I do not follow college basketball closely. I'll watch a game here and there, but I don't throw myself into the season like so many others do. But now, it's basketball all the time. Me and the wife have tickets for a minor league hockey game on Saturday, and I'm worried about missing the games during that time - and that is a substantial comment, as anyone who has ever been to a hockey game knows that it is, bar none, the best spectator sport on the planet.
So I put my bracket together like I always do, lamented that Eastern Washington didn't win the Big Sky (they weren't even in the Big Sky tournament... go Eagles!) and groaned loudly upon seeing Montana as the Big Sky represenative.
Montana.
The damn Grizzlies.
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| Damn Grizzlies... |
My nemesis.
To further complicate things, my wife filled out her bracket and had Montana in the Final 4. She says she didn't do that with me in mind and my general hatred for all things Montana, but I know better. She wanted to rile me up.
Rile acheived.
And dammit, I can't really say anything since damn Gonzaga got a #1 seed. Deservedly, I know, but dammit, that makes it worse. Fortunately for me she is going to be very busy with trial during the first 4 rounds of the tournament, so I'm banking on when she asks for the first time how Gonzaga is doing, I can look at her and say "they're out."
Damn I'm bitter.
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| Doesn't he kinda look like Voldemort? |
I think more of it relates to my personal opinion of Mark Few, which isn't very high. He's... kind of a dick. Gonzaga schedules poorly out of conference to puff up their win/loss record (they didn't always do this) and when they roll through the WCC, people act like it's an accomplishment. The WCC is like many other smaller conferences in college basketball, in that it's exactly like the WNBA. A single grossly talented player can dominate the league and carry the team on their shoulders all the way to the league title.
Don't believe me on that WNBA crack? Look at Candace Parker, Dianna Taurasi and soon, Brittney Griner. When they enter the league, they win rookie of the year, MVP, and the title. That speaks EXTREMELY poorly on the talent pool in the rest of the league. And small conferences like the WCC (and yes, Eastern's Big Sky falls into this as well) are no exception to this. If I knew how to footnote in this blogger, I would have footnoted this paragraph. Moving on.
Now don't get me wrong here. I'm not a Gonzaga hater. More like a Gonzaga indifferent. Yes, their record is impressive, and they should have a #1 seed. They didn't play anybody, so the record is puffed up (kinda like what a certain catholic football team does...) but they must have that #1 seed. I compare them to that Saint Joe's team from a few years back that had 1 loss. Not a very good team, but they had a great run and they deserved to be rewarded for that with a #1 seed, and unlike in college football, teams can get rewarded for regular season play.
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| "Hey man, I want to have an NBA career too." |
There are plenty of things I am looking forward to in this tournament though. What will Butler do this year? Will North Carolina lose in the first round? How many tie/highliter combinations will Digger Phelps go through? How badly will CBS botch coverage on a regional game? (they didn't show the second half of Eastern's only NCAA tournament game in school history 10 years ago, and I'm still a bit bitter about that.) Will Big East refs screw up again? Will players keep slipping and hurting themselves on that gigantic NCAA logo on mid court? You know, fun things to watch for.
So line up your brackets folks, pick your teams, and watch the best basketball played in this country. It's gonna be a hell of a ride.
Kansas over Michigan State for the title.
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