The madness is coming and it’s stronger than ever.
College basketball fans affectionately refer to the insane, bracket-busting, heart-wrenching, popcorn-throwing cheering, Cinderella-making, miracle giving tournament time “March Madness.” To be honest, the madness never waits until March to rear its beautiful head, but this season, the madness began as soon as the season did.
During the non-conference schedule played from the end of November to just before New Year’s Day, rims were already shaking and people were already taking mental notes in their heads as unsung heroes from underrated schools like South Carolina and far-fetched dreams of March like St. John’s steam-rolled over elite teams, dropping even the likes of past powerhouses like Michigan State out of the rankings within the first two weeks. Right from the get-go, the college basketball world knew it was in for a ride it would never forget (Jay Bilas agreed).
As the conference schedule kicked off on New Year’s Day and analysts like “Yeah baby!” Dickie V, tall as a house Bill Walton, and historic Rowdy Gaines went to their posts as the power conferences showed off what they could and the smaller conferences started playing for what they hoped would be a historic season and invitation to the Big Dance. One of the biggest shakeups that first day occurred in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), where names like UNC, Duke, Syracuse, Virginia, and Louisville called home. Syracuse took a beating from win-starved Boston College, the Eagles winning their first conference game in three years. Orange fans weren’t alone in their despair, however, as Duke was routed by Virginia Teach and North Carolina couldn’t dig itself out of a hole against Georgia Tech, a program under new coach Josh Pastner that was ready to call this season a rebuilding year. Well, ¾ of a rebuilding year later and the Yellow Jackets are on Bubble Watch for the NCAA Tournament.
This season in all conferences has been historic and mind-blowing, and once those brackets are released, brains will be scrambling to remember facts and figures and RPIs aa they try to figure out not who is most likely to win but who is least likely to be upset, and that in itself says something. Each year, even though the bracket is never definitive (as ten-seeded Syracuse showed the world last year as they stormed to the Final Four in Houston), there is always a team that seems to have just a bit of an edge over the other 67 in the field. Not this year. Villanova lost a few games and has had some close shaves with some not-so-great opponents. Kentucky lost in a badly played game against Tennessee and won against UNC on a lucky shot. TCU has been a sleeper over in the Big 12. Duke looked down and out three weeks ago and now they are back in the top 10. Kansas has lost badly, but always manages to bounce back when it matters most, and Indiana’s luck might be running out.
As the season comes into its home stretch with two weeks left in the regular season, Bubble Teams have never been fighting so tooth-and-nail with a chance to get in. Teams have never been so happy about a four-point loss to a ranked squad because the committee will see EVERYTHING this year. RPI and Strength of Schedule will be crucial, and might have some teams finding themselves on the wrong side of the bubble this year as the committee makes dreams comes true or crushes them. Heck, Joe Lunardi has been sending email updates of bracketology after nearly every game this season. Number 1 seeds could go down in the round of 64 without much surprise, and nationally ranked first team Gonzaga could get a taste of the rest of the conferences.
In two weeks, teams will have a last ditch effort for a chance at the Big Dance with the conference tournament, where, as we’ve seen in the past (hello, Kemba Walker and UConn, five wins in five days), things can be shaken up quite a bit.
When you tune into the Selection Sunday on CBS in the evening, do not underestimate any team you see announced and do not call any team a Cinderella just yet. This year, it’s anybody’s net.
