Technical Tidbits 3/16: Jackets shut out No. 12 Oklahoma, basketball tops Indiana

Georgia Tech locked down perhaps its most impressive win of the season on Tuesday evening, shutting out No. 12 Oklahoma by a final score of 2-0 at Russ Chandler Stadium during the confusing cold snap that continues to cause havoc on the Atlantic Coast. Tech handed the Sooners just their third loss of the season, though it is worth noting that the midweek trip to Atlanta marked Oklahoma’s first road game of the entire season. I don’t know anything about how the Sooners were regarded during the preseason, but the fact that they are a top-15 victory on Tech’s resume will look great as the season progresses. Hopefully guys like Ben Schniederjans and Jay Shadday, the duo which shut out Oklahoma, can bring some stability to Tech’s rotation going forward.

Georgia Tech picked up a huge postseason win on Tuesday afternoon, taking down a struggling Indiana team by a final score of 75-63 and extending the team’s hopes of an NIT Championship run by at least one more game. Hoosier fans generally saw this as more of an act of humane euthanasia than a disappointing beat down of their struggling team; some fans went so far as to thank Josh Pastner and company for putting them out of their misery. By winning that game, Tech may have ended the Tom Crean era on a very, very low note: a first-round NIT exit marred by the athletic department's decision not to “devalue” their own arena by playing in it.

In some other basketball news, Josh Pastner is now on the hook for over $16,000 worth of tickets after 1,100 Tech students took him up on an offer of free tickets to the Indiana game. The good news? He’s promised to do the same for all future NIT home games this season.

With the play-in games now out of the way, we can finally start the fun part of the NCAA Tournament: the absurdity of the field of 64. The above article has some of the coolest moments in history from the tournament’s biggest round, including one that we may remember well, being from Atlanta and all -- R.J. Hunter’s game-winning three pointer to propel Georgia State to a victory over Baylor. The image of Ron Hunter falling off of his stool is one of the funniest and all-around nicest moments I can remember. The unpredictability is incredibly fun, with upsets generally coming left and right. I hope this season is no different.