Even though UConn is a prohibitive favorite to repeat as national champions this has been a compelling NCAA Tournament so far. I have never watched as many of the first and second round games as closely as I did this past week.
I was literally captivated by some of the games. I did nothing but watch the tournament and only left the house to work out a couple of times.
And evidently…I’m not the only one who felt this way as CBS reported this year’s March Madness set or nearly set viewing records all four days of the tournament so far.
This is starting to setup a bit like 1983 when Houston was an overwhelming favorite with their Phi Slamma Jamma group which was picked to easily win the tournament. Instead…of course, what we as basketball crazies got was an epic finish with NC State winning on that last second shot by the Wolfpack when a Derek Whittenberg shot airballed near the rim and Lorenzo Charles calmly put it through the net as if it were a designed pass.
Win, Survive, and Advance….by far the greatest ESPN 30/30 film ever made. Maybe…based on what we just witnessed….. something similar is lurking down this Final Four road.
Some of the games this past week were simply incredible. I’d have to rank them in this order of greatness…1 Houston’s win over A&M, 2 Oakland’s win over Kentucky, and 3 NC State’s win over Oakland.
Bravo. Even the NCCA Selection Committee couldn’t screw up those games.
Each one of those games reminded us of the fact that even in the NIL/Transfer Portal era of college basketball there is still a greatness to the concept of a 68 team single elimination tournament to decide the national champion.
My basketball heart at this point two days away from the beginning of the Sweet 16 is with Kelvin’s gritty bunch and with the NC State Wolfpack.
Both teams with compelling paths just to get this far. Houston along with Iowa State the only two Big 12 teams to get this far. And NC State having to win seven straight games in twelve days to reach the Sweet 16…pretty much much like UConn’s improbable late season run in 2011 with Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb.
So many ironies with NC State and Houston at this point of the tournament.
Could either one of the teams derail the OConn monster down the line?
We don’t think there’s any way they could do it in a best of a seven format.
But could happen in one game…on a day or night is what makes this tournament the most compelling basketball tournament we have in place…even in the NIL/Transfer Portal era.
Enjoy the Tournament.
MJ