There’s been some grumbling about this year’s NCAA Tournament from that select group of people whose faith in humanity has been shattered because a 12 seed didn’t beat a 5 seed this year. They complain there have been no upsets and therefore no excitement in this year’s tournament. Here’s the thing—those people mourning the fact that Albany didn’t make the Sweet Sixteen are missing one of the best tournaments in years.
Sure, upsets make for an exciting first weekend, but they don’t make the tournament. What makes the tournament are outstanding games in the later rounds—The Duke-UConn and UNC-Michigan type matchups. Last year George Mason made the most memorable Final Four run ever, and the 2006 tournament will forever be remembered for that. But part of the reason it will be remembered for George Mason is that is that the Final Four featured a #3 vs. #14 matchup that was a blowout, and a Championship Game that was a blowout. The last weekend of the tournament was a dud, and the Colonials run was not enough to make up for that.
On the other hand, this year’s tournament has been one of the best in recent history. Not counting the first round, nearly every single game of the tournament has been exciting to watch. Take a look at each game–I’ve broken them down into four categories. “Epic Games” were close back and forth battles that often went down to the last possession or overtime. “Great Games” may not have gone down the last possession, but they were back and forth and the outcome was in doubt until the final minute. “Good Games” were close throughout the second half with the winning team usually pulling away in the final minutes. “Bad Games” had a double digit lead through the majority of the second half with the trailing team never really threatening to make a comeback. Let’s take a look at the 28 games since the opening weekend.
Outstanding Epic Games (8)
Pitt-VCU (OT)
Vanderbilt—Wash St. (2OT)
Ohio St.–Xavier (OT)
Louisville—Texas A&M
Vanderbilt—Georgetown
Ohio St.—Tennessee
Texas A&M—Memphis
UNC—Georgetown (OT)
Great Games (9)
Butler–Maryland
UNLV—Wisconsin
BC—Georgetown
Tennessee—Virginia
Ohio State—Memphis
UNC—USC
Kansas—Southern Illinois
UCLA—Kansas
Florida–Butler
Good Games (8)
Florida—Purdue
Oregon—UNLV
Kansas—Kentucky
UCLA—Indiana
Nevada—Memphis
Pitt—UCLA
Florida—Oregon
UNC—Michigan State
Bad Games (3)
Southern Illinois—Virginia Tech
Oregon—Winthrop
USC—Texas
That’s 25 out of 28 games that were at least good, more than half that were at least great, and more than a quarter that were “Epic.” That sounds like an exciting tournament to me. Even the three bad games weren’t so bad. Texas—USC was a big upset, Southern Illinois—Va. Tech played a pretty entertaining game, and the first half of Oregon—Winthrop was outstanding.
In addition to all that, the last weekend of the tournament is shaping up to be a great one. One final four game is a rematch of last year’s championship game, and the other features an Oden-Hibbert matchup in another rematch from last year’s tournament. Those who want their upsets can complain all they want, but the simple fact is that this has been an outstanding, exciting, and memorable NCAA tournament.
Some other college basketball notes…
–Tubby Smith will be taking over at Minnesota, but it appears as though when he was deciding whether or not to take the job his hand was forced by the media. From The Kentucky Kernel:
Smith originally flew up to UM to assess the campus and what it had to offer, but he made the jump to accept the job after it received so much media attention, Maturi said.
“I believe that Tubby realized, ‘you know what, it’s gotten out there,’ ” Maturi said.
Probably not the best reason to take a job, although perhaps he was going to take it anyway.
– Josh McRoberts is going pro. Everybody knows he sucks by now, but it’s probably the right move. Much like fellow Blue Devil Shavlik Randolph, McRoberts’ stock has been dropping every day since his 17th birthday. By the way, I’m sure that when McRoberts’ was considering going pro last year, Coach K. was one of the voices telling him to stay—I’m sure because he knew McRoberts needed another year of college and that staying was best for him. Well Coach K, it looks like you’ve cost McRoberts anywhere from $3 million to $7 million, and possibly a guaranteed NBA roster spot. At least now he’ll have a lot more time to develop as a person riding buses through Arkansas while playing in the D-League. Make sure you remember this next time Coach K. brands himself as a selfless coach who only wants what’s best for his players.
–Southern Illinois coach Chris Lowery is going to be one of the most sought after coaches this spring. Jamal Tatum is already campaigning for his coach to get paid.
