SAN JOSE, Calif. -- So is this the year when chalk turns to dust, when bad seeds are spit from the mouths of babes and the NCAA tournament is commandeered deep into the final rounds by TV-ignored charmers rising from obscurity? It's a fair and compelling question now that Kansas has annihilated brackets everywhere, reverting to its old choking ways by losing to Northern Iowa -- campus in Cedar Falls, 92 percent of its students from Iowa, Kurt Warner the most famous alum, "The Bridges of Madison County" author the most famous faculty member -- and titillating those of us hoping for the first no-friggin'-way national champion since, oh, Villanova in 1985.
Already, we have evidence that the term "upset" is laughably obsolete, killed by parity, the NBAand the farcical overhyping of superconferences such as the Big 12 and Big East. Kansas, reviving coach Bill Self's rap as a early-round flop, was the overall No. 1 seed, only to blow a chance to become the sport's pre-eminent program. Villanova, a loser to a St. Mary's team from somewhere in California, was a No. 2 seed. Georgetown and New Mexico, which was crushed Saturday in San Jose by resurgent Washington, were No. 3 seeds. Vanderbilt lost to lovableMurray State as a No. 4 seed. Marquette and Notre Dame couldn't justify No. 6 seeds, Clemsonand Oklahoma State bombed as No. 7s. Ten double-digit seeds have won in the first three days, one more than last year, and anyone tempted to say Kansas' crash forges easier paths forKentucky, Syracuse and Duke had better beware.
For they could go bust, too, in what seems to be the wildest and most unpredictable tournament in eons, just as I like it and all the gambling fools hate it.
"It's the NCAA tournament," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said after his second-seeded team survived BYU. "There's not going to be any easy outs in this thing."
I'm beginning to fantasize, for instance, that this actually could be the year when a perennial overachiever team like Butler sheds its fairy-tale profile and starts taking on the complexion of what it truly is: a serious player. Maybe you don't believe the Bulldogs can beat Syracuse and Kansas State in the West Regional, but armed with a 22-game winning streak after a 54-52 victory over Murray State and their third Sweet 16 berth in eight seasons, can anything be considered "impossible" -- as radio announcer Brad Sham barked in calling the final seconds of Northern Iowa's conquest? I realize Butler plays in the very red-bricked relic where Milan High School, the real-life home of Bobby Plump and coach Marvin Wood, won the 1954 Indiana state championship and became the cinematic inspiration for Jimmy Chitwood, coach Norman Dale and "Hoosiers." But can we get our heads out of Hinkle Fieldhouse and grasp 2010, please.
Already, we have evidence that the term "upset" is laughably obsolete, killed by parity, the NBAand the farcical overhyping of superconferences such as the Big 12 and Big East. Kansas, reviving coach Bill Self's rap as a early-round flop, was the overall No. 1 seed, only to blow a chance to become the sport's pre-eminent program. Villanova, a loser to a St. Mary's team from somewhere in California, was a No. 2 seed. Georgetown and New Mexico, which was crushed Saturday in San Jose by resurgent Washington, were No. 3 seeds. Vanderbilt lost to lovableMurray State as a No. 4 seed. Marquette and Notre Dame couldn't justify No. 6 seeds, Clemsonand Oklahoma State bombed as No. 7s. Ten double-digit seeds have won in the first three days, one more than last year, and anyone tempted to say Kansas' crash forges easier paths forKentucky, Syracuse and Duke had better beware.
For they could go bust, too, in what seems to be the wildest and most unpredictable tournament in eons, just as I like it and all the gambling fools hate it.
"It's the NCAA tournament," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said after his second-seeded team survived BYU. "There's not going to be any easy outs in this thing."
I'm beginning to fantasize, for instance, that this actually could be the year when a perennial overachiever team like Butler sheds its fairy-tale profile and starts taking on the complexion of what it truly is: a serious player. Maybe you don't believe the Bulldogs can beat Syracuse and Kansas State in the West Regional, but armed with a 22-game winning streak after a 54-52 victory over Murray State and their third Sweet 16 berth in eight seasons, can anything be considered "impossible" -- as radio announcer Brad Sham barked in calling the final seconds of Northern Iowa's conquest? I realize Butler plays in the very red-bricked relic where Milan High School, the real-life home of Bobby Plump and coach Marvin Wood, won the 1954 Indiana state championship and became the cinematic inspiration for Jimmy Chitwood, coach Norman Dale and "Hoosiers." But can we get our heads out of Hinkle Fieldhouse and grasp 2010, please.
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