The beauty of the Kentucky fan base

Aaron Torres brings you a great story tonight of Kentucky fans, well, being Kentucky fans.  Torres has been overwhelmed all season at the passion and excitement of Big Blue Nation.  To thank fans for following his work Torres published this article which delivers a sample size of his favorite email replies sent in by Kentucky fans in the last several days since UK’s loss to West Virginia.

I was struck by one email in particular.  The third paragraph in the first letter, by Melissa M., provides a perfect sense of real life Kentucky fandom.  Nothing in that paragraph is out of the ordinary, and everything she had to say is completely true.  A simple T-shirt literally is the opening of what could be a lengthy conversation that you will always remember.  I have had my fair share of these “T-shirt” moments.  On one occasion in January I spoke John Wall with a guy in a waiting room in a Toyota dealership in Florida.  On another, a few years ago, I sat on a bench on St. Armand’s circle in Sarasota, Florida and talked UK hoops.  All you need is the shirt and the door is open for a good UK basketball conversation and a new friend.

I wanted to share, however, my best T-shirt moment.  The one that stands above them all.  I was dating a girl and our adventures took us to Sedona, Arizona.  Red Rock Country.  Hiking Sedona’s trails and high-tailing it to the Grand Canyon would dominate all of our time–with less than a week to see it all.  The gal was from California and had no concept of Kentucky basketball.  She soon would.  One day we (and when I say we I mean some of her family too) make our way into an ice cream parlor in the heart of downtown Sedona.  I am mostly quiet, because I’m in the presence of her family that I’m just meeting, so most of my time is spent staring at the ice cream choices and waiting to throw my order in.  A random couple behind us recognizes my long-sleeve Ale8 shirt.  If you don’t know what Ale8 is, you’re not from Kentucky.  But this couple sees the logo on the front of my shirt and can’t help but ask if I’m visiting from Kentucky (it’s only a logo, the word “Kentucky” is nowhere on the shirt….you have to know that logo to even think of starting up a conversation about Kentucky).  I tell them my story–that my family tree is deeply rooted in the Bluegrass–and it is no surprise that I end up eating over half of my two scoops with this nice couple whose son played (at the time) football at UK.  By the time we are done befriending one another they acknowledge my grandfather’s business, in which they remember his products very well, and we of course speak mostly of Kentucky basketball and the issues Tubby was having at the helm.  It’s worth stressing that these situations usually involve the question-and-answer of which town in Kentucky you are from, followed by perhaps a few moments of related stories (grandfather’s business, for example) and finally ended with at least 75% of your time discussing the state of the Kentucky basketball program and coach and any memorable moments you have of the current season or any other season or player that relates.  It’s quite wonderful actually.  One of the few times in life where predictability never gets old.  By the end of our meet-and-greet I realize that I not only barely got my ice cream order in with the people I came to the shop with, but I took that ice cream and walked to a different section of the shop away from my crowd to have this conversation with the Kentucky folks.  With just a little ice cream remaining I walked back over to my group and simply said “Sorry, they knew my family from Kentucky” and we carried on.  We really did talk long enough for my party to finish their ice cream and be ready to leave the store.  It has to be at least a little surreal for a Californian and her family to watch a dude from Kentucky embrace a random couple like that, in the middle of Sedona, but it’s the reality of the people of Kentucky.  We’re just one Big Blue Nation, and as another emailer mentioned you don’t have to have ever set foot on campus to “get it.”  It’s in the blood.

Final Four thoughts

Instead of following the same pattern of recent posts I’m going to throw some of tonight’s thoughts out there at random.

–Duke is in the final four once again.  I gave them hell for having the easiest path of any #1 seed (and I won’t let off too much) but beating Baylor was at least a nice proving point.  I will have no problem crowning Duke the best team this year if they get by West Virginia and the representative from the other half of the bracket.  Well, I’ll have a problem because it’s Duke, but at least they will have beaten a couple of athletic and tough opponents instead of zero.

–Andy Katz of ESPN glory is incredibly refreshing.  He has no dog in any fight.  He, dare I say, REPORTS things with no ingrained hatred, bias or slight towards any particular team or coach.  His work is so enjoyable I had a fleeting notion that this man, one Andy Katz, might be someone I would invite to my “celebrity dinner” if I was to have the power to choose any four people I wanted to have dinner with for one night (you know that game I’m talking about!).  However, as pointed out by a friend when I brought this up tonight, he may not quite be old enough (have enough old stories) yet to make a great choice (you can only have 4 people man, you know?).  So it struck me….with 10 more years of high quality writing and interviewing America’s best collegians and coaches, Katz has a great chance to sit squarely on my invitation list to my perfect dinner.  He’ll share a spot with my boy Jamal Mashburn, and then perhaps Robert Shaw (JAWS) and maybe Abraham Lincoln.  How’s that for a round table discussion of basketball, politics and shark fishing?!

–I really have no other comments about the Final Four tonight.  Maybe I should have Petra Nemcova at my dinner though…?

Kentucky definitely getting its money’s worth out of Calapari

Take a good look at the title of this blog one more time.  Kentucky definitely getting its money’s worth out of Calapari. I stressed it for one reason.  A CBSsports.com columnist by the name of Mike Freeman wrote the exact opposite.  As in Kentucky doesn’t get its money’s worth out of Calapari.

We are now about one year removed from Kentucky’s hiring of John Calapari.  If I’m Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart, and not Mike Freeman, it’s my job to conclude whether or not Kentucky is getting their money’s worth out of Calapari.  So in chronological order, roughly, let’s consider what Calapari has done in less than one year at Kentucky.

• Immediately connect with the lifeblood of the program–the fans.  His press conference was a clinic in bringing the masses together and saying all the right things.  To paraphrase,  “I’m coaching at a place where they only hang banners for national championships.  This is what you live for.”
• Secure recruiting commitments from DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe and John Wall, in addition to keeping Jon Hood and Daniel Orton from seeking a transfer.  Instantaneously Calapari is credited with perhaps the greatest single recruiting haul in college basketball history, drawing comparisons to Michigan’s Fab Five from the early 1990’s.  Considering the knock on Kentucky’s program in recent years were the failures on the recruiting trail this is a remarkable instant turnaround.
• Deliver a state-of-the-commonwealth address at Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness that made national headlines.  Again, to paraphrase, “…to return Kentucky to it’s rightful place atop the mountain….”  Although a bit cheesy and overly presidential, the man knows how to reach his audience.  The state fervor for basketball was alive and well on October 15th, 2009.
• Oversee a perfect non-conference record, against big name schools, while starting three freshman and playing experienced holdovers few minutes.  This is an exercise in overcoming inevitable youthful mistakes and coaxing any egos that may exist from juniors and seniors that aren’t crazy playing sparse minutes.  The freedom he gives John Wall early on gives the freshman a chance to learn the game on the fly and showcase his explosive raw talent.  The result is the perfect storm of media hype:  Kentucky’s program fused with the most breathtaking athlete in the country.  John Calapari is the common bond that made this happen.  Kentucky, as the saying goes, IS BACK.
• Calapari brings uber-talented DeMarcus Cousins along next.  The big man goes from ill-tempered spawn of Rasheed Wallace to what many considered the most dominant big man in college basketball.  It cannot be overstated.  It does not matter how talented a roster is, it’s only as good as the coach’s ability to make them play together and develop team chemistry.  If there was anything higher than an A+ on the grade scale, Calapari would score it here.
• In response to the Haiti disaster Calapari organizes a last second telethon with help from statewide television stations.  The proceeds are staggering.  The people of Kentucky and fans from other states and worldwide locations donate nearly one million dollars in under 24 hours, and the final tally approaches 1.5 million dollars thru the course of the season.  Calapari never mentions this generosity beyond the extent of the next game.  He did it because he knew he could and he knew it would help Haiti instantly.  Nothing more, nothing less.
• Despite the often infuriating and hair-pulling demand of molding freshmen into big time collegiate basketball players, Calapari manages this team to SEC regular season champions and SEC Tournament champions.  Kentucky had not won either of these crowns in five years.
• Kentucky receives a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a 32-2 record.  It is the first #1 seed for Kentucky since 2003.
• Kentucky throttles three opponents–including a trendy upset pick by many across the nation in Cornell University–in route to the Elite Eight.

And this is where my disagreement with Freeman’s column comes into play.  Mr. Freeman sees a Kentucky program that did not get its money’s worth because they face-planted in an Elite Eight game in Calapari’s first year.  I follow that logic and think it’s a joke.  Considering the bullets typed out above the title of Freeman’s work is laughable.  And it couldn’t be farther from the truth.

I have to remind Mr. Freeman that Kentucky got John Calapari below market value.  Memphis’ AD offered Calapari more money than Kentucky to stay.  Calapari said thanks but no thanks.  “You don’t have to offer me any more money, it’s Kentucky.”  That’s the infamous quote recited by thousands of Kentucky fans this season.  Kentucky got a bargain on a coach who instantly transformed a traditional power back to the leading headline in college basketball, captivated fans across the nation to tune into Kentucky’s progress, and finished the year as one of the top teams in the history of the program.

Kentucky is definitely getting its money’s worth.

Magical season ends for Kentucky

It turns out the skeptics were right.  The critics claiming Kentucky’s erratic three-point and free throw shooting would eventually doom the Wildcats were exactly right.

I had the same fears but in a year where only Kansas seemed complete on paper (and we found out they weren’t) I chose Kentucky as my champion to satisfy my own belief in my favorite program and to hope that the the surreal turnaround Kentucky experienced this season would go on forever.  There was never any question about the amount of talent on Kentucky’s roster.  It was all about time.  Could these Cats come together and learn the rigors of a complete basketball season in enough time to win six in a row in the tournament?  The answer was no.  West Virginia proved to be a team just as close and together as Kentucky but with that dreaded word that was perhaps bound to bite Kentucky hard: experience.  West Virginia wasn’t rattled.  West Virginia wasn’t scared of Kentucky’s lottery picks.  Unlike Kentucky West Virginia never lost their poise when they got down early.  Instead, they elevated their games to the moment and shot the lights out of the building.  When their starting point guard was lost for the season last week–a fate that would doom most teams–West Virginia inserted a highly experienced second option, Joe Mazzulla, into the lineup and the guy had a career game.  Literally.  Mazzulla finished with 17 points and became the story of this basketball game.

I am rooting for West Virginia the rest of the way.  I have two reasons.  First, West Virginia knocked my team out so I would like to say Kentucky lost to the eventual national champion.  Secondly, and most importantly, West Virginia is the best team left in the tournament.  If Duke beats Baylor, West Virginia and the eventual national champion runner-up, then I will have no problem saying Duke is the best team and rightfully deserves the championship.  West Virginia, however, has earned it to date.  They have a more complete resume from the regular season through present and they SHOULD have been a #1 seed.  I’ll even add a third reason.  I like their players.  I watched the post-game presser last night and enjoyed what the guys had to say about the game and the moment.  As a Kentucky fan I’m supposed to despise the other side of Appalachia but I’m not drinking haterade this morning.  I feel good that West Virginia has reached their first final four since the 1960’s and this team truly deserves a national championship to cap off the best season of any team remaining in the tournament.  That is not a slight towards a team like Butler–they are an incredible team as well–but Butler still plays a less demanding schedule top to bottom than a team like West Virginia in the Big East so I feel confident saying the Mountaineers are the best team remaining until they are beaten.  Critics of the NCAA tournament cite the single-elimination format as the factor that makes the tournament more like disneyland than crowning a legitimate champion.  They reason that a best-of series, like winning two out of three, would get the best champion right (like the NBA).  West Virginia winning it all would satisfy those critics if you follow my logic that WVU is truly the best team in the tournament.

Recapping the Sweet 16

I find myself in familiar territory this morning–tied for 8th place in my bracket challenge.  The right side of my Elite Eight bracket is completely correct: Kentucky, WVU, Duke and Baylor.  The left side of my bracket is completely wrong.  And that side gets worse.  I already have the final four teams wrong (Kansas and Syracuse).  Let’s round up the action from last night now that we have the Elite Eight field set.

Michigan State–I find this infuriating.  Nothing is more annoying than the team that underachieves during the regular season only to pour it on in the NCAA Tournament.  Mind you, I enjoy it from a coaching standpoint–Izzo getting his team to play together at the right time.  I just hate it from the bracket predicting standpoint.  If you can only fill out one bracket how do you go with a team that is clearly skewed towards imbalanced entering the tournament?  I just can’t.  I felt Kansas was just too dominant and I never really considered anybody knocking off the Jayhawks until the Elite Eight (Ohio State).  Tom Izzo is truly one of the great coaches in NCAA history.  If you’re a casual fan you owe it to yourself to watch MSU’s next game and appreciate the way his team plays so hard and smart for him.

Tennessee–In hindsight I probably should not be shocked that the Vols made the Elite Eight.  But you bet your sweet mammaries I never considered UT in this position.  The Midwest Bracket is absolute insanity.  I need to hit Staples this afternoon to buy more red ink.  The cross-outs are getting thick on this side of my bracket.  Bruce Pearl is squarely inside the coach of the year ropes.  The Vols are knocking on the doors of the final four for the first time in school history but they will have to crack the mastermind that is Tom Izzo to get there.  This is a must see game!

Duke–The Blue Devils are in the Elite Eight.  I expected to see this.  I also expected them to meet Baylor.  This is the matchup I wanted to see in this region.  Duke vs better athletes.  I’m very glad it’s here for us to see this weekend.  We are also one game closer to a potential Duke/Kentucky final four.  If you don’t watch a whole lot of basketball, there is no sexier matchup in college basketball than Duke vs Kentucky.  I mean that.  The TV networks want it.  College basketball fans want it.  And the most casual of casual fans wants it.  I want it.  More on this if the matchup actually happens, but first Kentucky has to fend off a very athletic and dangerous WVU squad and Duke has to prove they can outplay an extremely athletic Baylor team.

Baylor–The law of averages dictates that for every stupid decision a smart decision will counter it.  Baylor throttled St. Mary’s last night continuing the Bears trend of making my logic look smart.  First it was 19-7.  Then it was 23-9.  Then it was, yes, 36-12.  It was the 36-12 scoring update where my left eye fell out of its socket.  That’s the most impressive domination moment of this tournament for me.  Baylor did not let up.   It was 66-36 in the second half.  As I guy who chose Baylor to beat Duke in the Elite Eight I couldn’t have asked for a better sign that the hunch may actually be a reality.

I am beyond excited about these Elite Eight matchups.  Kentucky vs West Virginia could have easily been the national championship game.  Baylor and Duke was exactly what I envisioned, and we now know Baylor is very ready for this game.  Butler has a chance to play home games in the final four with a win over Kansas State, but KSU’s guards will have a little something to say about that (If you haven’t been watching Pullen and Clemente for KSU stop being stupid and put this game on!).  And the story in the Midwest region is Tom Izzo trying to coax his talented team to yet another final four, while Tennessee attempts to make their first final four in school history!

A great tournament gets better

Last night’s Elite Eight matchups had it all.  It had suspense in the form of David vs Goliath, or Cornell vs Kentucky.  It had double overtime in one of the best tournament games in recent memory in Xavier/Kansas State.  It had another #1 seed going down in Syracuse’s loss to Butler.  Finally, it had some controversy as the refs swallowed their whistles at the end of the Washington vs West Virginia game.  People on talk radio are agreeing with me and 49ways: this is the best tournament in several seasons!

Tonight has more of the same drama on tap, hopefully.  Tennessee is athletic enough to match up well with Ohio State.  This year’s Cinderella, Northern Iowa, takes the court vs Michigan State.  We all want to see if the little guys can hit the big shots once again.  Down in the South bracket Duke will attempt to send Purdue, a team showing more guts than perhaps anyone, back to Indiana.  Baylor, a trendy final four pick this year, will attempt to keep thousands of brackets on life support by avoiding the upset to St. Mary’s.

Time to update my bracket after the first night of Elite Eight action and sum up my chances of winning my bracket.  Teams that advanced last night are italicized.

Butler–The win over Syracuse really was not shocking, despite the fact that I had Syracuse in my final four.  Syracuse was my final four pick out of this region mostly because I couldn’t make my mind up on the Vandy/Butler/Murray State trifecta, so I just compromised by moving Syracuse through to the final four to stay safe.  Did I think Syracuse could make the final four?  Of course!  It’s not like I wasted that final four spot.  But the Onuaku injury was very, very concerning all along.  You just can’t lose a key guy in the last game of the regular season and expect to have the same focus in the tournament.  The real question for me is this:  If Onauku wasn’t hurt would I have put Syracuse in the championship game, like some others in my bracket challenge?  Probably not, but I would have thought a lot harder about it.

Kansas State–I’ve already mentioned my decision to pick BYU in an upset over K State so I won’t go there again.  I watch KSU and I’m reminded of Arizona in ’97 with Miles Simon and Mike Bibby.  Two great guards that marched through everyone on their way to the title.  Pullen and Clemente have that special look on the court.  KSU is not the same style as that Arizona team but they are similar in that these two guards can carry the load all the way to a national championship, especially with Syracuse and Kansas out of the picture.

Kentucky–I figured Kentucky’s athleticism would be too much for Cornell and indeed it was.  Cornell got a feel for what it’s like to play in the NBA last night.  I’m just glad this game is over.  The media hype was overbearing.  I get the fact that we are an underdog nation.  We almost always pull for David against Goliath.  I get it.  But for four days I had to hear a thousand different reasons the “smart” kids from Cornell would make “smart” plays and have a great chance to pull off the upset, while Kentucky’s “bought” team would have to figure out a way to handle those “smart” Cornell guys.  Most columnists on the internet latched on to this angle, with one even making note of how fast a Cornell guy can configure a Rubik’s cube.  Okay, Cornell has more accomplished academics.  I get it.  Kentucky, on the other hand, offers NBA-dreaming student-athletes a chance to enter the National Basketball Association, also a profession.  So Cornell grads could be CEO’s, while Kentucky grads could make All-NBA teams.  Why make it always sound like Kentucky is guilty of something or less smart?  Thankfully a few columnists recognized this embarrassing pattern by their peers and wrote objective and fair accounts of what the game actually was–a Kentucky team loaded with talented, smart and engaging basketball players versus a Cornell team having a season unlike any other in Ivy League history.  Like I said, I’m glad it’s over until Kentucky perhaps meets Duke, where the smart vs not quite as smart angle hits newsstands all over again.

West Virginia–I got the East Region Elite Eight correct.  Kentucky vs West Virginia.  Both teams were playing too good right now to pick against.  WVU coach Bob Huggins is 7-1 against John Calapari all-time, which means mostly nothing in tomorrow’s game but is worth noting.  Kentucky has the eye of a champion right now, playing with an edge and confidence that many of past year’s champions possessed.  But West Virginia is a healthy counterpart to Kentucky.  Both teams play defense and rebound among the best in the nation, and WVU is easily one of the few athletic teams that can run and jump with Kentucky.  I think college basketball deserved this matchup, even if the committee screwed up in pairing these two teams this early in the tournament.

So as of now I have 2 of the 4 Elite Eight teams mentioned correct–Kentucky and West Virginia.  I completely missed the West region, where I had Syracuse and BYU.  I have already scratched out Kansas on my bracket, so I’m 2 of 5.  In three other contests tonight I have a chance to move on.  I have Ohio State, Duke and Baylor in my Elite Eight.  So my best case bracket challenge scenario at the end of the night is 5 for 8, which is pretty solid any year you fill out a bracket, but the action is only just beginning tonight.  Let’s see how it plays out!

Anatomy of a horrible bracket

First of all, everyone’s bracket sucks.  At least half the nation picked Kansas to win the whole thing, and I would venture to guess that at least 75 % of the country had them at least making the final four.  Only Ohio State, Georgetown, Syracuse or Kansas State fans were probably loyal enough to keep Kansas out of their championship game.  And now they look smart.

Inarguably the worst Sweet 16 in my bracket-filling lifetime sits in front of me.  I got 7 of 16 teams correct.  I would say off the top of my head that I’ve never done worse than 9 out of 16.  This is truly my worst bracket thus far in at least 15 years!  Let’s take a look at each Sweet 16 participant and rehash what went so very, very wrong.

Northern Iowa–I can sit here and tell you that Northern Iowa had a chance to beat Kansas, but I’ll save it.  This is an epic upset.  Only loyal fans from Cedar Falls, that did not care to win their bracket challenges, picked Northern Iowa to win.

Michigan State–I underestimated Tom Izzo in the NCAA Tournament once again.  I chose Maryland to beat MSU for one reason: Vasquez.  A marquee point guard would be the difference.  I was a buzzer beater away from being right.  Vasquez hit not one but two go ahead baskets in the final minute–truly ridiculously clutch–yet Maryland couldn’t get a hand in an open shooter’s face for the win.

Tennessee–The way Tennessee lost to Kentucky by 30 in the SEC tourney I wasn’t convinced they were ready for this tournament.  They got a lucky draw to get Ohio in the second round, but give Bruce Pearl a ton of credit for relentlessly getting his team into the Sweet 16 seemingly every year.  His program is on the verge of big things (if they avoid jail time).

Ohio State–This is my only correct pick in the Midwest region.  Hooray!

Syracuse–I didn’t let the Onuaku injury deter me from understanding just how good this team is.  Correct pick number two.

Butler–This pod–with Butler, Murray State and Vanderbilt–was probably the second toughest pod to predict the Sweet 16 participant.  I picked Vanderbilt.  In hindsight, go with the team (Butler) that has won something like 800 games in a row.

Xavier–My third correct pick in the Sweet 16.  I saw the way they went into Gainesville late in the year and blasted Florida.  That game stuck in my mind, and I figured Jordan Crawford had the ability to make a name for himself in this tourney.  Thank you Xavier for finally making me look smart.

Kansas State–The only reason I missed this one–I picked BYU–was because I decided to take a chance on a big upset and felt Kansas State’s final four ceiling wouldn’t break my bracket apart.  Little did I know that Northern Iowa, St. Mary’s and Cornell would steal BYU’s thunder.  Great effort, wrong execution.  Never bet against The Beard.

Kentucky–I really never worried about Kentucky making the Sweet 16.  My anxiety has been the Sweet 16 where I, like many analysts, felt the matchup with Cornell, Temple or Wisconsin would test UK like no other.  So now I presume crapping my pants hoping Kentucky can just get the hell out of Syracuse on Thursday night with a one point win.  For the record this is my fourth correct sweet 16 pick out of 9 possible.

Cornell–I chose Temple.  I only chose them because I felt the Temple/Cornell winner was 50/50 and I randomly chose Temple based on defense.  This was the hardest pod for me in deciding the Sweet 16 participant.  I was convinced it would be Cornell or Temple, with Wisconsin a possibility but an afterthought.  I did not know that Cornell would demolish both teams on their way to an eventual upset of Kentucky.  Great.  I’m now 4 of 10.

Washington–The Pac 10 was so bad I never gave the Huskies a chance, despite their obvious talent.  In hindsight I should have recognized their winning streak entering the tournament and valued it a bit more.  I really only chose Marquette because they gutted out several games all year, and I figured this would be a first round doozy requiring some gut check.  I was right about the doozy, I was wrong about the team that would gut it out.  Thanks Washington for underachieving all year and screwing up my logic.  4 of 11 now.

West Virginia–They have taken care of business like sister 2 seeds Ohio State and Kansas State.  This is what I figured, and this is probably what you figured.  Well done Mountaineers.  5 out of 12 correct.

Duke–I never doubted the Blue Devils making the Sweet 16.  I had Louisville playing Duke, but UL was too inconsistent all year to upend a high quality team playing well at the right time of year.  UL proved that inconsistency to California, who was also very outmatched.  6 out of 13 correct.

Purdue–This is the team that your girlfriend got right in her bracket, but because you follow basketball and knew Robbie Hummel was injured you stayed about 30 miles away from Purdue in your Sweet 16.  Now your girlfriend is laughing about how she’s beating you in her bracket, while toasting her girlfriend with a clanging of their sex-on-the-beach drinks, while you sit there and say how the hell did the Boilermakers put this together under dire circumstances? I was savvy enough to pick Purdue over Siena (thinking Purdue would play the game of their lives to shut everyone up) but I did not anticipate this happening a second time.  Nobody with a reasonable brain did.  6 out of 14.

Baylor–Process of elimination told me Baylor would get here if they took care of the upset bug in the first round.  Baylor is one of my few bright spots to date.  7 out of 15.

St. Mary’s–This is just bad luck a la Cornell/Temple.  I was 99% sure Villanova was going down in the second round, but I had made my mind up before the tourney field was officially announced that Richmond was my “it” team this year.  Then the stupid committee had to pair Richmond against St. Mary’s, another mid-major with something to prove.  I did not know which team would beat Villanova and I couldn’t separate my emotions from sticking by my guns with Richmond.  Dangit.  7 out of 16.

So that is exactly how one guy got to this incredibly awful point in what is the single worst Sweet 16 of my life.

The craziest tournament of my lifetime

Hindsight is 20/20.  That’s what I keep telling myself.  I started yesterday tied for 4th place, but ended the day tied for 8th in my bracket challenge.  My total points sits at 270, while the leader of our group has 350.  Not so good.   Our league has 30 entries.  I currently have 20 teams ahead of me (even though I’m tied for 8th place there are several teams tied with a higher point total than me).  21st out of 30 halfway through the second round is not worth writing home about.  However, there is good news.  I have 1100 possible points remaining.  The average points remaining of the 21 contestants equal to or above me is 810.  Only THREE teams ahead of me this morning have more possible points remaining.  From a quick scan of teams in my league 13 of 30 picked Kansas to win it all (I had them losing in the champ game) and a large number of folks either picked Villanova to win it all (n=3) or had them in the final four (I had them losing in the second round).  On the surface those are the two results that give me a higher points remaining total as I type.  Let’s take another look at the highs and lows of my decision-making as we enter day 2 of the second round.

–The biggest game of the day yesterday for my bracket was BYU/Kansas State.  I identified BYU as my Cinderella, basing it on really two principles.  1.) They had star-power in Jimmer Fredette.  2.) Their Sweet 16 game would be played in Salt Lake City, a virtual home game, if they could get there.  Based on primarily these two factors I rolled the dice and ended up throwing BYU in my Elite Eight.  Now that BYU has been crushed by Kansas State I can look back on this in hindsight.  Before the game was played I knew Kansas State had superior athletes at every position, and they had perhaps the best guard tandem in the country in Clemente and Pullen.  Still, when assessing the West region, I felt like because Kansas would be in the final four from the Midwest region the absolute farthest Kansas State could advance in this year’s tournament was the final four (Kansas beat them three times this year, and would NOT all the sudden lose to them in the final four!).  So based on identifying KSU’s ceiling as the final four, I started working backwards.  They would theoretically be the underdog in the Elite Eight against Syracuse, so you could claim that their ceiling is the Elite Eight if you go by seeding.  When that logic worked backwards I felt like BYU could be a safe gamble.  It wouldn’t be a bracket-busting decision, and it meant that I took a chance and had a nice underdog to pull for.  With Kansas’ loss to Northern Iowa however, KSU now has a beautiful road all the way to the championship game.  Luckily for me, 99% of the world had Kansas in the championship game–at least–so even if KSU does get there nobody will really gain points on me.  In hindsight then, I am still not upset taking BYU.  It was a “gutsy” call so to speak, even if it was stupid, as KSU’s guards proved to be completely dominant and far superior to what BYU could offer.

–It’s still too early to declare one team holds the key to my tournament chances, but Baylor is looking like a team that can get me near the top.  So far, I have looked smart with Baylor.  My gut told me their toughest matchup might be the first round game against Sam Houston State.  Baylor plays a zone, and SHS drains threes.  If they could avoid the upset, I reasoned, they would have the following path to the Final Four: 1.) Either Old Dominion or Notre Dame.  I consider Notre Dame to be a non-threat in any tournament format, and you have to like Baylor’s odds vs Old Dominion.  2.) People, Villanova was never a threat in this tournament.  You can’t lose 5 of 7 stumbling into the tournament and then rampage the field on your way to the final four.  The field is just too loaded with mid-majors that can play great basketball these days.  I knew Nova would lose early, but I chose Richmond instead of St. Mary’s to end the Wildcats season.  Regardless, from Baylor’s perspective, I envisioned a Sweet 16 matchup with either St. Mary’s or Richmond.  At that point, I liked Baylor’s chances.  You can make the same case for St. Mary’s or Richmond facing Baylor–that you like THEIR chances too.  I totally understand.  But without knowing for sure which team–St. Mary’s or Richmond–would get to the Sweet 16 I played the conservative card and chose Baylor.  3.) If Baylor does beat the Cinderella, at this point, I said “why not have them beat Duke?”  The team that has knocked Duke off in recent years had superior athleticism.  Baylor has better–not superior, but better–athleticism.  And it’s just more fun to pick against Duke.  So Baylor is making me look smart now, but I don’t know how much faith I have in a program that had not won a tournament game since 1950.  St. Mary’s is for real and has a great chance to knock off the Bears.

–Finally, my champion is Kentucky.  And I will be very honest here.  I was fairly convinced Kansas was the smart title pick, but my allegiance to Kentucky would not let me choose against the Cats.  How good does that feel now?!  Kentucky has looked every bit the part of the title favorite through two rounds.  When Kentucky gets production from the SG and SF spots, as they have done in the first two rounds, they are completely unbeatable.  Nine people in my group chose Kentucky to win it all, and only 5 are currently ahead of me.  We are waaaaay too far away to talk about where I might finish in my challenge group but with Kentucky still alive, and Baylor in a decent position to make the final four, I have a chance to finish strong.

But then again so does everybody else in this wild, nutty NCAA Tournament!

Recapping the First Round Action

–The Number One seeds took care of business.  Complete domination from Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and Duke.

–Cornell is for real.  They blasted a tremendous Temple team.  I’m not going to throw metaphors around here, but if Cornell and Kentucky meet in the Sweet 16 it could be the Big Red that are etched in greater lore than Davidson or even George Mason.  Senior dominated team, great shooter, great big man.  Look out.

–The PAC-10 spent four months on the receiving end of national ridicule.  Can the PAC-10 even get one team in the tournament?!?!  Now, of course, they are 2-0 in the tournament with California beating Louisville and Washington beating Marquette.  Maybe it’s the Big East that’s a tad overrated???

–I think the SEC has held serve.  They went 2-2 in first round action.  Most conferences will take a .500 record out of the first round.  Vanderbilt lost on a memorable buzzer beater, and Florida lost in double overtime having played what many are saying is the best game of their entire season.  The SEC seems to have rebounded nicely this year compared to the embarrassment of last year.

–Even if it meant I got the winner wrong, I was happy to see Georgia Tech advance.  I like their team and they can be as good as they want to be.  If, somehow, the proverbial light has gone off this is a team that has all the makings of a final four team.  Even if Kansas stands in their way.

–I’m watching Mississippi State trounce North Carolina in the NIT right now.  It’s early, but North Carolina just played the worst half court defense in the history of basketball.  It is no wonder they are in the Not Invited Tournament this year.

Round 2 generally holds the same excitement of the first round, as the top seeds try to stave off the 8/9 winner and Cinderellas (I’m looking at you BYU) look to advance and remain in our hearts forever.  Let’s do this men!!!

My Busted Bracket

Well, I write this with great humility as I am getting spanked in my bracket.  I think I’ve made some of the dumbest picks in America.  UTEP in the Elite Eight? Florida State upsetting Syracuse?  Siena in the Sweet 16?  Yeah.  It’s that bad.

My problem is that I’m always expecting several Cinderellas, and I try to nail all of them down.  And then I let emotions determine a few of my selections which is the absolute wrong thing to do.

I’ll run through some of my thought processes on select games.

– I usually pick the more athletic team.  I know BYU and Northern Iowa are solid, but I thought Florida and UNLV had a bit more athleticism.  In year’s past, I would have picked BYU or UNI, especially going by their record.  But I’ve been wrong many times, and it seems as though the more athletic prevailed.  I was wrong this time.

– UTEP is a team I thought would sneak up on some people.  They were outstanding during conference play and as of Selection Sunday, they were ranked in the Top 25.  So when the committee slotted them at a 12-seed, I figured they would be a little upset with that and take it out on Butler.  Wow!  How good is Butler?!

– I’m sure many fans across the country picked Siena to upend Purdue.  I would venture to say that their thinking was just like mine: Purdue is without their best player, and Siena has beaten Ohio State and Vanderbilt in the last two NCAA Tournaments.  But Purdue still has Matt Painter on the sidelines, and their defense is still awesome to watch and hard to beat.

– I simply underestimated St. Mary’s.  Remember, they blasted Gonzaga by 19 in the WCC Tournament Championship.  I failed to realize that they have the mentality to handle Richmond.  Do they have it to handle a struggling Villanova team?  I’m looking forward to that game!