Was anyone surprised at the lack of upsets during the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament? Fourteen of the top sixteen seeds advance to the regional round...by comparison last year there were five upstarts--and ten years ago seven lower seeds crashed the second weekend (I'm not counting 5 seeds-as they're virtually the same as a 4).
Fresh off the heels of all four top seeds advancing to the Final Four last year, one asks where are the upsets?
1--Home is where the heart is...and where the upsets aren't. The pod system keeps schools regardless of region closer to home...so a Villanova is able to play in Philadelphia, Gonzaga makes the short commute to Portland while North Carolina and Duke begin tournament runs in Greensboro.
2--Not enough bite for the underdogs...in three games Saturday and three more Sunday the lower seeds had chances to pull the upset, but whether it second half rallies by North Carolina or Louisville, Gonzaga's Demitri Goodson's last-second layup or Duke's John Scheyer tossing a stray ball high above courtside, the favorites made the plays when they needed to.
Can this be good for the game? While I like to see the spice of a 10 or 12 seed in the second weekend, there's nothing quite like watching heavyweights battle...
Conference Call: This might not be 1985 (3 final four teams) or 1987 (two final fours, a 14-5 record and every team a Big East school lost to went on to lose its next game)...but the Big East is enjoying an incredible March with an 11-2 mark and 5 teams in the Sweet Sixteen (a new record)...while the Big 12 is 9-3...the Big Ten is 6-5...and the Pac Ten is 5-4...the Big Ten is 6-5...and the ACC is 5-5 (1-5 outside of Greensboro)...
Finally, what to make of Arizona? The Wildcats are the lowest remaining seed, but hardly a Cinderella--a national championship, multiple final fours and 25 straight NCAAs will do that. One of the last at-large teams in the field advanced to the sweet sixteen. It's been a topsy turvy couple of seasons for the Wildcat seniors--they were recruited to Tuscon by Lute Olson...who was unable to coach the last two years due to health and personal issues. Just as they got used to Kevin O'Neill, their interim coach was replaced by Russ Pennell...and Olson retired for good. Nice to see a happy ending for a group of kids who probably expected much more when they signed on.
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