So, you’ve decided to watch the NCAA Tournament. Congratulations! Welcome to the first normal version in three years. 2019 was so long ago. We had a different president. No one could name a coronavirus. Working from home in sweatpants while snacking on Flamin’ Hot Cheetos was a dream reserved only for the privileged few.
The Big Dance was the first major American sporting event to be deep-sixed by the pandemic (pour one out for 2020 March Sadness), and it will be one of the last to return to fully operational status. We have fans back in the stands with games across the country. We have Kentucky, Indiana, and Arizona back in the tournament. And the only mask you might have to worry about is the kind your favorite player might wear if he breaks his nose.
Bizarro World basketball remains though. A coach got fired right before Selection Sunday (Goodbye Will Wade!). A mid-major got an automatic bid despite not winning its league tournament (Hello Jacksonville State!). And the ACC Player of the Year and Coach of the Year aren’t even in the Field of 68 (Sorry Alondes Williams and Steve Forbes!).
The storyline that figures to dominate the coverage (whether you like it or not) will be Mike Krzyzewski. This will be the final tournament for the modern-day John Wooden. Duke will try to send him into retirement with a sixth national championship.
Cue Auld Lang Syne or One Shining Moment? Both? Duke, like the Dallas Cowboys, draws eyeballs to television sets. People tune in to watch and hate-watch. Enjoy cheering or booing Duke now. You’re going to miss Coach K when he’s gone.
What you should know about the No.1 seeds
West Region
Gonzaga (26-3)
Coach: Mark Few
Most recent Shining Moment: 2021 national runner-up
Big Man on Campus: Drew Timme (17.5 ppg)
Gonzaga came oh-so-close to perfection before getting clobbered by Baylor in last year’s title game. This season got off to a rocky start before a basketball was dribbled when Mark Few served a suspension for the season-opener after pleading guilty to a DUI.
Still, the Bulldogs are the No. 1 overall seed again. Advanced metrics gurus Ken Pomeroy and Jeff Sagarin have them clearly as the best team in the country. Their losses came against Duke, Alabama, and Saint Mary’s – and they avenged their last defeat by beating Saint Mary’s in the WCC Tournament Championship game.
The ‘Stache Man (Timme) and The Thin Man (Chet Holmgren) will try to carry the program to its first NCAA title.
South Region
Arizona (31-3)
Coach: Tommy Lloyd
Most recent Shining Moment: 1997 national championship
Big Man on Campus: Bennedict Mathurin (17.4 ppg.)
It didn’t take long for Tommy Lloyd to fix Arizona. The former longtime Gonzaga assistant was expected to eventually do well, but no one saw the turnaround this quickly. The Wildcats, selected to finish fourth in the Pac-12 preseason poll, won the league in his rookie year.
Lloyd picked up the pieces after the Sean Miller mess that included the 2017 federal investigation. The last time we saw Arizona in the tournament they were embarrassed by Buffalo in 2018.
The biggest concern for these Wildcats is the right ankle of Kerr Kriisa. The point guard suffered a sprain in the Pac-12 quarterfinals against Stanford. Lloyd is hopeful that Kriisa will be able to play, but even if he does, how effective will he be?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm1ikztI9IA
Midwest Region
Kansas (28-6)
Coach: Bill Self
Most recent Shining Moment: 2008 national championship
Big Man on Campus: Ochai Agbaji (19.7 ppg)
Bill Self must feel like the last man standing. Big-name coaches connected to the federal investigation like Rick Pitino, Sean Miller, and Wade Miller have been fired. Kansas is sticking with its man because Self gets results. Heck, before the season, he was rewarded with a lifetime contract.
Kansas won the Big 12 regular-season title (yet again) and rolled to the conference tournament championship (yet again). Senior guard Ochai Agbaji, the unanimous Big 12 Player of the Year, delivered a memorable dunk with a throw-down against TCU in the conference semifinals. The Jayhawks also have Christian Braun. When asked how Braun plays on the court, Agbaji told CJ Moore of The Athletic, “He’s a whole different guy. He’s like an asshole.” Hmm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_pTvTD0OTM
East Region
Baylor (26-6)
Coach: Scott Drew
Best Shining Moment: 2021 national championship
Big Man on Campus: James Akinjo (13.4 ppg)
Despite having just one returning starter, the defending national champion earned a share of the Big 12 title. The Bears opened 15-0 before cooling down. Last week’s loss to Oklahoma was a bit of a head-scratcher.
Baylor is balanced with seven players averaging at least 8.4 points, led by LJ Cryer (13.5). But Cryer has battled injuries and has played just once since February. James Akinjo has carried most of the load, averaging 18.3 points over the past three games.
The big question that will linger throughout the tournament concerns Drew. Will he bolt for a more high-profile job? Louisville is an extremely attractive opening. If Drew stays, he probably has a job for life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njGVn_B9RuA
Five things we love about this tournament
5. Bruce Pearl vs. Ray Harper – The coaches of Auburn and Jacksonville State are familiar with each other. They used to battle at the Division II level when Pearl was at Southern Indiana and Harper at Kentucky Wesleyan. Both have won D2 national championships.
4. A potential Kentucky vs. Murray State second-round matchup – Despite hailing from the same state, these programs have never played each other. Murray is closer to Nashville, Tenn (120 miles) than Lexington (266). It would be fun to see Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year Murray’s KJ Williams take on SEC Player of the Year Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe.
3. Mick Cronin’s commitment to fashion – These days, most coaches no longer dress up on the sidelines. But the UCLA coach refuses to go casual. Cronin still wears suits and ties, saying, “I just don’t want to look like I’m coaching a summer game.”
2. Chet Holmgren – The possible No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft has amazing skills for a seven-footer. At 190 pounds, you’ve probably had sandwiches thicker than him. Still, Gonzaga’s freshman big man is fun to watch.
1. JD Davison’s hair – Look at that lettuce! You could spot the Alabama guard from 100 miles away. His wonderful mane is mesmerizing. But you also wonder: when was the last time that dude had a haircut?
JD Davison drives into the basket
— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) January 26, 2022
Alabama 70, Georgia 72 | 2:11 2H#RollTide | #BlueCollarBasketball pic.twitter.com/2exjH0n40v
Are Providence and Wisconsin frauds?
If you love to nerd out on advanced metrics, check out the Pomeroy Luck Rating. According to the website, it’s “the deviation in winning percentage between a team’s actual record and their expected record.” The top NCAA Tournament major-conference teams in that category are 4-seed Providence (25-5) and 3-seed Wisconsin (24-7), ranked first and ninth overall respectively.
Providence won its first-ever Big East championship by living dangerously. The Friars are 11-2 in games decided by five points or less and are 3-0 in overtime. Impressive, but in their last game, they got steamrolled by Creighton 85-58 in the Big East semifinals. Providence’s luck could run out against No. 13 South Dakota State (30-4), which has won 21 in a row and hasn’t lost since Dec. 15.
Wisconsin won a share of the Big Ten along with Illinois. But six of its past eight victories have been by six points or less, including their last three. The Badgers had a chance to win the league outright, but they collapsed at home against Nebraska, 74-73. For the season, they have outscored their opponents by an average score of just 70.7 to 66.5. No one will be surprised if the Big Ten co-champ gets drop-kicked by No. 14 Colgate (23-11).
Most likely 12-seed to beat a 5
Over the past 36 years, at least one No. 12 has beaten a No. 5 every year except for 1988, 2000, 2007, 2015, and 2018. No. 12 UAB (27-7) over No. 5 Houston (29-5) seems like a potential upset. The last time the Blazers were in the tournament, they stunned No. 3 seed Iowa State in 2015. This squad has a go-to scorer in Jordan “Jelly” Walker, who has reached 40 points twice this season.
The All-Tournament name team
Adonis Arms, G, Texas Tech
Kofi Cockburn, C, Illinois
Leaky Black, G-F, North Carolina
Flo Thamba, F, Baylor
Wooga Poplar, G, Miami
Tony Toney, G, UAB
Saint Thomas, F, Loyola Chicago
Ali Ali, F, Akron
Final Four picks
Gonzaga, Arizona, UCLA, Auburn
The championship game
Gonzaga defeats Arizona
Enjoy the games!
