Not the Madness I Was Hoping For
The NCAA Tournament is upon us and normally for those of us here in Syracuse, that means cheering on our beloved Orange as they play for that trip to the F**** F***... yeah, I can't say that one either because of the copyright issues. Just like the S**** B***. Anyway, with 22 wins and a 10-6 record in the Big East, it was presumed that the city would be all decked out in orange once again for another championship run.
Instead, we're not exactly orange right now, more like red... as in seeing red. The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, who I'm convinced must be comprised of the same people who keep voting for Sanjaya on "American Idol", chose to keep us out of the 65-team field this year. Now all the statistical comparisons and the whys and hows for the Orange not making the tournament have been repeated ad nauseum various other places, so I won't talk about it at all here. Suffice to say, we got screwed, and most of the country agrees. Not that we did ourselves any favors when we went out there last night and promptly almost lost to SOUTH ALABAMA in the first round of the NIT. However, the love that came down from the 17,000 SU fans at the Dome last night was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Yes our fan base has its share of people who expect dominance every year and trash our Hall of Fame coach when it doesn't happen (we call them "trolls"), but for the most part, we're good people.
So on to the 65 teams not called Syracuse who actually are playing in this year's NCAA Tournament. The yearly office pools are well underway, and so we have the obligatory articles that get published this time every year that talks about how American businesses lose a couple billion dollars of productivity over employees who would rather watch hoops than make deals. Whatever. Those stories only appeal to number crunchers who read said stories, swear up and down that their business won't slack off like that... and then promptly plunk down $20 on brackets. I know it happens; I've seen it happen.
Originally it was thought that there would be a lack of interest in such things around here because of the lack of Syracuse in the tournament, but at least where I work, that lack ended, oh, about 11:50 this morning, or 20 minutes before the first game. That's when the mad dash for the copier began for everyone who suddenly developed the last-minute urge to jump into the pool. Now I'm sure you're wondering why I've waited until after the tournament has started to write about who I'm picking and brackets and such. Well, there's a good reason... not that I think any of you would draw your inspiration for how to fill out your pool sheet from me, but since the games have started, it's too late for you to do that anyway.
So here's who I'm going with... I'll admit I'm not picking this like I would in some years. I've been burned in the past by going against teams I don't like (for example, Temple torched my bracket one year when I picked them to fall in the 1st round because I didn't like John Chaney), but this year... well... how can you NOT pick Duke to lose in the first round? Unless you like Duke, in which case I feel sorry for you. Accordingly, I have the ACC and Pac-10 collectively going down in flames. Why? They're OVERRATED, that's why, and part of the reason why Syracuse didn't make the NCAAs. I know what the RPI says and all that, but you have to start from somewhere when the season begins, and I'm convinced that they start the season by weighting the RPI toward the conferences whose asses receive the most kissing.
That being said, I did pick what I think are a good last four teams for Atlanta: Florida, Ohio State, Georgetown, and Kansas. Some people picked using various crazy methods like flipping coins or randomly picking, oh I dunno, Davidson to make it to Atlanta, and I am guaranteed to do better than these people. Considering Davidson's already out of the tournament, I'm off to a good start. Florida and Georgetown make the finals, and Florida wins. I know it's difficult to repeat as champions of college basketball, but it's hard to pick against a veteran team in March.
Oh, and I'm picking Syracuse to win the NIT, for obvious reasons.
Instead, we're not exactly orange right now, more like red... as in seeing red. The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, who I'm convinced must be comprised of the same people who keep voting for Sanjaya on "American Idol", chose to keep us out of the 65-team field this year. Now all the statistical comparisons and the whys and hows for the Orange not making the tournament have been repeated ad nauseum various other places, so I won't talk about it at all here. Suffice to say, we got screwed, and most of the country agrees. Not that we did ourselves any favors when we went out there last night and promptly almost lost to SOUTH ALABAMA in the first round of the NIT. However, the love that came down from the 17,000 SU fans at the Dome last night was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Yes our fan base has its share of people who expect dominance every year and trash our Hall of Fame coach when it doesn't happen (we call them "trolls"), but for the most part, we're good people.
So on to the 65 teams not called Syracuse who actually are playing in this year's NCAA Tournament. The yearly office pools are well underway, and so we have the obligatory articles that get published this time every year that talks about how American businesses lose a couple billion dollars of productivity over employees who would rather watch hoops than make deals. Whatever. Those stories only appeal to number crunchers who read said stories, swear up and down that their business won't slack off like that... and then promptly plunk down $20 on brackets. I know it happens; I've seen it happen.
Originally it was thought that there would be a lack of interest in such things around here because of the lack of Syracuse in the tournament, but at least where I work, that lack ended, oh, about 11:50 this morning, or 20 minutes before the first game. That's when the mad dash for the copier began for everyone who suddenly developed the last-minute urge to jump into the pool. Now I'm sure you're wondering why I've waited until after the tournament has started to write about who I'm picking and brackets and such. Well, there's a good reason... not that I think any of you would draw your inspiration for how to fill out your pool sheet from me, but since the games have started, it's too late for you to do that anyway.
So here's who I'm going with... I'll admit I'm not picking this like I would in some years. I've been burned in the past by going against teams I don't like (for example, Temple torched my bracket one year when I picked them to fall in the 1st round because I didn't like John Chaney), but this year... well... how can you NOT pick Duke to lose in the first round? Unless you like Duke, in which case I feel sorry for you. Accordingly, I have the ACC and Pac-10 collectively going down in flames. Why? They're OVERRATED, that's why, and part of the reason why Syracuse didn't make the NCAAs. I know what the RPI says and all that, but you have to start from somewhere when the season begins, and I'm convinced that they start the season by weighting the RPI toward the conferences whose asses receive the most kissing.
That being said, I did pick what I think are a good last four teams for Atlanta: Florida, Ohio State, Georgetown, and Kansas. Some people picked using various crazy methods like flipping coins or randomly picking, oh I dunno, Davidson to make it to Atlanta, and I am guaranteed to do better than these people. Considering Davidson's already out of the tournament, I'm off to a good start. Florida and Georgetown make the finals, and Florida wins. I know it's difficult to repeat as champions of college basketball, but it's hard to pick against a veteran team in March.
Oh, and I'm picking Syracuse to win the NIT, for obvious reasons.
Labels: college basketball, NCAAs, Syracuse
posted by Dave | 6:13 PM
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