The Little Guys of the NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Tournament begins for most people on March 19, but for the mid-majors, it starts much earlier, as most teams from the little conferences have to win their conference to even be considered into the field of 65. And once they do make it, they don’t have it easy. They're saddled with low seeding, which forces them to compete against powerhouse favorites.

A few teams have been able to get through the rigors the NCAA has established, such as Gonzaga (1999), and Xavier (2004). More recently, that team has been Davidson, as their Cinderella-run led them to Detroit and the difficult task of taking on Kansas. Even though Davidson lost, they weren’t overmatched, making the Jayhawks sweat out a thriller they eventually won, 59-57.

This year will be different for the Davidson Wildcats, as they will have to face the pressure of Selection Sunday and the knowledge they aren’t guaranteed a spot in the field of 65. This is because they were defeated by the College of Charleston in the Southern Conference Tournament Semifinals by the score of 59-52.

The Wildcats only have one quality win this season, which was against West Virginia, but that win looks less impressive as they were without their two top players Alex Ruoff and Joe Mazzulla.

          The NCAA Tournament format is single elimination and held each spring with 31 of the automatic bids given to the teams that win their conference tournaments. The remaining 34 slots are at-large, or given to the best 34 teams that don't win their conference tourney. 

The thing that makes the process scary for a lot of the mid-major and decent power conference teams is that if an upset occurs in a conference that usually gets just one bid, that means one less spot available in the big dance. This causes a lot of teams' bubbles to burst, and forces them to watch the games on television instead of playing in a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Upsets occur every year; rarely do all four of the number one seeds make the Final Four. Last year was the first time this occurred since seeding began in 1979.   

It is literally impossible to predict the teams that will make the field of 65—there are over 9.2 quintillion possibilities for how the tournament field will look.

The tourney's first game begins March 17, with two teams facing off to determine which will challenge the number one seed in the region. The tourney is broken down into four regions, 16 teams in each, all of them hoping to be one of four teams playing in Detroit on April 4.

But only one will cut the nets down and celebrate March Madness with a National Title.