The inaugural “First Four” is now in the books, and basketball fans are now primed for the ensuing madness that will take place throughout the rest of the month. The new-look opening round of the tournament this year saw four games played over the course of two days. On Tuesday, UNC-Asheville defeated Arkansas-Little Rock in overtime, and Clemson defeated UAB. Wednesday saw UT-San Antonio defeat Alabama State, and Virginia Commonwealth upset Southern Cal.
From where I was sitting, the First Four was a big hit. Not just because there was more basketball for basketball fans to eat up, but it seemed as though it was a perfect platform for the small schools of the tournament to get some well deserved exposure and recognition.
Before this season, the tournament had a play-in game. The game consisted of two small Division I basketball teams playing for the right to enter the field of 64. So, you had teams 64 and 65 slugging it out with little fanfare. While it certainly beat sitting at home or playing in the NIT, it is hard to imagine schools feeling part of the big dance as much as the teams did this year by participating in the First Four.
In essence, the First Four made the small schools taking part relevant in the world of college basketball for a few days. While the First Four was not completely comprised of small schools (Clemson and USC were part of the eight team field) it gave schools such as UNC-Asheville, Arkansas-Little Rock, Alabama State and UT-San Antonio a chance to announce themselves to basketball fans around the world.
Thanks to the new tournament format, some of the schools were treated to perks they may not have received otherwise. For instance, the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs had never flown in a chartered flight until they did so this week to travel to Dayton for Tuesday night’s game.
It appears as though the First Four may be somewhat of a happy medium. It sure as heck beats the underwhelming play-in game that has taken place in the past, and it is better than allowing 200 schools to participate in the tournament.
While North Carolina and Duke were at home getting ready for their respective games, college basketball’s stage was reserved for UNC-Asheville and Arkansas-Little Rock on Tuesday night. The two teams played a classic, overtime thriller. It was the kind of college basketball game that fans would expect to take place this time of season. For most of those involved, it was their first and probably last shot at playing on such a big stage in March. While it wasn’t exactly the Final Four, at least these teams were given the platform to contribute to the madness.
Joshua Sexton is a lifelong basketball fanatic, who watches as many games as possible. In addition, He has played and coached the game at the high school level. He has recently started writing about the game of basketball.
