In honor of the greatest sporting event in the history of mankind, March Madness, I will probably be talking exclusively about this tournament for the next few weeks (unless something epic happens, like terrorists bombing the Staples Center, or Manu Ginobili finally coming out of the closet). Now, I realize that most of you really don't care that much about this sporting holiday, but I love it and so do a few people I know who read my posts.
Some topics I will touch on - bubble teams, overrated teams, underrated teams, conference tournaments, who should and shouldn't have made it, matchups I love and hate, and of course my own predictions. After its all said and done, I may even come back and check out how some of my analysis and predictions went (unless I do awful, then don't expect me to talk about NCAA basketball until next season).
Let's just start with admiring March Madness. 65 teams. Over 700 college players. 64 games. Pressure. Excitement. Skill. No contracts or money involved, just a passion for the game. 64 teams go home dissapointed. One goes home a champion.
Can it get any better than that? Did I get you even a little bit excited for March Madness? Do my March Madness blogs seem like a better idea now? Anybody?
7 years ago
Here is a March Madness topic that has been bugging the crap out of me for the past few years. As a Cincinnatian, and as a descendant of a UC alumni, and also of a former UC professor, I was wondering if you could address how the mighty have fallen. I'm just saying ten years ago, UC was a legendary team, and in '98 if Kenyon Martin hadn't broken his ankle, everyone and their mom knows that we would have gone all the way. Other than losing our drunk driving coach, what else happened Brian? Why did the giant go back to sleep, and when will it awake again?
ReplyDeletecan I say that I wish George Mason never made it to the final four. at the time it was crazy and I couldn't believe it wow what a Cinderella story! and now that one game that happened four years ago is the main argument when talking about 96 teams AND its mentioned every time Brackets are discussed. the cost at this point very heavily out weights the benefits. It was an interesting occurrence yes now let it go
ReplyDeleteHey its Nicholas Hallett here commenting on this wonderful blog post, and probably one of the most exciting and amazing times of year is upon us!!!! Brian I must say that if 'Cuse or MSU end up in Buffalo we are booking tickets for sure! Oh also how do you think these two teams will fare (granted the teams playing are not official)? Dude my heart goes out to the Syracuse and Michigan State players and fans this year....CANNOT WAIT?? Oh you should check out the argument that Kristen, Dean, and I are having about hockey...it's kind of funny
ReplyDeleteIt went back to sleep because its UC. What I mean is that UC was never a true "power" program. Sure, they had a few good years but the have never had sustained success like Duke, UNC, UCLA, etc. This means that for them to be succesful they need to bring in top flight recruits every year. And they can't beat out the big boys. The lag behind the bigger and better schools not only in athletics as a whole, but also in academics, campus lifestyle, etc. This means that if they have one down year in recruiting, its hard for them to stay on top because one bad year turns recruits away unless you are a power program. That is why no one is worried about UNC this year because they are such a sustained program that they will have a top 3 recruiting class again next year. This is also why Coach Calipari was able to succeed at Memphis because he brought in at least one superstar recruit per year. Unfortunately, UC wasn't able to do that. Now the only way to get back on top is to get a great coach and win with decent players, slowly building back up the program. But one bad season will set the back to the start again.
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