The other night, Rece Davis asked one of those questions posed to no one in particular and the analysts went down the line with their answers: Which team seeded 13-16 had the best chance to win a game?
Bob Knight responded with, "None of them." Everyone awkwardly laughed like you always hear on these studio shows, but then Knight kept talking and he made it clear that he wasn't kidding.
Not only was he serious, he proceeded to lay out his 92 step plan to fix the NCAA tournament. The only points of it I heard were eliminate the automatic bids and expand to 128 teams. Not only does this completely cheapen the tournament, it takes all the "madness" out of March.
There's just no place for this in the tournament coverage. If someone at ESPN feels this is compelling television, couldn't they at least hold it off until AFTER the tournament? I watch these shows to learn about the games and get excited about my favorite sports weekend of the year. I don't need someone raining on my parade.
I always defended Knight and had a lot of respect for him as a coach, but I don't know why anyone thought this was a good idea. Maybe ESPN hired him just for the name recognition. They must have been worried that no one would watch college basketball this March without Bob Knight in the picture.
Oh, and UNC's good this year.
The pick: North Carolina
(8) Indiana vs. (9) Arkansas
Indiana looked like a team that could go as far as the Final Four, and then the Kelvin Sampson situation happened. While that whole thing was running its course, the Hoosiers won some pretty big games. Somehow, they weren't distracted by their coach going through the process of losing his job.
But, once the dust settled, their season started to tank. The team fell pretty flat to end the regular season and then lost their first Big Ten tournament game.
Arkansas plays hard. They went toe-to-toe with Tennessee to get a 92-91 win in the SEC tournament. In their run to the tournament final, they showed the ability to scramble if needed and buckled down defensively when it was necessary. The body of work points toward Indiana, but I expect the Razorbacks to come out and play well in this game.
The pick: Arkansas
(5) Notre Dame vs. (12) George Mason
I love nothing more than an upset—and George Mason made the best Cinderella run ever—but I have no inclination to pick them in this game. I watch a lot of the CAA, even though my alma mater (JMU) has been awful for a few years, and the only team in the league that could have won a tournament game is VCU, but the Rams didn't have the resume to get in this year, and frankly didn't deserve to.
The Patriots should be commended for winning the CAA tournament, but this matchup is terrible for them. The biggest reason: Notre Dame is good. Really good.
It's hard to explain their no-show in the Big East tournament, but I think they can get it back on track. If Luke Harangody played in the ACC, he'd get obsessed over by the media as much as Hansbrough. He is the real deal.
The Irish beat Kansas State, Pitt, West Virginia, Connecticut, and finished 14-4 in the Big East. Barring a fluke, they should handle Mason.
The pick: Notre Dame
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