It didn’t take long for March Madness to live up to its name.
No sporting event lives up to its reputation as consistently as the NCAA Basketball Championship.
It’s called March Madness for good reason.
It brings an almost frenetic atmosphere to its 68-team tournament, bringing together the powers who established themselves during the year, as well as the hopefuls who earned a right to compete in the Big Dance by playing the best and surviving in their smaller conference battles.
The simple reason why March Madness delivers is because it’s one and done.
Teams have to win and move on, or they go home.
It’s no more complex than that.
What makes the format so enchanting is that no matter what you’re standing among the rest, no matter how well you’ve played, no matter how imposing your roster is, you have to beat your opponent, no matter how big a favorite you are.
This year’s tournament presented two shocking, unexpected upsets the first two days.
Even before the two stunners, there was a huge surprise when little Furman, from Greenville, South Carolina, knocked Virginia out of the tournament.
Furman, to me, had been a school I remembered from the 50’s, when they had a player named Frank Selvy who scored 100 points in a game.
In the NCAA’s teams are seeded in each of the four regions 1-16. Furman was a 13, Virginia a strong team from a relatively strong conference, the Atlantic Coast, was number 4.
The ACC has mostly been dominated by Duke and North Carolina. But Carolina never even made it to the Dance, and Duke was ousted by Tennessee in the second round.
While everyone was aghast over Furman’s victory, the best had yet to come.
Shortly after, Arizona, the second seed in the South Region, was stunned by 15th seed Princeton, the Ivy League champion.
Now, I remember Princeton as a once-upon-a-time power, believe it or not, in the mid 60’s, when the Tigers reached the Final Four.
They were sparked by one of the best ever to play the college game, Bill Bradley, who scored 58 points in the consolation game ( they actually had the losers of the national semi-finals play before the national championship back then), second to Notre Dame’s Austin Carr who tallied 61 against Ohio University in 1970.
Princeton then moved on to the Sweet 16, (the regional semi-finals this Thursday), where they face Creighton.
But the loudest first-round roar came from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.
The Knights, who play the likes of Stonehill, Merrimack, and Wagner, in the Northeast Conference , knocked off Big Ten champion Purdue.
The Boilermakers were seeded number 1 in the East Region.
That means they were rated one of the top four teams at the start of the tournament.
Purdue won the regular season Big Ten battle as well as the post-season conference championship, but they fell to a team that had to play its way into the field of 64.
Cinderella didn’t stay long, however, when FDU was eliminated by Florida Atlantic in the second round.
For FAU, out of my own residence of Boca Raton, Florida, it’s their first trip to the Sweet 16.
St. Peter’s from Jersey City, NY, playing as a 15th seed a year ago, also made it to the Sweet 16.
This is where March Madness settles down to an extent.
We may have seen the most dramatic shockers in the rear view mirror, but now comes the next level of the excitement March Madness brings.
The possibility of more upsets, and the thrilling buzzer-beaters that will assuredly mark the playing out of the college hoops championship.
Kansas, another top-seed, and defending champion is out, as well as a few others who were touted as title contenders.
I think television does a remarkable job of capturing the drama of these games.
For one who believes there are too many meaningless crowd shots during NFL, NBA, and MLB contests, March Madness is made for reaction shots of the elation and despair of students, parents, fans, and players sitting on the bench.
Seeing the hope and hopelessness of those involved in their schools is human emotion at its best.
When all is said and done, and we arrive at the Final Four, we will find that most of the quartet that make it to Houston will be the strong entries we knew at the beginning, with perhaps one unanticipated team still alive and clawing to gain ultimate glory.
There is one blemish to all this hoopla (no pun intended), and it involves maybe he most impressive team in the tournament.
Alabama, continues to march on, and it would surprise no one if the Crimson Tide win it all.
But Alabama is the elephant in the room this year, and I don’t mean the elephant that represents the school’s logo.
Brandon Miller, star of the Tide, and one of the premier pplayers in the nation, along with other current and former players were present at a Jan. 15 killing of Jamea Harris who was shot and killed near ‘Bama’s Tuscaloosa campus.
Former player Darius Miles has been charged with the murder, but Miller, who has not been charged, is accused by the police of driving the gun owned by Miles to the scene of the crime.
It is a matter of debate whether Miller should be allowed to play, despite the fact he has not been charged.
A case can be made that Miller should play since he has not been charged, at the same time, his possible involvement should make him ineligible.
In any event, the incident has raised questions that the desire to win in sports supersedes the breaking of the law, in this case, the murder of another human being.
My stance, is that if Miller has not been charged, he should be allowed to play.
He is, and Alabama has to be rated as a powerful contender to capture the NCAA crown.
One final note. This will be the final NCAA basketball championship to be broadcast by my friend and former colleague, Jim Nantz.
Nantz, who has been at the microphone for 18 Final Fours in his career will call his last in Houston. He is lightening his work load which will still include CBS’ lead NFL and golf coverage including the Masters.
It could be a special finale as well for Nantz, who attended the University of Houston and has to be crossing his fingers that the Houston Cougars basketball team, a still remaining number one seed gets to, and possibly wins a national title.
I know many reading this will be muttering that Jim will be rooting for his alma mater and they are correct.
But it won’t show in his call of their games.
He’s a professional and will be acutely aware of showing favoritism.
What most viewers may not realize, is that when you call a game, you are not sitting back as a fan, but concentrating on describing the action accurately.
I’ve been in that spot when calling Syracuse games in the tournament many times in my career.
There were times I didn’t even realize they were playing.
If you’re not a home team broadcaster doing every game, it’s not that difficult to do it right.
It’s called being a professional.
And that’s what Jim Nantz has always been.