I’ve considered all of the madness I have seen over the past four days, and I have come to the conclusion that I have vastly underrated college basketball over the past few years.  Maybe its because my favorite teams, the University of Oregon and Cal Poly State University have stunk over that time period, but I almost feel like I have missed out on something great over that time period.

Yes, every year I have  still paid attention to the tourney, but it seems this season, due the the heightened pressure from peers to pay attention and actually utilize your sense of sports knowledge, I have come to realize that college basketball is worth the attention.  Throw my gripes about hand-checking and the lack of defensive upkeep in the game aside for now.  The effort I have seen from all of these teams the past four days has glued me to the TV, whenever possible, as I have made my on-going daily life almost secondary to turning up the radio in the truck or turning on the Visio first thing when walking in the front door.

Sunday was somewhat of a disappointment, even though yesterday I lost my Final Four surprise, the Kansas State Frank Martins.  Today the Orange were juiced, Purdue laid down and Notre Dame laid an egg.

The best part of the day was the unsung.  My prediction from the start was that Kansas, if they could get by the Illini in the round of 32, would only have to only play the winner of Richmond and Morehead State (12 and 13 seeds, two of my three major first-round upsets) in the round of 16.  What I didn’t consider as well, is that after that win, and due to the upsets in the bottom of the bracket, they will have to only face the winner of two other upset seeds in the elite 8 – either 10 seed Florida State or 11 seed VCU.

This chain of events sets up perfect for my national champion.  In the rounds of 16 and 8, they only have to beat a 12 seed in the sweet 16, and either a 10 or 11 seed in the elite 8, to reach the Final Four.  Kansas fans will then migrate in drones to Houston for the Final Four, which is only a straight shot South from Lawrence, either 12 hours by wheel or 2.5 hours by wing.

This plus will give the Jayhawks a distinct advantage at the penultimate moment.  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but – Rock Chalk – Jayhawk – KU!  – ADS

Sun 3:20 8:25

With the in-laws in town, what could be more unpredictable than child-birth or the NCAA Tournament? The answer is Russell Crowe. So we’re watching Robin Hood. A decent end to a weekend of the underdog. — OM

Sun 3/20 8:12

As if this can’t get any more maddening, now Notre Dame is down eighteen to ten seed Florida st. with fifteen minutes to play. What is going on?–Loco

Sun 3/20 7:21

Greg Anthony was more right than anyone. This truly is the year of the underdog. Not much difference from 4 to 16 this year. Purdue just went down. Syracuse just went down. Pitt went down yesterday. Everyone is going down early this year.–Loco

Sun 3/20 5:21 PM

Brown from Texas is the best sixth man since Maggette with Duke in 99′.–Loco

Sun 3/20 5:11 PM

Zona by four with eight minutes to play. This is what it is all about. Two teams laying it on the line in the heated one and done atmosphere of the Madness. The NBA pales in comparison right now.–Loco

Sun 3/20 4:20

Ohio st. blowing out George Mason. There will no re-living of GM in the final four. Wow. Most dominate showing by any team I have ever seen in Tournament history. Ohio st. is 13 of 19 from 3pt.–Loco

Sun 3/20 3:45 PM

Zona by seven with seven to play in first half. I like the way they are shooting the corners and lobbing the ball into Williams. Getting Williams involved early has tired the Longhorns super-frosh Tristan Thompson. –Loco

Sun 3/20 2:02 PM

Coach Beilien has the Wolverines going in the right direction. This year’s Duke team is better than last years title team. I have go to hand it to the Wolverines, they simply DID NOT quit being down fifteen at one point in the 2nd half. Nice survival game by the Dukies though, 73-71.–Loco

Sun 3/20 12:31 PM

May be Duke by only five right now, but they clearly are in control of this game. Nolan Smith is the director of traffic. He is the dime dropping assasin leading charge for a balanced Duke team.  I like the Wolverines, but they are scrambling: living and dying by the three point shot. They are on life support, a half away from death.–Loco

Sun 3/20 11:50 AM

I too hate UNC. Mostly because I picked Washington. Duke better watch out vs. Michigan. Their coach always puts his team in a position to be in games late. If Nolan Smith keeps playing awesome D and if Michigan keeps throwing the ball away, it could be a long day for the Wolv’s… — OM

Sun. 3/20 11:25 AM

Over the emotions of my last post. I just don’t know what to make of this North Carolina team. In fact they piss me off. Wish I could see them lose by thirty to Cuesta College.–Loco

Sun. 3/20 9:02 AM

Will George Mason repeat their stunning 2006 run? Not if Ohio St. has something to say about it. How serious should we be taking Arizona? It is officially day four of March Madness. Yesterday gave us everything we hope to see: upsets. Butler is reminding us of their amazing 2010 team that upset, upset, upset, all the way to the title game. Their win over number one seed Pittsburgh was the funniest thing this tournament has ever seen. Two fouls in the final three seconds–one from half court, then another from 3/4 court, created the bewilderment of a one point Butler win.

Things really hit home for me while watching the Kansas st. v Wisconsin game. For four years, I have enjoyed Wildcats guard Jacob Pullen’s maturation into a collegiate all-American.  Despite his quickness and ability to shoot the three, pro scouts have shown no interest. After College, Pullen will be forced to reinterpret his life, try things out in the NBDL, overseas, or in the 9 to 5. For all of us who’ve enjoyed watching him, we have been left with memories that will fade as the years go by. When the final buzzer sounded with score of Wisconsin 70, Kansas St. 65, Pullen dropped to his knees with tears streaming down his face. Jacob I take nothing for granted. Thank you for everything young man.–Loco

Since winning the National Championship last year, all I’ve heard from people is how much they hate Duke, how much Duke is over-rated, how people are sick of hearing about Duke, how much people hate Coach K, blah blah blah.  But in reality, is there anything to hate about Duke?

Let’s take a look at some facts:

Coaching

– Mike Krzyzewski has been coaching Duke Basketball for 30 years. (For current active coaches, he is only second to Jim Boeheim of Syracuse).

– Coach K is 4th on the list of all time winning coaches, 1st in the last 10 years. 888 wins 281 loses.

– Loyalty:  In all 30 years, Coach K has been offered numerous jobs in the NBA for high profile teams and top dollar. In all cases, Coach K has declined NBA jobs to stay loyal to Duke.

– Tapped to restore United States pride for USA Olympic basketball after a dismal and embarrassing performance with a bunch of “know it all individuals” from the NBA. (Coaching and earning a Gold medal in 2008 with the Redeem Team).

– Pure Class:  When is the last time Coach K has made the news about NCAA violations, scandal or any other bad press?

– Coach K Has led Duke Basketball to 26 tournament appearances. Probably would have been 27 and 27 in a row if he didn’t have back surgery in 1995 and had to leave the team.

Team

– 26 total NCAA tournament appearances

– 14 final four appearances

– 4 National Titles

– 9 players of the year, 11 if you count all the years (Jason Williams and J.J. Redick have won this honor twice)

– 11 ACC player of the year, 13 if you count all the years (Danny Ferry and J.J. Redick have won this honor twice)

– 18 ACC Championships

– 71 players drafted into the NBA

– 89 percent graduation rate (players leaving early for NBA counts towards this ratio, school has a 97% graduation rate)

– 55 All Americans

– 14 Academic All Americans

So let me get this straight, people hate Duke Basketball because they win, have a loyal coach, have a strong history of class and discipline in academics and athletics, as well as develop phenomenal/well-rounded individuals when they leave college (when is the last time a Duke basketball player in the NBA has gotten arrested)?  This makes absolute sense…. *cue sarcasm*

I understand that there is an “elitist” mentality when it comes to Duke, but can you blame them?  Duke only expects the best from their athletes, coaches and students; is that so wrong?  (I blame Christian Laetnner for this reputation, but everyone deserves a gimme, great winning shot though).  Also, let’s be real, North Carolina is Tar Heel country; there are obviously more Tar Heel fans than Duke fans and they loathe each other.  Weird coincidence, but do you ever hear any hatred towards Roy Williams?

So go ahead, hate Duke, encourage the scandal, the shady coaching/recruiting, the academic mediocrity; discourage excellence, loyalty and class– That’s America for you, Land of Frauds, Home of the Bullshit.

— Matt Nguyen (aka Nuge)

Disagree?  Email me at matt@fansmanship.com