Spring Break
MADNESS! Tips to go by while filling out brackets
JASON BUTT
Issue date: 3/16/09 Section: Sports
Finally, something other than a sudoku to do during class.
But before you tune your professor out, here are some interesting tidbits about this year's field and the NCAA tournament in general.
The Big Ten got seven teams in? But they can't score!: Before you listen to one more word that comes out of ESPN analyst Digger Phelps' mouth, check for yourself before agreeing to that general rhetoric.
This season, Minnesota beat overall top-seed Louisville. Michigan beat Duke and UCLA. Illinois shellacked Missouri.
Michigan State beat tourney teams Texas and Oklahoma State. Ohio State beat Butler. And the kicker, non-tourney team Northwestern drilled Florida State. By 14.
The Big Ten has been down in previous years, but this year it's a solid group top to bottom. By no means is it the Big East or ACC, but the league can play. Then again, the ACC has only had one team advance to the Sweet 16 the last two years - North Carolina.
A No. 1 seed will surely win the tournament, right?: Since the modern seeding system began in 1979, 16 No. 1 seeds have cut down the nets in 30 years.
However, 1-seeds didn't fair too well in the 1980s, only winning the championship three times (1982, 1984, 1987). Since 1990, 1-seeds have never gone more than two years without winning a championship.
And the trend of more 1-seeds doing well has risen, with all four 1s making the Sweet 16 the last four years. But the trend peaked last season, when all four No. 1s reached the Final Four.
If a 1-seed isn't going to win, where are my odds?: If you don't feel any of the 1-seeds will win this year, your best bet is with a 2. Six 2-seeds have won it all since 1979, the most recent being Connecticut in 2004.
Four 3-seeds have won titles, only one 4-seed (Arizona in 1997), two 6-seeds (three have reached the title game) and, of course, the ultimate Cinderella, 8-seed Villanova in 1985.
East coast boys who love it out west: Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun has put together some great teams during his tenure in Stoors.
But Calhoun's two titles at Connecticut have come from beginning the West regional, a spot the Huskies sit in right now. In 1999, Connecticut came out of the West bracket and upset Duke in the finals (remember Khalid El-Amin's "We're going to shock the world tonight" statement before the game?) In 2004, the Huskies, led by Emeka Okafor, were a 2-seed and defeated Georgia Tech in the finals.
But before you tune your professor out, here are some interesting tidbits about this year's field and the NCAA tournament in general.
The Big Ten got seven teams in? But they can't score!: Before you listen to one more word that comes out of ESPN analyst Digger Phelps' mouth, check for yourself before agreeing to that general rhetoric.
This season, Minnesota beat overall top-seed Louisville. Michigan beat Duke and UCLA. Illinois shellacked Missouri.
Michigan State beat tourney teams Texas and Oklahoma State. Ohio State beat Butler. And the kicker, non-tourney team Northwestern drilled Florida State. By 14.
The Big Ten has been down in previous years, but this year it's a solid group top to bottom. By no means is it the Big East or ACC, but the league can play. Then again, the ACC has only had one team advance to the Sweet 16 the last two years - North Carolina.
A No. 1 seed will surely win the tournament, right?: Since the modern seeding system began in 1979, 16 No. 1 seeds have cut down the nets in 30 years.
However, 1-seeds didn't fair too well in the 1980s, only winning the championship three times (1982, 1984, 1987). Since 1990, 1-seeds have never gone more than two years without winning a championship.
And the trend of more 1-seeds doing well has risen, with all four 1s making the Sweet 16 the last four years. But the trend peaked last season, when all four No. 1s reached the Final Four.
If a 1-seed isn't going to win, where are my odds?: If you don't feel any of the 1-seeds will win this year, your best bet is with a 2. Six 2-seeds have won it all since 1979, the most recent being Connecticut in 2004.
Four 3-seeds have won titles, only one 4-seed (Arizona in 1997), two 6-seeds (three have reached the title game) and, of course, the ultimate Cinderella, 8-seed Villanova in 1985.
East coast boys who love it out west: Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun has put together some great teams during his tenure in Stoors.
But Calhoun's two titles at Connecticut have come from beginning the West regional, a spot the Huskies sit in right now. In 1999, Connecticut came out of the West bracket and upset Duke in the finals (remember Khalid El-Amin's "We're going to shock the world tonight" statement before the game?) In 2004, the Huskies, led by Emeka Okafor, were a 2-seed and defeated Georgia Tech in the finals.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
StopArrestingMe
posted 3/16/09 @ 1:02 PM EST
I'll tell you who my number one seed is and that is jesus. All you kids are putting too much into a game A GAME whe you should be throwing yourselves at the mercy of your lord. (Continued…)
Buddha
posted 3/16/09 @ 5:49 PM EST
Religion is boring. Religious wars be damned; what we should really do is put all the religious leaders like Buddha, Mohamed, and Jesus in a bracket and see what happens. (Continued…)
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