Unleash the madness
Last Sunday, March 17, the selection committee released their selections for March Madness 2013. The No. 1 overall team was given to the Louisville Cardinals, much deserved of the spot, the Cardinals had their way with many of the teams in their conference this year as they went on to win the Big East championship over Syracuse by 17 points. The Cardinals are joined by Kansas, Gonzaga and Indiana as the one seeds for the NCAA tournament.
This archived article was written by: Hayden Peterson
Last Sunday, March 17, the selection committee released their selections for March Madness 2013. The No. 1 overall team was given to the Louisville Cardinals, much deserved of the spot, the Cardinals had their way with many of the teams in their conference this year as they went on to win the Big East championship over Syracuse by 17 points. The Cardinals are joined by Kansas, Gonzaga and Indiana as the one seeds for the NCAA tournament.
While some teams waited impatiently to see if they would get the invite to the dance, others were just waiting to know where they would be placed. Duke was one of those teams who knew they were definitely going to play, they just weren’t sure where they would be placed.
When it was all said and done, Duke was seeded as a two seed in the Midwest section of the bracket where the one seed is the Louisville Cardinals. In the South, Georgetown drew the two seed and is in the Kansas Jay Hawks section of the bracket. In the East the two seed has been give to the Miami Hurricanes who, in my mind, have a great chance to make a run and knock off No. 1 Indiana in the elite eight if Indiana can make it that far. Which leaves us with the West Region, topped by the Gonzaga Bulldogs who took the one seed for the first time in school history, however, the road will not be an easy one for them as they drew, quite possibly the most dangerous two seed in the tournament in Ohio State. Led by guard Aaron Craft and role players like Deshaun Thomas and Amedeo Della Valle the Buckeyes could cause some serious trouble for a few teams and it would’t surprise me to see them make a bunch of noise in the tournament this year.
I hope you are ready for a lot of basketball in not a lot of time because the madness begins on March 21 and comes to a conclusion on April 8. With 65 games in just 20 days, teams will need to be more mentally tough and physically prepared than they have been all year long. The tournament is win six games and cut down the net and be crowned champions.
Anything short of six wins and you will barely be remembered unless you are part of an overtime thriller that keeps the people talking for a day or two. Unfortunately, nobody plays the game to take second or third place, hence the reason most people can’t tell you who Kentucky beat last year to win it all, and frankly, it does not matter. Every player, every coach and every fan will tell you the goal is to win it all, not get close and lose. Sports are about winning, especially at the college level where these kids are still playing for the love of the game and not for money.
March Madness is the best basketball you will watch all year long, bar none. These kids go into each game knowing that this could be the last time they ever put that uniform on again, which really brings out the competitive nature on the court and makes for some great basketball.
To pick my final four for this year, I am going to go ahead and take a wild guess and put Louisville in there, Ohio St., Miami and a three seed, the Florida Gators, just because I am a Gator fan. Whoever gets to the national championship between Louisville and Ohio St. will be this year’s champion.
Good luck on your brackets this year and don’t forget to give those 12 and 11 seeds a chance to upset somebody, it might just be the difference maker in your bracket and could get you the win. Bucknell is one of those teams who may just help you get the upper edge on those people playing in your pool.
