Okay, Sunday's games weren't perfect, but enough of them provided thrills, chills, and controversy to keep one's faith in the basketball tournament alive. Four games were incredibly close, although one never believed Michigan had a real chance against Duke. However, three of the blowouts were enjoyable and satisfying because the losers came from the Big Ten and the Big East.
Sunday proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the national media hype machine, as incarnated by ESPN, has once again unjustly prejudiced the NCAA tournament committee against deserving teams in smaller or western conferences. The prejudice applies not only to Big Dance invitations, but also to seedings of invitees.
Of Big Ten combatants Sunday, only The Ohio State prevailed in a cakewalk over George Mason, 98-66. Meanwhile, Illinois stumbled against a vastly superior Kansas, 73-59, Purdue was overwhelmed by cinderella Virginia Commonwealth, 94-76, and the aforementioned Michigan ran out of gas against Duke, 73-71. Of Big East teams Sunday, Syracuse was upset by fellow Big Easter Marquette, 66-62, and Notre Dame was crushed by Florida State, 71-57.
How could anybody seed Notre Dame and Purdue two and three respectively? Could it be related to the selection committee's crush on the Big Ten, courtesy of chairperson Gene Smith, the athletic director at The Ohio State? We know it's not objective, regardless of the numbers and statistics used. Could it be related to ESPN's over-exposure of the Big East? Chances are.
Eleven Big East teams were invited to the Big Dance. Only two of them, UConn and Marquette, made the Sweet Sixteen. Sir Charles said it best: the conference is over-rated. Still, don't be surprised if UConn makes the Final Four.
Seven Big Ten teams made the tournament, and only two of them remain as well, Wisconsin and The Ohio State. Only the Buckeyes have a shot at the Final Four.
Meanwhile, three Mountain West Conference teams were invited to the Big Dance, and two remain alive. The ACC has proven once again it is the class conference of basketball with three teams surviving to the Sweet Sixteen: Duke, Florida State, and North Carolina.
Speaking of UNC, does anybody really believe Washington was robbed in the final minutes by the refs in its 86-83 loss? Would .8 or .7 seconds added to the clock really have given the Huskies the win? I think not. UW was playing lights out for thirty minutes. They ran out of steam at the end, with bad turnovers and poor decisions. Nobody would argue that Washington was the better team. Yet, the Huskies showed up and put up a great effort against a superior and deeper Tar Heel team. Washington's performance proved that the Pac-10 was as under-rated as the Big East was over-rated.
Finally, the Arizona-Texas game showed off great athleticism, mediocre coaching, and substandard officiating. Longhorns fans are right to question the five-second call and the final no-call. They shouldn't forget prior no-calls and bad calls, however, which evened things out. Arizona almost choked at the end, and it's hard to believe they will be advancing any further, but they did show up and played tough. The Wildcats are back.
It's great to have so many small schools in the Sweet Sixteen, two of whom are located in Richmond, Virginia: the Richmond Spiders and the VCU Rams. Will Butler do it again? Can Duke give Coach K another title? Will BYU ride Jimmer Fredette to the Final Four?
Will VCU be the first team in tournament history to go 7-0? Will The Ohio State find some of its basketball players to be recipients of discounted tattoos and cash for autographed memorabilia? Will they stay quiet or tell the NCAA? Stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment