OK, just because I did not pick ANY of the Final Four teams for the first time, doesn't mean I am going to ignore the event like it's the pre-season NIT or the Maui Invitational Tournament or something. But I was thinking along those lines.
The remaining match ups are intriguing.
Cinderella and home town favorite Butler vs. perennial tournament heavyweight Michigan State.
I like Team Sparty here, based mainly on their rebounding and toughness. Coach Izzo's experience in this environment should help as well. The Butler is a very entertaining team to watch, so this will be a close call. My guess is it will be a pro-Butler crowd, but that should not deter Michigan State. It's not like they are very popular at fellow Big Ten venues.
Perennial favorite Duke and West Virginia.
For a change, I actually like this Duke team. Maybe it's the Chicago area product John Scheyer. He looks like he might be the tenth guy picked on the playground, but he scores, he passes, he makes his teammates better. He may have to play some D here. Singler looks like a cross between Dirk Nowitzki and Jack Sikma. Dare I say love-child? He's a good player though. I like Nolan Smith as well. They have trouble with athletic, physical teams like West Virginia and Coach Huggy-bear comes close to nullifying any coaching advantage Coach K would usually hold. I would feel better about the Mountaineers if their PG were healthy, but Duke in a battle.
Then Duke over Michigan State in the final.
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NCAA to increase play-in field by 3500%
On a separate note, apparently the NCAA plans to expand the March Madness field in the future from the current 65 team field to 96 teams.
So in the future, the 97th best team in the country, likely with a near .500 record will be whining their way to the NIT (also owned by the NCAA).
No stop-over from 65 to 68, maybe by increasing the play-in field from one to four teams first, just to see how that works.
I like the fact that now the mid-major teams that win their regular season conference championships will make the field automatically rather than having to win their conference tournament as well.
A team that plays well all season, but is banged up, can be left at the curb (or the NIT) by fading in a one-week tournament. The Cinderella stories that win their late season tournaments will still make the Big Dance.
The future NIT tournaments are going to be real hoot. Maybe they can capture fan interest in the future by pitting the NIT champion against the womens champion or the WNBA champion or something along those lines. Just a thought.
It's all about the CA$H register and the non-revenue sports that are desperate for funding in a post Title IX world.
Hey, maybe now that women are entering and graduating from our nations colleges in greater numbers than men in recent years, we can pass a "Title XI" that would save some of these "minority programs" -- MEN'S PROGRAMS -- JK N.O.W. - I don't want a pink brick thrown through my window or anything.
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