Serious question — is this the worst NCAA Tournament you’ve seen (so far) in a long, long time?
Yes, the Duke-Central Florida game was as compelling as it gets. And the LSU win over Maryland came down to the last shot.
But there have been way more snoozers than thrillers to justify all this March “Madness” business.
Sure, there have been upsets, but are they really upsets? Oregon is a No. 12 seed in name only and the Ducks have beaten a Wisconsin team that didn’t do a thing all year and another team whose nickname is the Anteaters.
This has been one double-digit win after another. Until the Tennessee-Iowa game, there were no overtime games. Even with the Duke one-point finish and an overtime game, the average margin of victory in Sunday’s games was 13.0.
There were literally more great games on one afternoon on March 14, 1981, that they have been all week this year. That was the day St. Joseph stunned No. 1 DePaul, then Arkansas’ U.S. Reed made a half-court shot to beat defending champion Louisville. Minutes later, Kansas State knocked out Oregon State, another No. 1 seed.
Some say that was the day it all became March Madness. Now, the only madness we are getting is having to to endure the endless series of Charles Barkley/Spike Lee/Samuel L. Jackson commercials.
Do you know how many teams are left that aren’t in a Power 5 conference? One, Gonzaga. Not exactly Loyola-Chicago of last year. Even more telling, of the 16 highest seeds, 14 are still around. The only two interlopers are Oregon (see above) and No. 5 Auburn (wow, what a shocker). Other than that, hello chalk.
And hello, boring tournament. At least so far.
(IN REVIEW: Here’s what the Daily Happen told you going into the tournament. “Take a shot with Oregon, Murray State, Liberty, UC Irvine, Iowa and Seton Hall. All are double-digit seeds. You’re welcome. Be wary of Virginia, Wisconsin, Florida and Kansas. …” Not bad, huh?)