Only in March can you greet someone by asking, "So how's your bracket going?" It is the month that the office sports expert is humiliated by the admin assistant who wins the office pool by picking teams that have the "cutest outfits." True basketball fans fake illness to watch first round action. Every year there are inevitably upsets, buzzer beaters, overtimes, and Cinderella stories. The NCAA tournament has been crowned as the king of sports tournaments, and the phrase "like basketball" is used in nearly every argument against the BCS.
This year will be a personal litmus test for the tourneys actual greatness. After making the Elite 8 last year, the Sooners failed to even make the NIT, so I have very little rooting interest in the teams involved. I would love to see San Diego State do well, but they got hosed in the seeding which forces them to play a first round game against a very tough Tennessee team. I am also not participating in any pools, so my bracket doesn't matter monetarily. It is amazing how much more interesting things become when you have money riding on the outcome. It will be up to fantastic games and interesting match ups to keep my attention.
There has been a lot of debate on whether the tournament should expand its field from the already enormous 65 team slate. This year's first round should do a lot to support or quell that idea. Supporters of an expansion would need several unlikely upsets to prove there is value in adding more inferior teams. The importance of regular season records would diminish with an expansion. It seems silly to tinker with a format that is so popular, but it would make for a wild first couple of rounds.
Despite what many say about the NCAA tournament, there are no flawless systems to crown a champion. The hot topic leading into the tourney is unfair scheduling for #1 seeds. Kansas was clearly the best of the four #1 seeds, but have the toughest path to the Final Four. Conversely, conspiracy theorists got great fodder from the extremely favorable schedule Duke received. Most years there are several teams upset about getting snubbed by the tournament committee. The snubs were minimal this year, but many teams are upset about nonsensical seedings. I won't bore you with all the examples, but after going 7-9 down the stretch the Texas Longhorns still secured an #8 seed. Hmmm?
It makes me wonder how this would change if football had their own tournament. It is easy to bash the BCS and say a tournament would crown a true champion, but there would still be a litany of problems. Unlike basketball, the attention given to every decision, every seeding, every match up, and every location would be monumental with football. There are 65 teams that are included in basketball's tournament and there are still serious grumblings about who gets left out. Can you imagine the arguments that would ensue if you could only include eight teams? I will stop there before I get out of control and make the March Madness post about football.
Regardless of problems, the NCAA tournament is a wonderful event for fans. Games are usually very competitive and highlights are filled with last second heroics. The tournament has a reputation of being kind to the little guy because of its inclusion of small conference champions and several mid majors. Unfortunately, these teams rarely make a real impact. Since the tournament's inception only two teams seeded worse than #9 have made the Final Four. There has never been a #1 seed knocked off by a #16. That being said, there are always huge upsets which is my favorite aspect of the tournament. The wild nature of the first round is thrilling if you can get invested in teams rarely televised. After the first round the likelihood of an upset plummets. Once the field is pared down to eight teams, schools with the most NBA prospects and most experienced coaches are the ones that win.
Hopefully, the passion and excitement these college kids play with will draw me into the action. If not, I will continue to wait patiently for baseball season. That is one thing I always count on when tournament time rolls around. No matter what happens I know baseball is just around the corner. I can already taste the hot dogs.
My Final Four teams include: Kansas, West Virginia, Syracuse, and Baylor. I should have Kentucky in there, but despite their tremendous talent, they are very young. I know that doesn't count for as much as it once did, but it still has to count for something. Right? I really don't see anyone beating Kansas either way. The Big XII was the best conference in the NCAA this year, and KU only lost one conference game. Picking against those guys would be a pure guess. In the end, the rich get richer as Kansas cuts down the nets again. Just don't ask them to play football.
