So, like many of you reading this, I tuned in to CBS (radio) to hear the unveiling of the bracket for this years NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. Now, I love basketball. I love March Madness. I love this tournament. But it never fails that the selection committee messes up and this year has no shortage. So here is my disclaimer: THIS IS PURELY MY OPINION. YES, MY OPINION MAY VARY FROM YOURS. NO, I’M NOT INTERESTED IN ARGUING. NO, YOU WILL NOT CHANGE MY MIND. YES, YOU CAN DISAGREE. YES, WE CAN STILL ENJOY THIS TOURNAMENT EVEN THOUGH WE DISAGREE.
Seriously though, if you try to argue with anything I say I will ignore you. It’s not worth it, but that’s a blog post for another time. So here we go my BIG BAD BRACKET BLUNDERS!!! (Great alliteration Justin. Thanks guys!)
LOCATION:
So, as I listened to the bracket show while driving to Virginia from Indiana I heard that several of my home state teams were all located in the Midwest Region. Now, I have seen people complain about this but I will defend the committee here! Indiana is in the Midwest. We kept all our boys near home. That’s a good thing. Should any of our favorite teams make it to the Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight they’ll be playing in Columbus which gives us a chance to pour into the arena and issue our own ‘homecourt advantage’ at a neutral site. Needless to say I’m not terribly beat up about that. I think the committee stuck to keeping teams close to their home region….IN THE MIDWEST. Then it was like they gave up on that because maps are hard. Trust me, I didn’t take geography in college for this reason but I think there’s a few mistakes in the region seeding of the tournament. Now, I KNOW REGION ISN’T EVERYTHING! But, I have a problem with them trying to stick close with one region and saying “SCREW ‘EM” in the other three. So for those of you scratching your belly buttons and saying “What do you mean?” Lemme break it down for you:
Gonzaga: For those of you who aren’t sure, Gonzaga is from Washington…state. Like the state, not the District by Maryland and Virginia. So considering they are in one of the furthest states West and North and what some call the Northwest what region should they be in? Probably the West Region! Nope, they are in the South Region. Should they make it to the Sweet Sixteen, they must travel to Texas instead of California. Kind of a far hike for a 2-seed.
North Dakota State: Uh, yeah that’s a state. In the North. Once again in the South Region. While they most likely won’t make the Sweet Sixteen and it’s not a terrible trip to Texas, North Dakota is by no means in the Southern Part of America. At this rate they should just let the teams from Alaska join the SEC…
Ole Miss and UCLA: Both 11 seeds. Now, should UCLA be in? That’s another issue. Let’s break it down. UCLA is in California and Ole Miss is in Mississippi. Most people would say “UCLA is in the West and Ole Miss is in the South!” and you’d be right. But not according to our committee! UCLA travels to the South, Houston, Texas. While Ole Miss would have to go to Cali. Just sayin, since they are both 11-seeds and UCLA was on the bubble couldn’t you just have switched them?
UNC: That’s the University of North Carolina. In North Carolina. Like, the East Coast. Duke is in the South Region and I accept that because North Carolina could be considered in the South. But NC State is in the East Region. Sooooooo…..are you catching on? GEOGRAPHY!
St. John’s and LSU: Both 9 seeds. If you’re catching a trend, you know what’s coming. St. John’s out of New York was placed in the South Region and LSU gets the East. A little flip flop and I wouldn’t bat an eye.
Now, you get it. I KNOW LOCATION ISN’T THE FINAL FACTOR. Just something I noticed.
SEED:
Every year someone feels ‘snubbed’ because they got a 7-seed instead of the 6-seed they wanted. So here are my personal teams that I feel got seeded incorrectly. If you’re a fan of these teams I would like to remind you of my disclaimer earlier. Please go read it. It’s in bold and underlined and you should read it a few times because you’re probably the ones who’ll complain but….
Wichita St: Last years ‘Pursuit of Perfection’ had another good season. I love Ron Baker and the way he plays the game. Fred VanVleet is a star. Great player. Tekele Cotton is impressive as well. This is a good team. And they got saddled with a 7-seed. They take on the 10-seed Indiana (yes, I think Indiana should have gotten in). This sucks for Wichita State. Now, did they deserve a 3 or 4 seed? I don’t think so but I think their constant success (the last 3 years) proves they’re the real deal. I could have seen them as a 5 or 6-seed. But that’s my OPINION!
Oklahoma State: Uhh….. Seriously? No. No way. Nope. Nah. <- Me when I heard this. (click the link. NOW). Overall record of 18-13. Back in the early 2000’s you needed a 20 win season to make the tournament for sure, otherwise you were on the bubble. And that was when they only played 25ish games. Now we are well over 30 games and 20 wins usually gets most teams sitting on the bubble. And an 18 win season shouldn’t get you into the tournament. Sorry Cowboy fans. Not to mention they are in 7th in the Big 12. In my opinion, the Big 12 is an incredibly weak conference and they’ve shown their weakness with the fact that Kansas has 11 STRAIGHT REGULAR SEASON TITLES. Somebody beat them! GOSH! Now, Kansas has been historically good but in a good conference the same team doesn’t win every year. Ok State also had losses to: Texas Tech (13-19), Kansas State (15-17), and have lost 6 of their last 7. I like the way Phil Forte plays and respect his game but he should be playing in the NIT.
Baylor: Yeah, I’m not done hating on Big 12 teams. Baylor is a 3-seed? Are they good? Yeah. Should they be in? Absolutely! But a 3-seed? I’ve already vocalized my distain for the Big 12. They lost the Illinois, and NIT bound team, an 8th place team in the Big Ten. They lost to Texas, who’s an 11-seed. They lost to Kansas State (15-17) and not even in the NIT. They lost to Oklahoma State TWICE, who I already said shouldn’t even be in. Does this team really deserve a 3-seed. NAHHHH.
UCLA: I’ve been back and forth with the Bruins all day and they weren’t in my notes but I’m adding them anyway because I want to share my feelings. They got to the ever important 20 wins! But they also road a 5 game losing streak during the year which included losses to NIT Bound Alabama (18-14, 8-10 SEC) and CBI Bound Colorado (15-17, 7-11 Pac-12). But they did finish 4th in their conference. But their best win was against Utah who they also lost to 71-39 earlier in the year. But John Wooden. But…okay, they’re in I’m over it.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Don’t be offended. I just wanted to get all my thoughts out so I don’t get asked 3 whole times via text. If you have a problem with my thoughts, I’m not going to change my mind. I’m pretty set here. I did enough research for myself. But with every bracket comes the picks. Will Kentucky run the table? No. I think they get beat by Wisconsin in the Final Four. The fundamentals of Wisconsin, the ball security, the veteran leadership, and the hunger to avenge last years defeat propel the Badgers all the way to Bo Ryan’s first championship. But, nevertheless BOILER UP!
-Justin
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