Welcome, Guest!
Mad about March, but not angry
Published: Monday, March 24, 2008 - 5:09pm
For four months, I really didn’t care about college basketball.
My team (everyone’s team) — Illinois — was having an unusually dreadful season. My interest waned as the Illini floundered at the bottom of the Big Ten standings, losing to Tennessee State, Ohio State, and Penn State (all in a row). Illinois’ other team and the NFL’s most hated team diverted my attention from college basketball entirely.
Then a few weeks ago I noticed that Illinois had come back to win a game against Penn State — in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
The next day I saw the Illini taking on Purdue, saw them winning, and saw them win a game against a ranked team for the first time this season.
I was hooked, again.
Illinois won a nice semifinal game against Minnesota before falling to Wisconsin.
I watched those games and got caught in the drama — so much that I passed over watching the Cubs to see the Purdue game. Illinois missed out on the NCAA Tournament (by that one loss to Wisconsin), but I had contracted that dangerous disease — March Madness.
Nonetheless, I filled out my tournament bracket on Facebook nonchalantly. It seemed odd not having Illinois among the matchups, so I didn’t do much (if any) research on my picks. But I was still confident that a 12 seed would upset a five, and I had a vague suspicion that a 13 would take out a four. And of course, Duke wasn’t coming anywhere close to the Elite Eight.
I did an abysmal job in the first round, but I still had a good time watching the games. I called San Diego taking out UConn, but that was one of only two upsets I got right. None of my picks was really “bad” per se, but those Kentuckys, Baylors and Kent States add up (or more correctly, they didn’t add up for me). I was a dismal 19/32 in the first round, but there was hope — I only had two of those 13 losing teams in the Sweet 16.
In the second round I felt like a genius, and though I was probably just lucky, don’t tell me that. Of the 14 Sweet 16 teams I could have chosen, 13 advanced. Davidson, Washington State, and Wisconsin weren’t very popular picks, but apparently I can see the future. Or maybe I was just lucky. Or good.
So I see Stanford and Michigan State pulling off upsets in the South Region, North Carolina and Tennessee holding on in the East, Kansas and Wisconsin advancing in the Midwest, and UCLA and Xavier in the finals of the West. Somehow, my entire Elite Eight is still intact.
Tennessee, Kansas, Stanford, and UCLA make up my Final Four — two ones, a two, and a three. I have UCLA beating Tennessee in the championship. Maybe my remaining predictions will be perfect, or maybe I'll be dead wrong, but I do know this: If this tournament ends as well as it’s started, it’s going to be a spectacular March (and early April).
Comments
First off I would like to
First off I would like to say that you are a weathered fan. Secondly, neither stanford nor michigan state "pulled off upsets" at all. Stanford beat a 14 seeded Cornell, and beat a 6 seeded Marquette. They're a 3 seed, and they have been solid all year. Michigan State beat a 12 seeded Temple, and won against a 4 seeded Pittsburgh. A 5 over a 4 seed is definitely not considered an upset, especially since this particular 5 seed was expected to be a final four team, and a number one seed in the pre-season.
When Chris refers
When Chris refers to Stanford and Michigan State pulling off upsets, he's making predictions (No. 3 Stanford beating No. 2 Texas, No. 5 MSU beating No. 1 Memphis), not talking about games that already happened.
well a number 3 seeded team
well a number 3 seeded team over a number 2 seeded team still isn't considered an upset. Although most may consider Michigan State over Memphis an upset, as I have previously stated, Michigan State is a much better team than their schedule suggests. They have all five starters from last year's second round ncaa tournament team, which lost to eventual elite eight UNC. Amongst those five starters is Drew Neitzel, whom some said could be a PoY candidate this year. Michigan State came into the season with a lot of hype, and started with a 19-2 run, beating Texas along the way, as well as Brigham Young. Despite a few bumps along the road, they completely destroyed Indiana by 29 points; 103-74. I realize that preseason hype doesn't necessarily translate into a national champion, but my point is that Michigan State is a great team, and that they have both the ability and the coaching to defeat Memphis (especially since Memphis struggles at the free throw line). I'm not saying that it can't be considered an upset if Michigan State manages to beat Memphis, I just don't want anybody to put too much of an emphasis on the word "upset". If Drew Neitzel can bury his shots, and if Raymar Morgan can produce without going into foul trouble, then I have Michigan State winning: 66-62
Anonymous:
I use the word upset to mean a lower-seeded team beating a higher-seeded team, even if both teams are expected to play a competitive game. I don't really feel like getting into a dictionary war right now. Anyway, Memphis and Texas are favored in most places (including ESPN) for the two games in question.
Read more carefully.
If you had read my second to last paragraph carefully, anonymous, it would have been obvious I was making predictions, not reflections.
Post new comment