Thirty-two games are in the record books. Who knew simply watching the games could be so exhausting? I don’t know about you, but I could use a nap. There’s no time for that now, though, so I’m having a Twinkie (my first one in years) and collecting my thoughts from round one.
By The Numbers
I simply cannot resist examining the results each year from a statistical trend point of view, especially as it relates to the team seeding. Here are a few noteworthy items at this point this year.
- Upset special? – Did it "feel" like we had a lot of upsets this year? The average number of first round upsets over the past ten years is seven. This year, we had ten, precisely the same as last year. After seven upsets yesterday, the law of averages kicked in today, with all but three of the favorites emerging victorious.
- An (almost) perfect 10 – Also for the second year in a row, three 10-seeds won in the first round. The only 10 seed to fail was Florida, who lost in double overtime to BYU.
- It’s a toss-up – The 8-9 games lived up to their 50/50 expectations, evenly split between the 8’s (Gonzaga and California) and the 9’s (Northern Iowa and Wake Forest).
- 11th heaven – Eleven seeds were 2-2 this year, with Washington and Old Dominion advancing to the round of 32.
- 12’s? Not so much – Typically 12 seeds are almost as likely to win in the first round as the 5 seeds they face, but this year, only one advanced, the Ivy League’s Cornell. This gave the Ivy League it’s first NCAA tournament win since MTV played music videos.
Seeing Double?
A burning question at this point is how many double-digit seeds will advance to the Sweet Sixteen? History says there will be at least one, and very likely two. More than that will be an anomaly. On everyone’s radar are the 14-seed Ohio Bobcats. After beating Georgetown in round one, they have made believers out of a lot of people that they can play with anyone.
Conference Performance
By now you have probably heard that the vaunted Big East has not faired so well. In fact, the Big East is just 4-4 so far. Meanwhile, the much-maligned Pac-10 is 2-0, as is the ignored West Coast Conference. The Big 10 is an impressive 3-1, while the ACC is a respectable 4-2, and the Big 12 is an equally respectable 5-2.
Other Random Thoughts
You’re Welcome
I’ve always been partial to Gonzaga, but they have disappointed me so many times in the tournament that I decided their 8 seed wasn’t worth my trouble this year. I’m convinced they won because I did not pick them. Mark Few, you’re welcome.
Booooooo
Inevitably things happen every year that are worthy of a good Bronx cheer.
The Bad Call, Ref! award goes to the officiating crew of the game between Michigan State and New Mexico State, New Mexico State was called for a lane violation on a second free throw that Michigan State missed while holding a two-point lead in the closing seconds. The New Mexico State player did flinch, but whether he entered the lane early is highly questionable. With the do-over, Michigan State sank the free throw for a three point lead. As if that weren’t bad enough, the refs refused to look at the monitor and get the time remaining correct on the game’s final player after the ball went out of bounds to New Mexico State under their own basket. The replay clearly shows there should have been between 0.6 and 0.9 seconds remaining, enough time for a catch-and-shoot by rule. Sure, it is an unlikely scenario, but still a legitimate chance to tie the game and send it into overtime. Instead, they left the clock erroneously at 0.3 seconds, which is only enough time for a tap-in by rule. Now, officials have a difficult, thankless job, for sure, but let the players decide the game. Ref’s who make decisive, questionable calls at the end of games demonstrate a desire to control the outcome. Ref’s should control the game in the sense of making sure the rules are followed, but Ref’s do not play the game and should not control the outcome.
A Fashion Statement?
I often wonder if the age of political correctness hasn’t doomed schools to choose nicknames that are just plain bad. In the old days we had manly nicknames like "Warriors" and "Chiefs". What do we have today? Terriers. Look out, folks, here come the fierce and fighting lap dogs with curly hair all tied up in a bow. Awwwwww.
Tonight I was watching Ohio State play UC Santa Barbara. It is bad enough that poor UCSB is a 15 seed struggling to be taken seriously. Even worse, most of the players looked like they just stepped off a surf board. But to me, the ultimate insult is their nickname – the Gauchos. Now, perhaps you are from a part of the country where the word "gauchos." conjures up images of swashbuckling heroes with swords, six shooters, and Lone Ranger style masks, but where I come from, it can mean only one thing: ladies pants. Here they come, the hapless fighting ladies pants trying to compete with mighty Ohio State. I mean, come on. Give these guys a fighting chance. It’s humiliating.
Mascot Watch
While we are on the topic, you might be interested to know how the various mascots are fairing in this year’s tournament. They say every dog has its day, and in this case, the dogs have had their day four times out of six for a record of 4-2. The dogs’ mortal enemies, the cats, are 8-4. Also noteworthy is that the Miscellaneous Humans are undefeated (3-0), as are the Colors (2-0) and the Demonic Powers (2-0). Going 0-fer are the Wild West Icons at 0-5, which includes the aforementioned ladies pants.
Contest Update
Ok, enough of all that pontificating. Let us have a look at where we stand in the contest and hand out some important awards. The top two spots in our standings belong to a grade-school kids, while two of my close relatives are bringing up the rear. Read on.
- The I Don’t Like To Brag, But award goes to Andrea Bauschek, who sent me a text message today just to point out that she is in the top 100. Actually, she is tied for 65th.
- The Crazy Eights award goes to those contestants who managed to pick all eight games correctly in one region.
- In the East: Christina Klinker, Neal Cunningham, Toby Risner, Mark Vandre, Connie Randazzo, Jordyn Glassley, Jonathan Hand, Wayne Murray, Ron Pozzi, John Lederman, Billy Brundage, Dave Wilson, Bill Spyksma, Rick Hunteman, David Brush
- In the West: James Wells, Joanna Snyder, Matt Thurber, Scott Bower, Larry Shepherd, Lynn Scofield, Ashlyn Little, Julie Wilson, Joseph Jenkins, Brian Trout, Mark Tillema
- In the South: Bronson Hillman, Ted Jacquay, Liana Wilson, David Kincheloe
- In the Midwest: Blake Dieringer, Nathan Kopp, Doug Brown, Maria Joy Randazzo, Matt Alexander, Olivia Klinker
- The Top Prognosticator award goes to the contestants who picked the most games correctly (but not necessarily the highest scorers). All of these contestants were an impressive 27-5 in round one: Jen Burkhardt, David Brush, David Kincheloe, Chris Shelton, and Pete Merten
- The Bribery Will Get You Nowhere award goes to RJ "If I Apologize Will You Make Me #1" Wynn. No, I won’t.
- As stated earlier, the top two spots on our leader board are currently occupied by kids. One of them is my daughter, Ashlyn, who is in the first grade. I can assure you that she made her own picks, the only guidance we gave her being not to choose any 16’s or 15’s. Our contest leader, who will receive his award in a moment, is the son of one Bruce "dimwit" Schafer. Now the question I want to ask Bruce is, "Did Lewis make his own picks?" If he did, then Bruce gets the You Are Definitely Not Smarter Than Your Own Second Grader award. The chasm between Lewis and Bruce could hardly be wider. Bruce is 450th. If Lewis’ picks are actually Bruce’s "other" picks in disguise, then Bruce gets the Confucius Say Hit Second Tee Shot First award for not reserving the better set of picks for himself.
- Finally, the Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius award goes to contest leader Lewis Schafer. Lewis has a score of 66 points and a win-loss of 0.688. Buy the boy an ice cream or something.
With that, your exhausted contest manager bids you good night. I will see you tomorrow after the first half of the Sweet Sixteen has been determined.