March is the time for shining sun, melting snow, and spring creeping in. This rather tranquil setting is disturbed by madness from across the country caused by the men’s NCAA basketball tournament.
March Madness originated as an IHSA affair in 1908, which grew to 900 participating schools in 1930. This idea was adopted by the NCAA exactly 75 years ago and every year has had its fair share of thrills. Selection Sunday is over and the 68 team bracket is set, let the MADNESS BEGIN!
College basketball always has it’s share of disappointments, shockers, and underdogs. This years tournament will be no different.
Disappointments
Bubble teams are always a top story going into the tournament, the insecurity of their fate makes the final week of the regular season full of speculations. Since only 68 teams make the tournament, there are some teams that leave disappointed. SMU, Florida State, and California are among those unfortunate teams who just missed the big dance.
California could have been in the tourney if they beat Colorado in the Pac-12 tournament, instead Colorado sent California packing, as the Buffs go dancing. FSU shared a similar fate when they lost to the Virginia Cavaliers in the quarter finals of the ACC tournament. The biggest disappointment was SMU, a ranked team who many believe should be in the bracket. Their downfall seemed to be the lack of key wins for the Mustangs, even so they were really jipped out of a spot in this tournament and must settle for the NIT.
Shockers
There were quite a few shockers in the seeding after the bracket was released March 16. The first shocker is Virginia being the final number one seed. Their resume was impressive, winning the ACC in the regular and postseason, but, having an overall rank of 11, it was strange seeing them move all the way up to a number one seed. Another shocker was not seeing SMU in the bracket, they were ranked in the final week of the regular season and got booted.
“When I saw Louisville (was a 4 seed), I kind of figured that they didn’t have a lot of respect for our conference,” SMU Coach Larry Brown said. “But we only can blame ourselves, that’s the way I look at it.”
This leads me to another shocker, Louisville is a number four seed in the Midwest Region. The Cardinals are the reigning national champs, and were in the discussion to be a possible number one seed. Even Louisville’s coach, Rick Pitino, thought the Cardinals had number one potential.
“We’ll probably be a number one seed.” Coach Pitino said last week.
Underdogs
The underdogs and cinderella stories keep fans coming back year after year to watch the tournament. This bracket will have its fair share of underdogs.
In the South region, Dayton has a real chance to pull away, playing a mediocre Ohio State team, and then a shaky Syracuse team. This 11 seed can pull something together and make a sweet 16 run. In this region watch out for 13 seed Tulsa as well as 12 seed SF Austin, two excellent teams who can cause problems for higher ranked teams in the South region.
In the West, another 11 seed, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, can very likely win their first game against a tough Baylor team. Their toughest challenge will be in the next round against Creighton and the 5th all time leading NCAA scorer Doug McDermott.
The Midwest region has a lot of potential in a NC State team. They will be playing Xavier in the first round, then a weak 5 seed in St. Louis in the round of 64. The East region also has a tough 11 seed in Providence who can cause problems for all the teams in the region.
Get ready for the Madness the next couple of weeks. Fill out your brackets and watch the tournament as this year is shaping up to be a good one.
