Buzzer-beating bracket busters.
It didn't take long for March Madness to live up to its name.
When three of the first four games on Thursday came down to a last-second shot, we knew we were in for one wild and crazy ride.
A ride that will last two more weekends.
Every person I met on Monday was complaining about their busted brackets.
You mean they didn't see two teams from Virginia -Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth -advancing to the Sweet 16? Or Pitt playing as poorly as it did in the Big East Tournament? Speaking of the Big East, it's the second year in a row the alleged greatest basketball conference of all time has been a major disappointment.
The lesson that we learn from all this -and we have to re-learn it every March -is that sports is unpredictable.
And no sport is more unpredictable than basketball, where it only takes five athletes to field a competitive team.
In football, the powerhouse teams traditionally invite one of the lesser schools to come to their stadium to open the season and everybody at both institutions knows what the result is going to be. The powerhouse fills its stadium and whips its crowd into a frenzy with an impressive lop-sided win. The small school gladly takes it beating for the huge check it receives.
But let the same two schools meet in basketball and the war is on.
It may not be the best example, but look at our in-state series.
Try as it might, Marshall hasn't beaten West Virginia in football, causing many to question whether the annual Friends of Coal Bowl game should be extended. But no one is questioning the merit of the MU-WVU basketball series, which saw the Herd pull yet another upset this season.
We're down to the Sweet 16, the alleged cream of the crop.
Yet, we've still got some games where virtually everyone is going to pick the same team.
Kansas over Richmond. Ohio State over Kentucky. Duke over Arizona. Florida State over Virginia Commonwealth.
But past history tells us that more than likely one or more of those teams will get beat. Yet, we'll act shocked when it happens.
OK, I'll bite.
Here's an interesting statistic.
The last three schools at which Bob Huggins coached -Cincinnati, Kansas State and West Virginia -all qualified for the NCAA Tournament, all won their opening game, and all failed to make the Sweet 16.
The last three schools at which John Beilein coached -Richmond, West Virginia and Michigan -all qualified for the NCAA Tournament, all won their opening game, and only Richmond made the Sweet 16.
What does all that mean? I'll let you interpret it. But this sports writer thinks it's an interesting statistic.
Contact Dave Poe at dpoe@newsandsentinel.com
