Day 2: The Dawn of a New Era
A few final thoughts as the day winds down...
-This is a new era of the NCAAs, when no seed has an easy game. Even the 1-seeds had to battle in the first round. One big reason for that this year was the lack of upsets in the small conference tournaments. Think about it this way. If Northwestern State had been upset in its conference tournament, that team probably would have gotten a 16-seed. Then Albany would have been a 15 seed and the strongest 15-seed, Winthrop probably, would have been a 14. But what if Winthrop was also upset? That team also gets a 16-seed, pushing another 16 seed up to 15, and a 15 up to 14. See how that works? Upsets in small conferences thin out the field, giving weaker teams stronger fields. One more reason to keep an eye on those early conference tournaments in the future. If all the 1-seeds are winning, watch out for more upsets in the tournament.
But really, the bigger reason is parity. Mid-majors keep their players for four years, while majors see their players flee to the NBA early. The playing field is more level. And March is more Mad.
-If Texas survives against Penn (they're up 7 late as I type this), I don't think they'll go much further. Penn really exploited Texas's biggest weakness: a lack of a true point guard. A more talented, athletic team that puts a lot of pressure on the ball will knock off the Longhorns. Too bad UAB is on the wrong side of the bracket.
-In this last round of games, all of the lower seeds were leading at halftime. In the four games at the Palace of Auburn Hills, all of the lower seeds led at halftime. I love it!
-Good job by the committee in giving Bradley a bid. This team can really play. The difference between how close they've played Kansas (currently beating the Jayhawks by 4 with 2 minutes to go) and how close Murray State has played UNC (Tar Heels about to win) is that Bradley looked tough, while Murray State looked pesky. Lots of good basketball in The Valley.
One thing that has killed Kansas all day long as been a fundamental move we all can copy on the playground: the ball fake. Kansas has been fooled by fake passes and pump fakes all over the place. It's like they don't ball fake in the Big 12 or something. Even just looking off the defense has opened up holes. And Bradley has all but sealed it...
-I've never seen a team as good at dunking on the fly as UAB. They're all so tiny, but give them an inch and they'll slam it. They're just so comfortable on the run. Fun to watch when they're clicking.
-One trend I'd like to stop before it starts...I can already see next year the experts telling everyone to bet against the major conference tournament champions because so many of them lost this year. Syracuse is one thing; Gerry killed himself to win the Big East. But otherwise, I think it's just a fluke. It's not like the dates have changed this year. Nothing like this has happened before. I'd call it an anomaly.
-In case you were wondering, 8 double-digit seeds won in the first round. The last time that many upsets occurred was 2001, when 9 double-digit seeds won in the 1st round. That year things settled down in the 2nd round. 12-seed Gonaga was the only one of those 9 teams to make the Sweet Sixteen, and they did it by beating the 13-seed, Indiana St. All four 1-seeds made the Elite Eight and 1-seed Duke played 2-seed Arizona in the finals.
But I think more of the little guys will stick around this year. Here's who I'll be looking at in round 2:
-UW-Milwaukee: Looking for their 2nd straight Sweet Sixteen
-Bradley: Impressive team playing hot and cold Pitt
-NC State: I'll betcha there aren't four 2-seeds still alive in the Sweet Sixteen. Texas didn't fare well the last time they played a team from Tobacco Road.
And then there were 32...
-This is a new era of the NCAAs, when no seed has an easy game. Even the 1-seeds had to battle in the first round. One big reason for that this year was the lack of upsets in the small conference tournaments. Think about it this way. If Northwestern State had been upset in its conference tournament, that team probably would have gotten a 16-seed. Then Albany would have been a 15 seed and the strongest 15-seed, Winthrop probably, would have been a 14. But what if Winthrop was also upset? That team also gets a 16-seed, pushing another 16 seed up to 15, and a 15 up to 14. See how that works? Upsets in small conferences thin out the field, giving weaker teams stronger fields. One more reason to keep an eye on those early conference tournaments in the future. If all the 1-seeds are winning, watch out for more upsets in the tournament.
But really, the bigger reason is parity. Mid-majors keep their players for four years, while majors see their players flee to the NBA early. The playing field is more level. And March is more Mad.
-If Texas survives against Penn (they're up 7 late as I type this), I don't think they'll go much further. Penn really exploited Texas's biggest weakness: a lack of a true point guard. A more talented, athletic team that puts a lot of pressure on the ball will knock off the Longhorns. Too bad UAB is on the wrong side of the bracket.
-In this last round of games, all of the lower seeds were leading at halftime. In the four games at the Palace of Auburn Hills, all of the lower seeds led at halftime. I love it!
-Good job by the committee in giving Bradley a bid. This team can really play. The difference between how close they've played Kansas (currently beating the Jayhawks by 4 with 2 minutes to go) and how close Murray State has played UNC (Tar Heels about to win) is that Bradley looked tough, while Murray State looked pesky. Lots of good basketball in The Valley.
One thing that has killed Kansas all day long as been a fundamental move we all can copy on the playground: the ball fake. Kansas has been fooled by fake passes and pump fakes all over the place. It's like they don't ball fake in the Big 12 or something. Even just looking off the defense has opened up holes. And Bradley has all but sealed it...
-I've never seen a team as good at dunking on the fly as UAB. They're all so tiny, but give them an inch and they'll slam it. They're just so comfortable on the run. Fun to watch when they're clicking.
-One trend I'd like to stop before it starts...I can already see next year the experts telling everyone to bet against the major conference tournament champions because so many of them lost this year. Syracuse is one thing; Gerry killed himself to win the Big East. But otherwise, I think it's just a fluke. It's not like the dates have changed this year. Nothing like this has happened before. I'd call it an anomaly.
-In case you were wondering, 8 double-digit seeds won in the first round. The last time that many upsets occurred was 2001, when 9 double-digit seeds won in the 1st round. That year things settled down in the 2nd round. 12-seed Gonaga was the only one of those 9 teams to make the Sweet Sixteen, and they did it by beating the 13-seed, Indiana St. All four 1-seeds made the Elite Eight and 1-seed Duke played 2-seed Arizona in the finals.
But I think more of the little guys will stick around this year. Here's who I'll be looking at in round 2:
-UW-Milwaukee: Looking for their 2nd straight Sweet Sixteen
-Bradley: Impressive team playing hot and cold Pitt
-NC State: I'll betcha there aren't four 2-seeds still alive in the Sweet Sixteen. Texas didn't fare well the last time they played a team from Tobacco Road.
And then there were 32...
posted by Prof. A at 11:38 PM
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