Once there were 68. Then 64. 32. 16. 8. 4. 2.

And finally one. With one more game to go.

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship has been played.

#1 Wisconsin   63
#1 Duke        68

I was rooting for the Big 10 team, but having started watching NCAA basketball in Greensboro NC, I am not disappointed that the Blue Devils picked up another national championship -- their third won in the city of Indianapolis alone? Congrats to Coach K and his team.

Tuesday night is the Women's Division I Basketball Championship and the line-up is Notre Dame and the juggernaut that is UConn. Done deal for the Huskies? Not so fast. "At some point you have to play the game."

Remember, Kentucky was undefeated going into the Final Four. Then lost to Wisconsin, who lost to Duke. After the Big 10 championship, a lot of people saw Kentucky as a stumbling block, but still put Wisconsin to win the Big Dance.

Muffet versus Geno. It's gonna be epic.

There can be only one...

Dr. Phil

Posted on Dreamwidth
Crossposted on LiveJournal

The End of March Madness... Well Into April

So, Louisville was creamed in the NCAA Championship game, 93-60.

What, you thought I was talking about Men's Basketball? No, that was won by Louisville on Monday night. Tuesday night was all about the UConn Lady Huskies. I'm sure some will complain about UConn winning again, that it's always the same teams over and over again. But really, the 2013 Women's tournament had some real spectacular games. I missed all but a few minutes of the Louisville win over Baylor, but both ESPN and NPR were referring to it as the greatest upset victory in basketball. And then Louisville took out one of my favorite teams, the Tennessee Lady Vols. And Notre Dame has beaten UConn like three times this season, except when it counted. Some exceptional basketball, great talent and a lot of fast breaks up and down and up and down the court.

I know the women don't get the respect and the ratings that the men do, but kudos to ESPN/ESPN2 for giving them the coverage and taking it seriously.

As for the Men's tournament, my brackets and re-brackets were blown away time and time again. Wisconsin over Georgetown in the Final? Never going to happen. The Big 10 had a lot of representation, but they fell by the wayside, leaving the wrong Big 10 team from Michigan in the championship, where they lost. Some wonderful upsets and gosh, dare we dream that Wichita State could make it to the final? Well, Final Four had to be good enough.

I've said before, I don't follow basketball very much, college or pro, but somehow the NCAA March Madness and it's one-and-done sudden death attrition has some great appeal to me. An overload of games the first weekend, and then a steady dropoff in the number of games, even as the intensity picks up.

NPR's Morning Edition had a nice piece the other day pointing out the "magic" of the Final Four -- in no other sport does making the semi-finals have the cachet of the NCAA Final Four in basketball. They even ditched the old Third-Place game in favor of keeping the narrowing brackets to a final single concluding game. But part of their point is that while 64, er, 68 teams make the big dance on the Men's side, there are over 300 D-I programs competing, so getting into the top four is a much smaller percentage than say being the one best MLB baseball team out of thirty.

So the Final Four is a giddy goal to be sure. And something I manage to look forward to every year.

Good games. Good year.

Now on to baseball and summer movies and other passing fancies...

Dr. Phil

On The Road To The Frozen Four

While the rest of the world indulges in March Madness in the NCAA Men's and Women's Division I Basketball Championships, there are in fact other collegiate athletics going on. While I knew that the Western Michigan University Broncos ice hockey team was having some success this year, I wasn't following the sports scores closely -- partly due to The Grand Rapids Press' decision to only do home delivery three days a week. So I was very pleasantly surprised to see the following announcement in the WMU Today e-mail newsletter:

Point of pride--For the first time since 1986, the hockey Broncos won the CCHA Tournament Championship, defeating Michigan, 3-2, Saturday at Joe Louis Arena. They will play North Dakota in the NCAA Tournament West Region semifinals Saturday in St. Paul, Minn.
http://www.wmich.edu/wmu/news/2012/03/057.html

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University's hockey team makes its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance and second in a row as it heads to St. Paul, Minn., to battle the University of North Dakota Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
The Broncos earned a No. 4 seed after winning the CCHA Tournament Championship with a 3-2 victory over the University of Michigan Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

In previous matches with North Dakota, WMU is 0-4, but the two teams have not meet since two games each in Kalamazoo in 1997 and at North Dakota in 1998—and in 1997, North Dakota won the national championship.

The game will be carried live via ESPN3.com and replayed on ESPNU Sunday at 12:30 p.m. The game is available for syndication in local markets, and WMU News will be updated if the broadcast is picked up in the Kalamazoo area. Live radio coverage will be provided by the Bronco Radio Network on 96.5 FM WKZO and at wkzo.com.

The Broncos enter the tournament on a five-game winning streak, with all five wins against teams that qualified for the tournament.

WMU is 0-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including two losses to Harvard in a best-of-three series in 1986. The Broncos fell to Denver, 3-2, in double-overtime at last season's Midwest regional.

Five CCHA teams made the 16-team field, the most from any conference. WMU joins Ferris State, Miami, Michigan State and Michigan representing the CCHA

When we were up at Michigan Tech, we went to a lot of hockey games. Alas, the Huskies were not in their glory years in the late 80s and early 90s. And the CCHA league tended to overwhelm the WCHA, which Tech played in. We frequently lost to Michigan or Michigan State in the over-Christmas tournament held in Detroit. So Western beating Michigan and taking the CCHA crown is a big deal. Well done, gentlemen.

Now go beat up on North Dakota and take the ice all the way to the national championship.

Dr. Phil