Despite having another 19 hours of sleep post-COVID vaccination #2, I managed to watch more than enough of the opening round of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The NCAA pulled off the four consecutive days with just one glitch—due COVID testing VCU had to forfeit it game versus Oregon, which might have been quite beneficial to the Ducks in their blowout win over Iowa and Player of the Year Luke Garza.
What I came away with from this opening act of the Tournament was that the NCAA Selection Committee: 1) did a horrible job at seeding teams; 2) did a horrible job at selecting teams; and 3) either lucked out or did a masterful job of making the Tournament so interesting with the plethora of upsets. Whatever the reason, it was a wild weekend for sure.
So who is left in the Sweet Sixteen? In the East, Michigan, Alabama, Florida State and a play in team, UCLA (laughable because of the pedigree of the Bruins who, under the legendary John Wooden’s guidance—with the games being played in Indiana, Wooden was the consummate Hoosier, even if he was an All-American at Purdue before he became the Wizard of Westwood—have won the most titles in the history of the Tournament. Seeds #1, #2, #4 and #11. The start of a pattern with a double-digit seed in the Sweet Sixteen.
The South Region survivors are #1 Baylor, #3 Arkansas, #5 Villanova and #15 Oral Roberts. That’s right—a 15-seed took out #2 seed Ohio State in a thrilling OT matchup, then ousted #7 Florida by 3. Oral Roberts is a better team than its 16-10 record, and was a hot team which continued its roll in the NCAA’s. Villanova was the beneficiary of #13 North Texas eliminating #4 Purdue in another OT game.
Midwest Region teams still alive are: #2 Houston, #8 Loyola of Chicago, #11 Syracuse and #12 Oregon State. What was the Committee thinking here? Loyola is the champion of its state, having dominated top-seeded Illinois. This a playoff-hardened squad that went 24-4 prior to the Big Dance. Loyola was better than #3 seed West Virginia and #4 seed Oklahoma State, both from the Big 12. The Ramblers are more like San Diego State, given a #6 seed with a 23-4 record.
Except that SDSU met up with a hot shooting Syracuse team behind the bombs of Buddy Boeheim, son of Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim. The Orange took care of WVU in the second round, leading to the intriguing game with #2 seed Houston. Houston demolished Cleveland State and then defeated Rutgers to reach the Sweet Sixteen. More on Houston later.
And what about Oregon State? The Beavers awakened in the Pac-12 Tournament, winning that title. Any respect for that? None whatsoever from the Committee or pundits. With double digit wins over Tennessee and Oklahoma State, the Saturday afternoon meeting with Loyola ought to be some good basketball.
Then there is the West Region. #1 Gonzaga advanced easily. They are joined by #5 Creighton, #6 USC and #7 Oregon.
The NCAA defines upsets as defeating a team at least 5 seeds above the winning team. In the West, Oregon downed #2 Iowa—an upset. While technically not an upset, USC handed #3 Kansas a 34 point humiliation in the second round. Creighton made it to this weekend by beating Ohio University. The #13 Bobcats upset a reeling, COVID-affected #4 seed and defending champ Virginia. I might add that #14 Abilene Christian, a 23-4 team, snuck by #3 Texas in an intra-state battle. Another upset, as UCLA’s win over #6 seed BYU technically was. For good measure, Maryland, a #10 seed, defeated #7 UConn.
Thus, the West was where the most action was. Which meant that the Committee didn’t have a clue how to rate the Pac-12. Look no further than the ridiculed conference that sent UCLA, Oregon State, Oregon and USC to the Sweet Sixteen, the latter two schools meeting on Sunday night.
As opposed to the vaunted Big Ten, which started with 9 teams in the Dance, and has only Michigan, a bona fide team, left to represent the conference. How do you spell OVERRATED? (I told you so throughout the year and what good was my admonition?)
This Tournament had the highest cumulative total of seeds making it to the second round: 96. Yes, it sparks interest with the upsets. But if the Committee got seeding right and the silly rule that upsets only apply to five places between teams, would the games be better or simply more boring and predictable?
My beef with the NCAA is that they have never given enough credit to mid-major conference teams, permitting only one or maybe two invitations. Additionally, the bias for some conferences (Big Ten, Big 12, usually the Atlantic Coast, and the Southeastern) leads to better seeds on the theory that the competition was better overall among the major schools.
There is one Big Ten school (#1 Michigan), one Big 12 school (#1 Baylor), two Big East schools (#5 Villanova, #5 Creighton), two ACC schools (#4 Florida State, #11 Syracuse) two SEC schools (#2 Alabama, #3 Arkansas). That is half of the Sweet Sixteen. The Pac-12 has four schools still in the hunt. The remaining four schools playing are from the Missouri Valley Conference, the American Athletic Conference, the Summit League and the West Coast Conference.
When the weekend shakes out, the Final Four could still have three #1 seeds and a #2 seed. Which could be perceived as vindication for the NCAA. I look at how difficult was that for the Committee to determine.
However, should any more of the top seeds be defeated, I look at this as a crummy job by the NCAA. Not surprisingly.
Before moving on, I will discuss the fortunes of Rutgers in its first Tournament since 1991. Absent a bewildering stretch where RU gave away a 10 point lead by poor play and some curious coaching—taking the air out to the ball to take time off of the clock was never going to be a good strategy against a Houston team with up tempo scoring ability and a tenacious defense.
Sure, I think Rutgers should have upset the Cougars (#10 over #2) and I feel badly for this team. The pulsating victory over a tough #7 Clemson squad demonstrated how good the Knights were.
Nonetheless, Rutgers was way better than its seeding and the non-NCAA experts had it better when they claimed RU was between 29 and 32, which would have been an 8 seed. Depending on how far Houston advances will determine where RU ends in the rankings. I think they are in the 25 to 28 range.
This was a marvelous year to be an RU fan. The announcers went a bit overboard saying this is one of the greatest Rutgers teams ever; I can think of 5 or 6 that I thought were better.
It is a building block for the future, no matter who leaves and who stays with extra year of COVID eligibility. The bitter taste of the Houston loss will fade and the good memories will persist—even if there remains the what if, had they held on to down the Cougars.
One footnote to the RU-Clemson contest. The game was nearly delayed as players from both schools considered protesting for athletes rights to compensation for their images. Rutgers star Geo Baker has been outspoken on this topic. He and a few other leaders in the players movement will meet with NCAA President Mark Emmert this week to further discuss the matter. Everyone profits from the sport except for the players. I hope that the NCAA recognizes that the way the system is right now must change.
A final dig at the NCAA is the atrocious way they set up the Women’s Tournament in San Antonio. Inadequate training facilities highlighted by a picture of a hotel set of weights and poor food was unacceptable. Yes, the NCAA immediately changed the situation by upgrading the training facilities and the food. My question is simple: why did this happen in the first place?
It also explains why Megan Rapinoe, a US soccer star, was at the White House and on Capitol Hill earlier this week to champion the cause of women’s rights in athletics, and to speak against inferior pay to professional athletes like herself. Spoken like the champion she is.
Injuries to Lebron James (high R ankle sprain) and Steph Curry (contusion to his backside) were the highlights of the week for the NBA. James and Curry join Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant on the sidelines. That’s a ton of NBA superstars not playing due to injury. Not what the league needs at any time.
A sad note with the loss of former Lakers’ great Elgin Baylor. Along with Hall of Fame guard Jerry West, the duo was the heart of the team which moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles and started a run of successful years only succeeded by the team of that era, the Boston Celtics.
The best line I heard about Baylor was that “he was Dr. J before Dr. J,” a reference to the acrobatic Julius Erving of the Sixers. Baylor was a high-flying forward/scoring machine. He stayed in basketball after his retirement as coach in New Orleans and an executive with the Clippers for 22 years. A 11-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year (1959), a member of the 35th and 50th anniversary NBA teams and a First Team All-American at Seattle University, his number is retired at his alma mater and by the Lakers. When I first started watching basketball in the late ’50’s and early ’60’s’, I liked watching him play. He was that good.
So I have been told by my smallish and mercurial editor that I better keep it brief this week. I fear her for she has a way with words that can be scary.
Happy Passover to those who celebrate. Don’t overdose on matzoh and gefilte fish. I hear baseball starts for real next week.
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