With regional semifinal NCAA tournament action's start only thirty minutes away, here are seven wishes for what usually amounts to the best long weekend of the basketball season.
1. At least one of the three teams representing the West (BYU, Arizona, and San Diego State) wins. Arizona is the biggest underdog, but BYU is the true cinderella. San Diego State has the best chance of advancing.
2. At least one of the small-conference schools (Butler, Richmond, and VCU) wins.
3. Neither of the Big East schools (UConn nor Marquette) advances, to punish the Big East for receiving eleven bids and to put a stop to Eastern bias from the national media. Of course, ESPN, in UConn's backyard, will remain a Big East defender.
4. Neither of the Big Ten schools (Wisconsin nor Ohio State) advances, to punish them for receiving a ridiculously generous seven bids to the tourney.
5. There are no fights.
6. There are no serious injuries.
7. There are no more questionable calls or non-calls by the officiating crews.
I know, it sounds like Fantasyland.
Of the unmentioned teams, I wouldn't mind Kansas or Florida State winning it all. I picked the Jayhawks to become 2011 champions, and the Seminoles I respect for not wussing out on a nickname: they remain the Seminoles. San Diego State remains the Aztecs, too. However, declawed Marquette went from the Warriors and mascot Willie Wampum to the Golden Eagles in 1993.
As nicknames go, the Wildcats (Arizona and Kentucky), the Huskies (UConn), the Bulldogs (Butler), and Cougars (BYU) are blandly generic. The most distinctive or outright odd nicknames belong to Richmond (the Spiders), Wisconsin (the Badgers), Florida (the Gators), Ohio State (the Buckeyes), Duke (the Blue Devils, taken from a French light infantry division of World War I), and North Carolina (the Tar Heels).
It's almost game time. Enjoy the tournament!
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