64 teams turn into 16 just like that, and after a weekend of constant NCAA tournament basketball in front of my eyes, what can be taken away? Jumping into college basketball for a month or so means I won’t fully catchup before it’s all over, but there were some things I learned over the opening weekend of March Madness.
1. With its roster packed with next-level talent, Kentucky is not only easily the most relevant college team for NBA fans, they are also on the hook for the “See, That’s Just Not How a Program Should Be Run” babble if they should ever fall. This will not be good.
2. It’s fun to have the sight and sound of basketball all day long, but sometimes the results are enough for me.
3. Baylor and Cincinnati wouldn’t meet until the national title game, but those respective uniforms would combine to be a ultra-strong high-res test of your HD tuner, like a radioactive Christmas.
4. If you believe Kentucky and North Carolina are just that much better than the rest of the field, Kendall Marshall’s injury does not bode well for a fitting tournament end.
5. Charles Barkley knows that you know how little he’s prepared for this.
6. Lehigh beating Duke was hilarious, Lehigh beating Duke in questionable brown uniforms, with a nickname like the Mountain Hawks, is just perfect.
7. Missouri would also like to thank Lehigh, because nobody remembers Norfolk St. as much after the Mountain Hawks’ triumph. Ah, those Mountain Hawks.
8. From #1 above, Michigan State is the sum-greater-than-the-parts college team with the tenured star (Draymond Green) that could challenge Kentucky’s otherworldliness and obvious stares towards the NBA on the horizon.
9. The least-surprising surprising thing is Wisconsin finding a way back into the Sweet Sixteen.
10. Even if the basketball can sometimes make you cringe, the bracket will always make it interesting, will always make it worth watching.
Most of the remaining teams are still foreign to me, but I’ll keep watching because of the format. Because of what’s at stake, because the tension is so obvious and plays such a huge part of the actual gameplay, it’s worth seeing who can (cliche alert!) survive and advance. In the meantime, I’ll return to the pro game until next weekend, and another trip into the separate universe that is the NCAA tournament.
Griffin Gotta contributes to The Hoop Doctors and is a co-managing editor of Straight Outta Vancouver. The story arcs and infinite weirdness of the NBA are addictions he deals with every day. Email him at griffingotta at gmail dot com.
