting open shots around the basket, putting them up, letting the bigs go to work. Uh, it was a solid display. It really was a solid display. As we look up to their competitor, who will it be? It is the first seeded to send to state university Eagles out of Joclyn once again, we knew that these teams would clash. We knew that the story wasn't over. We knew that the Eagles desperately wanted, needed to pull one back after losing to Alexandria university twice over the course of the season. Well, once in the regular season, once in the conference championship semifinals, they're only losses of the year coming to the hands of Alexandria university, little old Alexandria university. Yikes. This will definitely be a grudge match for the Eagles. They have the whole nation advantage, you know, so I expect the place to be packed with Joclyns just going nuts, shouting depth, Alexandria, you know, just really going all out. They are good at basketball. They are the first seeded team for a reason. They took care of the university of Royette, which I have been told that I do not pronounce that correctly, but we are Cardinal. So that's just kind of how it's going to go. 63 points conceded while they scored 92 for the Eagles. So this was a huge victory for the Joclyn school. Not even close, not even fair, just really blew them the hell away and followed that up with an 86-51 victory against the Minolet Naval Academy, the Val Noren school. Another huge, easy victory for the Joclyns. So sure, they might be data science nerds. I hear that their school is very data science focused, so good for them, those nerds. But they're also good at basketball and that's kind of, you know, it's the deadly combination when you've got such incredible brain power that's used to thinking about AI and shit like that. They're thinking about basketball schemes too, they're thinking about plays, they're thinking about how many rotations are on the basketball when they shoot it. So these are some smart dudes, these are some dudes who are good at basketball and some chicks who are good too. I'm pretty sure it's a co-ed team, I don't know who the fuck cares. But their center, Jesus God, their center, eight foot six inches, excuse me, eight foot eight inches. I was reading, that's a reserve center, it's eight six, short. Kelly Sinclain, eight foot eight junior, not really sure how you're supposed to defend that. I'm going to be straight up here, don't really know what the game plan is going to be. Yeah, it's going to be pretty brutal for Alexandria University. I mean, they made it happen twice before, you know, getting those victories. But I would be very surprised to see it happen again, especially with all this hype over every single position. Tom Parliament, you're going to have to have a hell of a game, my man, down there. Junior center, defensive superstar, seven one, so he's a big guy, but eight foot eight is obviously much larger than seven foot one, so good luck. Also, you know, we got to watch out for Basil Thorne. Been pretty quiet the two games that we played against him, but that's the thing about the freshman board, he can always go off. Eight foot tall, quick as hell, he can shoot, he can dunk, I assume, being eight foot tall, he can probably dunk. Great at defense, again, eight feet tall, that's a pretty great defensive build right there. So this is going to be a really tough game for Alexandria. I know that they're feeling good, I know that they'll have to be feeling positive, considering they've already beaten the Eagles twice so far this season. The fundamental truth is they don't have the height of their competitor, and sure, yes, they have a lot of heart. Alexandria University, it's a team with good vibes, you know, the power of friendship will be key to victory, that sort of team mentality that they have over there, but that's great, I love that. Heart is great, friendship is great, eight foot eight centers, yeah, that's really tough to overcome. So, hoping for it, praying for it, would love to see the Alexandria University Swordsmen make their way into the Final Four, but I do not see that happening, so sorry. I do think that the Eagles are going to get their revenge and move on to the next round. The second and final Cardinalen team still remaining in the competition is the fifth-seeded Costa Alta Military Academy Jets. Kama, Kama, Kama, Kama, we love to see them. Costa Alto, beautiful city, Costa Alto Military Academy, great military academy, their basketball team, pretty dang good, surprisingly good, it would turn out, I did not have high expectations for them moving into this season, but they have done well to secure the fifth seed and make it all the way to the Elite Eight, where they will line up against, surprisingly, another drocking school, Semendy Tech, the Cyberpunks, Semendy, Semendy, either way, they're a good team. Costa Alto is rolling into this game, feeling good after putting up 75 points against the first-seeded Drop Corps University, destroying them by a 23-point margin of victory. It was beautiful to watch, it brought a tear to my eye, it brought a tear to all of us sitting in the bar watching, we were all crying, hugging, yelling, cheering, just, you know, what a wonderful feeling to be able to beat the first-seeded team out there, one of the best teams ever, I would say, in the NSCAA history. What made that victory possible for Costa Alto? I mean, they're a brand of basketball, they ran hard, they played direct, they ran fast, they scored the fucking basket, that's what you need to do, it's unexciting, you know, which is kind of a rarity, because when we think of Costa Alto's play, traditionally it's been full of high-right reel sort of attempts and crazy shot attempts, crazy passes, but it seems like in this stage of the competition, it being a you-lose-it-go-home, the coach has his team playing a much more level-headed, much more effective and efficient brand of basketball, so that's something that, if they can continue to maintain that level of play, should go very well for them, but again, this isn't really in their nature, this is a team that, you know, you've got the sophomore point guard Blake D'Agostino, he wants to run and gun, he wants to pull up at the logo for a three, he wants to slash to the rim and throw down a ridiculous dunk, he wants to push the tempo, he wants to put points up on the board, senior power forward Funstrinton Jalpez Jr., he loves shooting the ball, this is a team who wants to shoot, this is a team who wants to score, this is a team who it's in their nature to play fast, so while they've done a good job about reigning things back, playing slow, controlled, at a measured pace, they've done well to do that, but I don't know if they're going to have the discipline to be able to do it again, especially when it comes to being in the Elite Eight, where if you lose, you go home, and if you win, you make it to the semifinals, so in that sort of situation, are you going to stay disciplined and listen to your coach and play the style of basketball he wants you to, or are you going to take matters into your own hand and throw off those shackles and do your own thing? So that's really where the question lies for Costa Alto, if they're going to beat the Cyberpunks, they're going to need to stay level-headed, play the game plan, trust the coaching. The Junior Center, Cesaro Principe, Mr. Caveman, Ooga Booga athlete, he needs to transform from an offensive weapon to a defensive master for this game. The Cyberpunks, what the hell is a Cyberpunk, I don't even know what a Cyberpunk is, but they've got a ton of height, again, drawing team, you know they're going to be tall, outrageously tall. Again, they have an eight-foot, nine-inch center, so that's just ridiculous, I'm not really sure how Costa Alto is supposed to contest that, like what do you do? Do you stand on somebody's line, do you have a player stand on another player's back? Do you try to throw up an anaphyl out on the court so she slips? I really am not sure what Costa Alto's approach here is going to be, so good luck with that. But I do know, with a 100% degree of certainty, 99%, like 25% degree of certainty, is that Costa Alto will win this game. They will come to victory. The Blue and White, some indie tech, look, historically they play well in the regular season, they did that this year, you know, we've all seen that, but historically they choke in the Ultra 64, this is only their second Elite Eight visit, so are they going to be able to deal with the sense of expectation that's on their shoulders? Are they going to be able to deal with the skeletons in the closet? I personally don't think so, I'm hoping they don't. I'm hoping that they are nervous and scared and timid and wet the bed the night before. I would love for Costa Alto to roll in there and just absolutely, you know, smack them down, but I don't know if it's going to happen. Ultimately, I think it's going to be a narrow game, it's going to be a hard-fought game, there's going to be a lot of banging, a lot of fouls, I think there's going to be maybe a fight, I don't know, these are two very passionate teams, but in the end, I think it's going to come down to a one-score game, and the victors will be the Costa Alto Military Academy Jets, they will move forward to the Final Four and play against the Descentu State University Eagles, who, like I said, I predict to beat Alexandria University. We will see what happens, I just hope that the kids go out there, I hope they have fun, I hope they win, I hope everybody stays safe and healthy, no injuries, that's the worst case scenario. Even worse than losing would be serious injuries, so I hope it's a good game, I hope they're two good games, I hope the Cardinalen schools win both games, but we will see. So that's all for tonight, thank you for tuning in to the Cardinalen Correspondent Sports Wrap-Up Podcast, hosted by big Ronnie Ray Mac, it's been a pleasure as always, go Blues, God bless, let's go.