Welcome To March - Here's A College Hoops Cheat Sheet For Every Person Joining The Sport For The Greatest Month Of The Year
I'm well aware of the status of college basketball. There are the diehards that are glued into exhibitions, practices and Midnight Madness in October and November, there are some who tune in and out of big games and there are a large amount of people who join for this month because nothing tops March. I'm also aware there are roughly six thousand teams in Division I now and trying to figure out what's going on is a pain in the ass. Allow me to help out here.
1. It's currently UConn/Purdue/Houston vs everyone else
We've reached the point where there's a clear top group of teams. It's three this year. UConn, Purdue and Houston and yes, Houston is in the Big 12 and looks just fine. All 3 do it differently too. Purdue has a really tall guy you might know, he once played hockey too. Houston will just absolutely destroy you defensively. They also have Jamal Shead though who is one of the best point guards in the country. UConn can do it all. They are probably the most balanced team in the country. Newton goes out and gets triple doubles, Cam Spencer pisses every fanbase off and Donovan Clingan is also tall. Really the key is clearly having a tall guy.
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2. Stop saying there aren't stars
We've fallen into this stupid take that this year sucks because there aren't stars. That's not true at all. We have the old guys - Edey, Armando Bacot, RJ Davis, Caleb Love, DaRon Holmes, Dalton Knecht, Antonio Reeves, Johni Broome, Mark Sears. We have the viral sensation of Robbie Avila aka Cream Abdul Jabbar aka Larry Blurred aka Larry Nird. We have the freshmen who can go get 40 and win a game in Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard, Jared McCain, Johnny Furphy. Is it as dominant of a group as years past? No. Welcome to college basketball. But there are plenty of entertaining stories.
3. The mid-majors
Everyone around this time of the year asks me 'who can be this year's FAU, Loyola, George Mason, Wichita State.' I hate the question because 1) we don't have a bracket and 2) if we knew those teams we wouldn't be shocked when they make a run. But the best mid-majors and I'm talking true mid-majors are Grand Canyon, Samford, Indiana State, Drake, Princeton, McNeese State, Bradley, UC Irvine, James Madison, App State. We're talking teams that can win a game in the NCAA Tournament here and you shouldn't bat an eye at it.
4. The race to the 1 seed
I know everyone had to fire off their THIS IS MARCH and CBS College Basketball theme song tweets at midnight but everyone needs to stay calm and collected here. We have 2 weeks left of the regular season still. The race to the 4th 1 seed is still open. Here are the odds from our friends at DraftKings. #DKPartner
Arizona was the projected 4th 1 seed when they did the top-16 bracket reveal. But they lost the game to Washington State and have limited big time games left. Tennessee still has Auburn, South Carolina, Kentucky and the SEC Tournament. They are in the best spot to jump and get the 4th 1 seed.
5) Who can win a title
Now we start to figure out the group of teams that can win 6 in a row. You can use stats, you can use the theory of closing your eyes and just saying I can see this team on a Monday night in April standing in center court. Again odds from DraftKings #DKPartner
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I think realistically you can say Houston, UConn, Purdue, Auburn, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arizona, Marquette, UNC. Duke and Kansas have major injuries that we need to know about. Kansas has been down Kevin McCullar. If they don't have him, they don't have a run in them. Duke - I'm not talking Kyle Filipowski's boo-boo. They don't have Caleb Foster. Right now without a bracket, I think Houston is the team who wins it. Plenty of teams can make a Final Four - Baylor, Alabama, Florida, Iowa State, Creighton, pick a MWC team out of a hat, but to win 6 in a row feels like it should be around 10 this year.
6. One Shining Moment is a damn good song
I don't know how we got to this point, but every year people like to shit on One Shining Moment. I won't stand for it! It's one of the best traditions in sports. It's a good song and brings a slight tear to my eyes on that Monday night when a team is standing at center court, watching their version of the highlight package. Don't let idiots tell you otherwise.
7. The conference tournaments that you should pay attention to
We know the major conference tournaments, but you're going to hear about bid stealers and needing teams to win their tournament. To me the MWC is the most entertaining conference tournament. They have a legit 6 teams that can win it and be Tournament teams. Other than that you should pay attention to MVC since they have Drake, Indiana State and Bradley. Could be a potential 2-bid league. The WCC with Saint Mary's in the field and Gonzaga on the bubble. The Ivy is something to watch too with Princeton potentially finishing the season 24-3 with a win over Rutgers. The American is another one. USF is going to be the No. 1 seed. FAU is one of the more bizarre teams to figure out. Memphis is now needing to win the conference tournament just to get in the NCAA. Throw in SMU and sneaky teams that can get hot in Tulane and ECU.
8. Embrace tradition and cherish it
I don't care what you do. You could go to a bar with friends, you can sit at home by yourself. Whatever your March tradition is, embrace it. It's cool to care about shit. If you care about the NCAA Tournament yell about it, fight with people over teams. It's what matters. Cherish the month we have. We have regular season games and races off the bubble, for seeding, whatever. We have conference championship week (still just an incredible week). We have the NCAA Tournament. Just embrace the tradition and cherish the games. A month from now we'll be missing it all.