Published in the March, 16, 2018 edition.
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
Thank you, Buffalo. No seriously, thank you.
Sure I picked Arizona to make it to San Antonio for the Championship Game, but I will gladly sacrifice my pride as an upset martyr if that means more are to come.
March Madness has an upset problem.
The higher seed won 13 of the 16 first round games played yesterday, and one of those three “upsets” was No. 9 Alabama over No. 8 Virginia Tech which quite frankly doesn’t qualify.
March Madness had much more first round anarchy in the not-so-distant past. There were six significant round one upsets just five years ago in the 2013 tournament. That included three 12-seed over 5-seed victories including Cal over UNLV, Ole Miss over Wisconsin and Oregon over Marcus Smart’s Oklahoma State Cowboys. Then there were three Buffalo-sized shockers, including No. 13 La Salle beating No. 4 Kansas State, No. 14 Harvard outsmarting No. 3 New Mexico and Dunk City’s No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast cruising past No. 2 Georgetown.
Buffalo’s domination of Arizona was the lone disturbance of yesterday’s games.
Overall, there were two upsets if you count No. 11 Loyola Chicago’s buzzer-beater, an awesome tournament moment for Chicago’s Donte Ingram and team chaplain Sister Jean Schmidt, as the Ramblers are certainly on a mission from God. But I’m hard-pressed to call that an upset, considering Miami was favored by just one point. Not to mention the Hurricanes’ second leading scorer and former Wakefield High School basketball star Bruce Brown was out, still recovering from foot surgery.
That’s not to say there weren’t some great games. A couple of 12-seeds gave it a good run, including Davidson against Kentucky and South Dakota State vs. Ohio State. No. 13 UNC Greensboro came very close against Gonzaga and 14-seeded SF Austin gave No. 3 Texas Tech a scare, but all to no upset-avail.
So why the sudden chalk?
I think it’s the chips.
Everyone loves a good cinderella team for a multitude of reasons, but one is this feeling of watching the impossible unfold. The fans feel like they’re right there with the underdog. Nobody gave us a chance? Watch this.
Imagine the motivation for teams like Buffalo when “bracket experts” pronounce the game over days before it even begins. Coaches and student-athletes are more locked into the media than ever. They know the narratives and the “trendy” upset picks.
After the Buckeyes held on to beat Mike Daum’s Jackrabbits, a popular upset pick in many brackets yesterday, Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann had this to say in a postgame interview on TNT: “I just want to thank all the fine, smart, clever journalists who didn’t pick us. And trust me, our guys were aware of that. So…appreciate that.”
The mindset of five star recruits has shifted. You think Texas Tech heard the rumblings of an SF Austin win?
The heavy favorites had no reason for a chip on their shoulder in tournaments as early as five years ago. Never underestimate the power of good bulletin board material.
Today’s trendiest upset pick is No. 12 New Mexico State over No. 5 Clemson. Don’t bet against angry Tigers.
Maybe that means our best shot at a couple more major upsets today are those out-of-this world, did-that-really-happen type games. We might be more likely to see a 15-2 Georgia State over Cincinnati, or a 13-4 Marshall over Wichita State upset than a fashionable 12-5 Murray State over West Virginia.
I picked Xavier as a Final Four team this year. The Musketeers open as a 1-seed and a 20-point favorite against the Texas Southern Tigers, a team who started the season 0-13.
Let’s go Tigers.
