It’s here! Arguably the greatest college sports spectacle is finally upon us. Some of the smaller conferences have finished their tournaments, and their champions have earned their automatic bids. The remaining tournament finals are stacked up today and tomorrow, with the official Bracket Selection happening Sunday evening.
Many teams who are right on the edge of the bubble will be sweating it out to see whether they get invitations to the Big Dance. There has been significant churn in the top of the rankings this year, so we should be set up for plenty of drama (as usual) over the next three weeks.
So get your brackets and snacks and beverages ready! I may officially take this Thursday and Friday afternoons off so I can just indulge in basketball and carbs. Who’s with me?
Anyone free for about 45 minutes on Monday at 3pm ET wanting to join our AI to make a March Madness bracket, PM me for an invite.
So this is Gonzaga’s year, right?
Sure is!
(Actually, them winning it a year after a lot of watchers thought was their breakthrough year would be fitting.)
Gonzaga this year does not look as strong as they have in recent years past, but the great thing about March Madness is that all 68 teams in the bracket have a shot.
Kansas is supposed to be a #1 seed and just got trucked by Texas in the Big 12 Final.
The Alabama situation puts a stain on the whole thing, and will until Alabama loses.
It certainly does. Alabama is making its priorities known loud and clear.
Welp, Virginia laid an egg (and many, many bricks) last night against Duke in the ACC final, so here’s hoping they can at least hold on to a #4 seed and get a favorable draw in the bracket.
Virginia barely kept its 4 seed (and Duke got a 5, ha!) and UNC whiffed entirely, so the ACC is lumbering into the tourney underpowered with Miami, Pitt, and NC State joining the fray. It will be interesting to see how the ACC performs vs. the leagues that got 7-8 teams in.
If you want to go down the rabbit hole of data overload to pick those 8/9 tossups, a redditor has posted his pathologically comprehensive 243-page tourney guide stacked with metrics.
And the first big upset - 13 Furman (who?) takes down 4 Virginia!
Forgive me if I never ever start another March Madness thread ever again. My goodness that was awful. We deserve to be the popular upset pick every year now. We have earned that dubious honor. Three of our last four tourneys we have lost first round to a 'teen seed.
I mean, ya’ll won the Natty after being the only #1 to get bounced by a #16. So it ain’t all that bad.
That “OH MY GOD!!” you may have heard echoing throughout the nations airways at 2:34 pm CDT was just me reacting to this dagger of a shot with 2 seconds left on the shot clock…
First Missouri win in the tournament since 2010. That took four coaches, 5 appearances, and losing as a #2 seed to a #15 along the way.
Mizzou still plays basketball? Who knew?
Sincerely,
KU alum
If you’re trying to decide what to watch right now - the answer is Princeton - Arizona. UA by 1 with 2:24 to go
Princeton up 1 just under a minute to play. Arizona has the ball.
Up 3 with 20 seconds left. Oh my.
Holy shit. Princeton’s gonna win.
Down goes Arizona!
My wife picked them as her tournament winner. I’ve been there (done not even mid way through day 1).
Arizona failed to score in the last 4 1/2 minutes
I watched a lot of Arizona this year and hadn’t seen them play worse for an extended stretch. That was a stunning choke (and good job, Princeton). Yes, my bracket is toast.