Ever since selection Sunday this year’s NCAA Tournament has been nothing but entertaining. We had controversy in selection. There were many very close games that came down to the final seconds. We experienced more upsets than I think we had ever seen. Even the women’s Tournament has been exciting.
It started with the debate over who should have been in verses who was actually selected. Teams that were more deserving than others were left out of the tournament for reasons that still can’t be explained. I stand by my opinion of UAB and especially VCU. They didn’t belong in the tournament over teams like CU and Alabama. I know VCU made it to the Final Four and that for some people that justifies their entry into the tournament, but not for me. Going to the Final Four doesn’t improve their resume from the regular season and I still feel they didn’t earn it. Once in the tournament though you have to earn every additional game and VCU did that. Whether I think they should have been there or not is irrelevant. They made it and once they were there they earned everything that they got. They deserved to be in the Final Four because they beat every team that was put in front of them.
VCU wasn’t the only team to produce major upsets. Richmond and Morehead State were big shockers beating Vanderbilt and Louisville. Gonzaga took out St. Johns while Butler started its’ second run at a national championship by beating the likes of Wisconsin, Florida, and Pittsburg. Marquette made it to the Elite 8 as an 11 seed. For the first time, I think ever, there wasn’t a single 1 seed in the Final Four. There is such a great level of parity within college basketball right now that it has made for a very exciting few weeks with the possibility of all of these upsets.
The women’s tournament has been much of the same. There were 3 teams that everyone debated would win the national title this year: UConn, Baylor, and Stanford. UConn was the overall favorite but Baylor had an almost 7 foot super star, Brittany Griner, that people thought could give UConn trouble. Stanford was also seen as a potential problem for UConn seeing as that the Cardinal had beaten the Huskies earlier this year (it was UConn’s only loss of the past 2 seasons). Mya Moore of the Huskies is going to go down as one of the sports all time greats and has lost only 3 times in her career going into the tournament this year. Now she has lost 4 times. UConn lost to Notre Dame last night and will go to the women’s final on Tuesday. Baylor didn’t even make the Final Four and Stanford lost to Texas A&M, who beat Baylor, in the Final Four. The Sports world is a little stunned but like me they are now interested in seeing the finals between Texas A&M and Notre Dame (Go Irish).
I’m not a huge fan of college basketball. I watch UNC versus Duke every year and lately I watch all things Notre Dame, but other than that I don’t really get into it. The NCAA Tournament is always fun and I fill out a bracket every year, but this year I have watched more tournament games than ever before. The games were close and you couldn’t predict who was going to win before the games started and most of the time you couldn’t even pick a winner at the half. I love watching good exciting basketball and this year’s March Madness has lived up to its’ name.
It started with the debate over who should have been in verses who was actually selected. Teams that were more deserving than others were left out of the tournament for reasons that still can’t be explained. I stand by my opinion of UAB and especially VCU. They didn’t belong in the tournament over teams like CU and Alabama. I know VCU made it to the Final Four and that for some people that justifies their entry into the tournament, but not for me. Going to the Final Four doesn’t improve their resume from the regular season and I still feel they didn’t earn it. Once in the tournament though you have to earn every additional game and VCU did that. Whether I think they should have been there or not is irrelevant. They made it and once they were there they earned everything that they got. They deserved to be in the Final Four because they beat every team that was put in front of them.
VCU wasn’t the only team to produce major upsets. Richmond and Morehead State were big shockers beating Vanderbilt and Louisville. Gonzaga took out St. Johns while Butler started its’ second run at a national championship by beating the likes of Wisconsin, Florida, and Pittsburg. Marquette made it to the Elite 8 as an 11 seed. For the first time, I think ever, there wasn’t a single 1 seed in the Final Four. There is such a great level of parity within college basketball right now that it has made for a very exciting few weeks with the possibility of all of these upsets.
The women’s tournament has been much of the same. There were 3 teams that everyone debated would win the national title this year: UConn, Baylor, and Stanford. UConn was the overall favorite but Baylor had an almost 7 foot super star, Brittany Griner, that people thought could give UConn trouble. Stanford was also seen as a potential problem for UConn seeing as that the Cardinal had beaten the Huskies earlier this year (it was UConn’s only loss of the past 2 seasons). Mya Moore of the Huskies is going to go down as one of the sports all time greats and has lost only 3 times in her career going into the tournament this year. Now she has lost 4 times. UConn lost to Notre Dame last night and will go to the women’s final on Tuesday. Baylor didn’t even make the Final Four and Stanford lost to Texas A&M, who beat Baylor, in the Final Four. The Sports world is a little stunned but like me they are now interested in seeing the finals between Texas A&M and Notre Dame (Go Irish).
I’m not a huge fan of college basketball. I watch UNC versus Duke every year and lately I watch all things Notre Dame, but other than that I don’t really get into it. The NCAA Tournament is always fun and I fill out a bracket every year, but this year I have watched more tournament games than ever before. The games were close and you couldn’t predict who was going to win before the games started and most of the time you couldn’t even pick a winner at the half. I love watching good exciting basketball and this year’s March Madness has lived up to its’ name.
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