March: time for madness
For most of March the sports world has been focused on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, also know as March Madness. Some years it seems that the annual basketball tournament becomes predicable. With the big-name school making it far into the tournament and usually one team will win an upset game and be dubbed the “Cinderella” team. But this season the tourney has lived up to its name; so far it’s been pure madness.
This archived article was written by: Nathan Davis
For most of March the sports world has been focused on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, also know as March Madness. Some years it seems that the annual basketball tournament becomes predicable. With the big-name school making it far into the tournament and usually one team will win an upset game and be dubbed the “Cinderella” team. But this season the tourney has lived up to its name; so far it’s been pure madness.
At the end of the first round of the NCAA tournament, my brackets were looking pretty good. I’d picked Murray State upsetting Vanderbilt and picked Cornell beating Temple. I’d even picked St. Mary’s to win their first round game. After round one, I was sitting pretty having picked the winner in 80 percent of the games. Then everything fell apart. Not just for me, but for most of the country.
The first big team to drop was the No. 3 ranked Georgetown University. GU was shown the door in the first. That surprised a lot of people, but the big shocker game in round two was when Kansas, the No. 1 ranked team in their bracket, lost to Northern Iowa University. In round three, Syracuse was eliminated by the Butler Bulldogs.
Butler has continued their great play, and booked a spot in the final four for the first time in their school’s history. Butler’s year has played out like a movie script, which really shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, their home court is the same court where Hoosiers, one of the greatest sports movies ever was filmed.
This year basketball fans have been treated to a great The NCAA tournament that has also wreaked havoc on many people’s March madness brackets. As of now, I’ve picked 12 percent of the games correctly, and all of my Final Four teams have been eliminated. But it’s been fun to watch. As a sports fan you’ve got to love an upset victory, or an exciting game. That’s the beauty of sports and this year has not disappointed.
Now the final four is set. With Butler, West Virginia, Michigan State and Duke set to fight for the right to play in the championship game. Here’s how surprising this year’s tournament has been. On ESPN.com they have the percentage of people that correctly picked the final four teams. West Virginia received the most correct picks with just over 18 percent of the country picking them to be in the final four. Duke came in second with 16 percent of the votes. Michigan State got 1.1 percent of the votes; Butler was only picked to be in the final four by 0.3 percent of the nation.
The semi-final games will be Saturday, April 3, with the championship game on Monday, April 5.
