March not so Mad this time Around?
There were 48 basketball games this weekend and a quick count gives me 11 wins by the teams with the worse seeds. A year after the first time that four 1-seeds went to the Final Four, we have experience the first opening weekend in which all 1 through 3-seeds advanced to the Sweet 16. The question becomes whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.
My first reaction is that such a result is not desired, but I think I’ve come around to the other side of the argument. On the one hand, upsets and Cinderallas are part of the draw when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. Davidson was amazing to watch last year, George Mason’s run will always be remembered, and it’s even fun to look at teams like Xavier, Gonzaga, and Butler grabbing great seeds and remembering when they were giant killers. The bar I was watching the Gonzaga-Western Kentucky game at was significantly pro-WKU, and while I was in the Gonzaga camp, I still found myself hoping for Mendez-Valdez to keep pulling those amazing shots out at the end. Upsets and underdogs are March Madness.
But now we get an amazing second weekend of the tourney. I can’t remember a better lineup of games ever. There are always a couple of yawners, where a 13 plays a 1 and everyone knows they have no chance. You won’t find one of those on the docket this weekend. The worst game of the lot has to be Louisville and Arizona, and the Wildcats are playing great basketball right now and with three future NBA players, have a decent shot at the upset. Plus, even if it’s lousy, you can tune into Syracuse-Oklahoma, which starts 20 minutes later on Friday night.
These games are just so intriguing. I’ll preview each one later in the week, but just looking at them I know there is at least one major storyline going in each match-up, whether it’s the guard match-up in Nova-Duke, or Missouri’s press vs. Memphis’s unproven point guard, each game has something to watch for.
If you’re going to Vegas this weekend, you might want to stick to blackjack, because I don’t envy anyone picking these games. Some of the early lines look insane: Duke -2, OU -1, UNC -8.5 after struggling with an SEC team; no thanks. Also, I’d like to know the over/under for the Duke-Nova contest. It should make Don Nelson blush.
Back to the debate though. I am a little disappointed there weren’t more upsets the first two days, that’s for sure. Although, if you look back to some of those bracket previews, I did call three of the four upsets correctly. Would have had all four, but Marquette was awarded approximately 22 free throws down the stretch to come back against Utah State to win by one. Not that I’m bitter.
While some more shockers would have been welcome (ahem, Binghamton, ahem), now that the first four days are done, I have to say I’m the most excited I have been in a while for the second weekend of games. And it’s not like the first two rounds were lacking for excitement. Siena-Ohio State was a phenomenal game; Tennessee and Oklahoma State was great, and Gonzaga’s Demetri Goodsen gave us a great game winner in a cardiac contest against WKU. We also had Pitt and Memphis surviving tests from the unlikeliest of opponents. So what if the first weekend wasn’t as “Mad” as we’re used to, the next two weeks are going to be insane.
Loading ...
