It is that time of the year again. Once the snow starts melting and flowers start blooming. There are three important things students look forward to in March: Green Beer Day, spring break and March Madness. This month is filled with events that make people go crazy. More laptops end up in classes with half the screen opened to a Word document and the other displays live game footage. These next few weeks are full of surprise upsets, competition and pure love for the sport of basketball.
After this past Sunday, people placed their bets and decided to fill out the ever-strategic bracket. However, some were not able to completely fill out their bracket. The NCAA decided this year to expand the amount of teams from 65 to 68. This means that in three regions, two teams will vie for either the No. 11, 12 or 16 seed. Now for me, I do not worry about the fight for the 16 seed because I doubt they will win against The Ohio State University or the University of Pittsburgh. But the problem arises with the University of Alabama-Birmingham and Clemson University matchup because they will play against West Virginia University. Yes it is a five seed versus a 12 seed, but if you look back at previous brackets this is where many upsets occur.
So bite the bullet and hope Clemson wins against UAB and again versus West Virginia or pick the safest bet. There is no right or wrong answer, but it is really annoying having to wait till Thursday to fill out my awkwardly vacant bracket. No offense to the NCAA, but the bracket was just fine when there were just 65 teams. There are still going to be upsets and there are still going to be heartbreaks.
The selection committee also failed slightly in another way. Usually the committee does a fabulous job picking out the powerhouse teams and evenly distributing them among the four sections. However this year, the East Division will be the most exciting and most challenging of them all.
I watched on Sunday evening with my laptop opened in awe about the selection with Ohio State, Villanova University, West Virginia, the University of Kentucky, Xavier University, Syracuse University, the University of Georgia and the University of North Carolina. Basically, half the teams I would normally choose all the time are packed together in one section. Being from Ohio, having two prominent teams in the same section is wonderful, but looking at the intensity of the teams, Xavier will not make it past the second round, which is truly depressing. Kentucky also got partially screwed, they have been since Coach Tubby Smith left them in the dust. The team pretty much needs a prayer and a half if they play West Virginia or worse Ohio State. However, Ohio State is not out of the clear. They potentially have to beat out North Carolina, Duke University or San Diego State University. The school has to stay focused because I see a bloodbath if they end up playing Duke. Coach Krzyzewski developed an amazing and consistent program, but I still believe in North Carolina.
Overall I would prefer to have all these teams split up. The East section will be interesting, but are other people really going to pay attention to the West, Southeast or Southwest? Many will, but the more interesting matchups are in one section. The NCAA needs to take a closer look next year when selection time rolls around again.
Yes, in other sections of the bracket, there are Kansas University, Pittsburgh and other interesting matchups, but nothing will compare to the East. I always see this time of year better than the Super Bowl or the World Series because games are constantly played all day long and people are more obsessed with their favorite teams. It is all about statistics. It's about who has the better shooting percentage, amount of steals per game, and other strategic factors. It is about huge calculations and faith.
One thing I know is to not underestimate the underdog. So will your team make it to the end or will you end up in heartbreak?
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.