The NCAA's Are Americana

  It’s that time again. When the world stops for college basketball. Okay, maybe not so dramatic, but certainly the sports world’s major focus is on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. Where there is always drama, especially in the first round.  

For me, there has been no better timing. Saddled with what is becoming a chronic hamstring strain, my doctor and I have agreed to shut me down for a while in attempt an to heal the tendon and surrounding muscles. So I am pretty much house-bound.

Moreover, the Northeast welcomed Spring with flowers, blooms and a really soaking rain, with some heavy wet snow in New England. Where are you going to go in that mess?

As much as I love watching college basketball, I won’t see all of the games scattered on the four television networks. Plus I do tune into some other games—for instance on Thursday night, the Knicks visited the Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokic, while the New York Rangers sent into TD Garden to face the Boston Bruins in a clash between Eastern Conference powerhouses and the New Jersey Devils hosted the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets in a late season push for a playoff spot. (Denver won; NYR and NJD prevailed)

I even watched the Yankees play the Pirates in exhibition baseball—something I rarely do. Ostensibly it was to watch Aaron Judge return from his injury hiatus. I saw enough of him, new Yankee Juan Soto, a rejuvenated Giancarlo Stanton hitting monstrous home runs and second year shortstop Anthony Volpe finding the seats. Pitching will be the question mark for this Yankees team; the hitting will be fine. I managed to tune in on Sunday to see the split squad playing in Mexico City. 

I also found time to watch early morning baseball from South Korea. The Dodgers and Padres began the real season splitting a pair of games. But the bigger story surrounded Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter who allegedly stole plenty of money to pay gambling debts—or was the superstar helping him with infusions of cash? 

Don’t forget the National Invitational Tournament. ESPN carried some games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights where I caught glimpses of those schools not deemed worthy of the Big Dance. This always makes me wonder why some teams weren’t good enough to be included in the field of 68.

The NCAA Division I Wrestling Tournament called Kansas City home this week. I managed to check in on the action on the mats. In passing another TV set, the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC Championships for women’s gymnastics were all on. 

And I am into diversity. I watched the NCAA Division I Women’s Championship. After all there is Caitlin Clark; unbeaten South Carolina; last year’s star, April Reese and her LSU team; and of course, the UCLA of women’s hoops, Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies. 

In my down time from the TV set, I scoped articles from The Athletic, ESPN, CBS Sports, NJ.com while keeping up with current events, texting, talking on the phone and reading and answering emails. I still had time to eat, sleep and take care of myself. Occasionally I even talked with my wife and daughter. I guess I like my plate full, in actuality and metaphorically. 

Takeaways from the games in the opening rounds of the men’s tournament were many. Foremost is my constant complaint about how the Selection Committee fails to properly seed teams. It is great theater, but are those results really “upsets” or are they the product of not giving a lower seeded school is rightful credit for a season well done. 

Case in point is #13 seed Yale, which knocked off #4 seed Auburn. It is the prejudice of the big school from the SEC with its high ranking in analytics, as opposed to the Ivy League. 

The Ivy League winner usually receives a lower seed because the teams don’t play the big boys anywhere but on the road. Yale wins. Princeton went to the Sweet 16 just last season. The Tigers lost a fine player to Northwestern, which won in overtime, ousting Florida Atlantic, one of the previous year’s Cinderella squads. FAU only received greater recognition because the team made it to the Final Four in 2023. Ditto San Diego State. (FAU’s Dusty May has left the program to become the new Michigan head man)

In a perfect world, the top seeds would demolish the lower seeds in the early rounds. Then the competition would be much tighter as the tournament progressed. All four #1 seeds would make up the Final Four, with the top two teams meeting for the title, which would be won by the overall top seed.

Except what made the tournament great TV was the David versus Goliath aspect. On Thursday, Oakland, a school not too many people have heard of, eliminated blue blood Kentucky, which has won numerous titles. Oakland’s Division II transfers taking it to Kentucky’s five star recruits. Greg Kampe, Oakland’s coach who has been there forever (40 years), has a base salary of $329,000.  In comparison, Kentucky head man John Calipari makes so much money that his buyout, demanded by Wildcat fans angry for his team’s mediocre showing in the last four tournaments, is a paltry $33 million. That’s the disparity which creates drama when a lower echelon school goes shot for shot with the powerhouses. 

Rooting for the underdog is part of the fabric of the NCAA’s. Certainly there are strong ties to schools by groups of fans. But the majesty of schools like Colgate, Grambling State, Longwood, Vermont and Wagner having the opportunity to battle the better known basketball teams is pure entertainment—especially if the score remains close. Which is exactly what the NCAA and CBS/Turner are banking on with the behemoth contract to televise the games. 

After the carnage of the first round and the play-in, the top eight seeds made it to the next round. One #3 (Kentucky) and a #4 (Auburn) went out. Half of the #5 seeds were bounced (Wisconsin and St. Mary’s) and three of four #6 seeds (Texas Tech, South Carolina and BYU) failed to survive, ditto for one #7 seed (Florida), and that took a miracle shot in overtime to happen. 

That’s 8 seeds going down in 32 games—25%. The number of blowouts was limited, there were two overtime games, as the networks got more competitive contests for much of the time, keeping the fans on their toes when switching between the four networks.The breakdown by conference was this: ACC 4; Big East 3; Big 10 4; Big 12 5; Pac 12 4; SEC 3 and Other Conferences 9.

On Saturday, things got off fast in the tournament. A potent Arizona team handled Dayton; there was no 24-4 comeback for the Flyers like they had against Nevada. Gonzaga manhandled a depleted Kansas team which had barely hung on to defeat Samford in the opening round. That’s nine straight Sweet 16 appearances for the Zags. 

In a battle of schools which have won the tournament, top seeded North Carolina showed its strength in defeating Michigan State; the Spartans had surprised Mississippi State on Thursday. Iowa State demonstrated its speed and defense in shutting down Washington State, setting up a Sweet 16 clash with Illinois, which dispatched Duquesne, upset winners over BYU on Thursday afternoon. 

While Oakland was gallant, North Carolina State had too much size and a little bit more talent, prevailing in overtime. State has now won an amazing 7 games in the last 12 days. I thought this would be Oakland’s game since it was in Pittsburgh, which has a section by the same name as the school, where the University of Pittsburgh is located. Unfortunately, that kind of coincidence is just that—nothing cosmic. It’s another year with a #11 seed or lower in the Sweet 16 with the Wolfpack advancing.

One can either rejoice or lament that the games start just after noon EDT. The problem is that games like the double overtime thriller between Creighton and Oregon, won by Creighton, last until way after midnight on the East Coast, making staying up for the most dedicated fan almost impossible, yet makes watching on the West Coast easier. 

In Sunday’s opener, Marquette lived up to its former Warriors image with an impressive win in a tightly-contested contest with Colorado. The Buffaloes never should have been a play-in team as a #10 seed. They looked every bit as good as a #3 seed. If the Committee had put the Buffs at #7, I would have been satisfied. 

I honestly thought Utah State was better than they showed against Purdue. The Big Ten team was too athletic and had 7’4” Zach Edey. That meant no chance for the Aggies. When the Boilermakers meet Gonzaga, that will be a battle. 

Someone with a wry sense of humor thought this might happen if James Madison won as a #12 seed and the Duke Blue Devils won its opening game. JMU, nicknamed the Dukes, duking it out with Duke. Wow. Moreover, The Dukes were once coached by the late Charles “Lefty’ Driesell, a Duke graduate who is enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame.  

Yale, Grand Canyon and Northwestern were unable to get past high seeds. #1 seed Houston met #9 seed Texas A&M for the second time this season. Houston won the first meeting by four. This time, the Aggies, who tied the game on a miraculous buzzer beater which could have won the game had two previous scores been three point goals when the players’ feet were a smidgen behind the arc, took the Cougars to OT but succumbed to the Big 12 regular season champs. 

In the end, the ACC still has four teams alive and the Big East three teams in the Sweet 16, with the Big East having not lost a game in the tournament. The metrics the Committee uses just don’t work. While all top seeds remain alive, there is room in this group for two #5 seeds, a #6 seed and even a #11 seed. 

There will be some great matchups, including a rematch of last years final between UConn and San Diego State. Plus there are plenty of Cinderella stories which could be written as the tourney progresses to the Final Four. 

This year there are 21 colleges which placed a school in both the men’s and women’s brackets. On those campuses, basketball is peaking and the school AD’s are counting the incoming money. An interesting fact—only one school in the Power 5 conferences has never won a NCAA tournament game—Nebraska, losers to Texas A&M on Friday. 

I have peeked at some of the women’s games. Of course I watched Caitlin Clark and Iowa. The Hawkeyes had some trouble at the outset with Holy Cross, the Patriot League champions, before settling down. Ivy League winners Princeton gave a good run at West Virginia before losing. For the record, 25-4 Princeton was a reasonable #9 seed. WVU draws Iowa in Iowa City on Monday.

The UConn women were good at home after some early problems with Jackson State. Without a deep bench, the Huskies will face trouble soon. Head Coach Geno Auriemma turned 70 and celebrated with the win—if he did enjoy it momentarily. Knowing the Hall of Fame coach’s demeanor, he is locked in for the next game.

South Carolina looked dominant and every bit the favorite in blasting North Carolina. Dawn Staley’s team looks primed to run to the title game. 

Once again, Kim Mulkey is the center of attention. Known for her colorful outfits and the use of sparkles, the outspoken LSU women’s mentor went off about a future article on her in The Washington Post. She is so unlikeable that it detracts from how good her teams are—after all, LSU is the defending champion. It is hard to root for the Lady Tigers. For the record, LSU is on to the Sweet 16 after thrashing Middle Tennessee, which had previously upset Louisville. 

I am hooped out. If you didn’t tune into this basketball extravaganza or weren’t one of the 9,000 plus who didn’t pick one game correctly in their bracket, you must have been fly fishing or watching the Taylor Swift’s concert on demand for the umpteenth time. 

Get with the program. The NCAA’s are Americana.