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For the past bunch of years, I have entered, for entertainment purposes only (excuse me while I clear my throat), an NCAA Tournament pool. I did not go in this year, primarily because of time, but mostly because it is so difficult to win. This year there are 346 entries. I was NOT one of them.
As of Monday, out of the 346 entries, only 5 could win! 5!
Those five individuals have picked West Virginia, Clemson, Gonzaga (2), and Michigan to win it all. Now the reason I bring this up is because, in the only pool I entered, I picked Villanova. Villanova, in case you stopped watching, is still alive and now is the highest seed in the tournament. I would have been the 6th person with a chance to win out of (did I mention) 347 entries.
This NCAA Tournament has been nothing but a mess. Two #1 seeds did not get out of the first weekend, with the biggest upset coming when #16 UMBC beat the overall #1 Virginia. That has never been done before. I’m sure a big smile came over the faces of Allen’s Ray Barbosa and Whitehall’s Jay Greene. Both were on the UMBC team the last time they were even in the tournament in 2008. They lost to Georgetown that year.
In the South region, none of the top four seeds are still playing. That’s never happened before. Nevada was down in their game against Cincinnati by 22 points and staged the second largest comeback in tournament history for their win.
In the West, #1 Xavier and #2 North Carolina (the defending champ, by the way) both lost. North Carolina was never in their game with Texas A&M.
In the Midwest, Syracuse had to come out of the play-in round in Dayton and then won their next two weekend games. That NEVER happens. Next up for them is Duke. Imagine if Syracuse…
The East had some semblance of sanity – 4 of the top 5 seeds advanced to play in Boston. #1 Villanova, #2 Purdue, #3 Texas Tech, and #5 West Virginia.
So anybody can win the 2018 national championship – anybody, that is but YOU! Unless you were a miracle prognosticator, your pool is probably now scrap paper and, instead of being glued to your TV for the next week, you might actually go shopping with your significant other.
Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities said,
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
Just insert “The 2018 NCAA Tournament” for every “it”. I think you get my drift.
What a mess.
ABOVE THE EARS
- Last week, I picked North Carolina (out), Virginia (out), Kansas (in) and Villanova (in) as my final four. I still feel Villanova (my pick) will win the National Championship.
- I hope you went to or watched the Bethlehem Catholic–Imhotep Charter PIAA semi-final game on Monday night. It was a classic. Beca battled the #7 team in the nation right down to the wire losing 65-60. It was a great high school game. Beca won the EPC and District XI championships and came, oh so close, to going for a state title. Congratulations!
- There have been plenty of miraculous endings this past weekend in the NCAA Tournament, but the craziest may have happened at Liberty High School on Monday where Abington Heights was playing Bonner-Prendergast in the PIAA 5A semi-final. AH was leading 48-45 when B-P missed a 3 and two players battled for a rebound as the buzzer sounded to end the game. AH fans showered the court with Hershey Kisses signifying their team was headed to the state championship played in Hershey. BUT, the officials had called a foul on AH and, then, a technical foul on the fans for throwing Kisses. B-P would be awarded four foul shots, just enough to win the game! The player made the first three, but missed the fourth. AH won in overtime.
- Remember the name Donta Scott a 6-7 junior. He played for Imhotep-Charter. He was the best player I saw in the tournament. Right now, he has scholarship offers from St. Joe’s, LaSalle, Temple, and Penn State. I guarantee you that list will grow.
- Our basketball season has concluded and I just want to thank the RCN crew for another great job of bringing you high school basketball and wrestling during the winter months. Imagine all the places and times that they have to run camera connections, carry that heavy equipment, do a game, tear it all down, and get ready to do it again, often four or five times a week. I’m sure I speak for Chris Michael, John Leone, Tom Stoudt, Scott Barr, and Ryan Nunamaker in thanking those hard workers for making the announcers’ jobs so much more rewarding!
