Some may look forward to their 5th grade dance. Others are anxious about their Prom or their wedding day dance, but my favorite time for dancing occurs in March. Ask anyone what their favorite sport is and you will get many different answers but phrase the same question in March and an overwhelming portion will lean toward saying college basketball. Even the President is getting in on the act, as he already filled out his own bracket on ESPN. It is full of twists and turns with storylines that captivate our attention with a variety of mixed emotions that last more than just the month of March. Duke’s Christian Laettner catching a pass from across the other side of the gym only to turn around and sink a jumper to win it; The mistake that defines Chris Webber’s career as he called a timeout only to realize he did not have one, costing Michigan a national title, and a name that sounds more like your history teacher than it does a university as George Mason, the number 12 seed, defied all odds making a run to the final four defining what it means to be a Cinderella story. All of these many moments and more are what describe March for me. Of course it has an element of madness but more importantly it is the tournament of memories. College basketball and March just seem to go together like Christopher Walken and more Cowbell.
Now if you are going to a dance, what is the best thing to do before hand? Pregame of course. And that is why there are the conference tournaments. They wet are appetite just enough as we yearn for more basketball until we cannot get enough of it. Syracuse and Uconn needing 6 overtimes to settle it out in the World’s Most Famous Arena, do I need to say more? Here in the conference tournaments are also when schools such as Radford and Robert Morris, who we did not even know existed, get their chance to enter into the spotlight. As fun as pregaming is, the party is always more fun. So the next 34 at large teams are decided upon to make a field of the most deserving 65 teams. Now I know how we get to this next point can be debated and criticized on for days because there are many snubs; however, at the end of the day the committee who picks these 34 at large bids are usually correct. Sure one or two teams could be argued over another one or two but the college basketball tournament is the most fun, compelling, and entertaining tournament on a yearly basis in all of sports which is why there is no reason to expand the field.
Of course you now want my picks and last year I did have all 4 number one seeds reaching the final four but was robbed by a Mario Chalmers buzzer beater that defeated my Memphis Tigers. So here are my final four picks and get ready to put on your dancing shoes and enjoy the party.
{1 Louisville over {2} Memphis {1} Pittsburgh over {4} Gonzaga
Louisville beating Pittsburgh in the championship game.
I know 3 of these picks do not need much explanation and are pretty much chalk so I will just skip right to Gonzaga. Gonzaga has a legit NBA player in the middle who is a 6-11 senior, Josh Heytvelt that matches up well against Tyler Hansbourgh. They have 4 wins against tournament teams, won their last 9 games in a row and are being overlooked by many which is usually when they thrive under the radar. Ty Lawson, North Carolina’s best player is also hurt and his status remains uncertain throughout the tournament. In addition, everyone is taking North Carolina and as we saw against Florida State in the ACC Tournament, they are more vulnerable then we once thought.
