So #12 Cornell just finished "upsetting" #4 Wisconsin. This win comes on the heals of #9 Northern Iowa beating #1 (and #1 overall) Kansas, #10 Saint Mary's over #2 Nova, #11 Washington over #3 New Mexico, and #5 Mich St. over #4 Maryland.
As my bracket is already busted (as are many others...thanks Big East), and I went to Cornell (GO BIG RED), I am all for the "upset."
Here is my question. Does this year point to incredible parity in college basketball, or is it that the Committee did a terrible job? I have to lean towards a bad job by the Committee. It is crazy that this year there were probably 5-10 teams who were favored (or almost even money) to win in the first two rounds as the lower seed. I understand that (1) the Committee sees less of the "mid-majors" and (2) the Committee has to finalize these brackets in only a few hours, and they do the best that they can. This year, however, not such a great job.
And why do they have so little time to finish the bracket? Why doesn't the NCAA make all conference tournaments end on the Saturday before selection Sunday. That would give the Committee almost 24 hours to put these brackets together (and hopefully watch more tape of mid-majors).
But hey, maybe the NCAA would rather have it this way. Bad brackets means more upsets. Upsets mean interest and gambling. Interest and gambling = money. And as we all know, that is the only thing the NCAA really cares about.
Thoughts?
Thought: Upsets make earlier rounds more exciting to watch, but potentially reduce audiences for later rounds?
ReplyDeleteHsuper, you're exactly right. I'll watch the first round and a bit of the second, but unless my team or a friend's team is still in it, I'm done.
ReplyDelete