A Jersey Guy: Zags Are Sweetest of 16 Survivors
We said in December when the first round of games in this COVID dominated college basketball season.
We repeated in January and February when the gap lengthened.
Now we are past the Ides of March and closing in on the Final Four, which is less than two weeks away in this improbable season.
Men's college basketball in 2021 is a two tiered system.
There is Gonzaga and there is Baylor and then there is everyone else.
And the there is a gap between the No 1 ranked and unbeaten Zags and No. 2 Baylor.
Two rounds in this sometimes frenetic NCAA tournament has paired the field down to a diverse group of 16 teams.
Diverse, you say?
Well, consider this.
The Sweet 16, which begins on Saturday, is represented by teams from 10 of the 31 competing conferences and has the normal assortment of bluebloods.
The dominant conference--surprise, surprise-is not the might 9 invitee Big Ten, but the overlooked, under estimated Pac-12 which has sent four of its teams into the Regional semifinals.
The list of What's the Big Deal are obviously the three surviving No. 1 seeds, Gonzaga, Baylor and Michigan and No. 2 seeds Alabama and Houston.
The Cinderella is obvious. No. 15 Oral Roberts, which stormed through South Regional upsets of No. 2 Ohio State and No. 7 seed Florida is still living the impossible dream.
Beating No. 3 seeded Arkansas in the Regional semifinals will not stun people.
Then there is the Eastern block.
No. 4 Villanova was under seeded by the Selection Committee because the Wildcats were regarded as damaged goods without their starting point guard Collin Gillespie (knee). But the Wildcats still have Jay Wright on the bench and that has made a difference in a pair of wins over Winthrop and North Texas.
Villanova's old Big East rival, Syracuse, has been an even bigger surprise. It is also foolish to underestimate any Jim Boeheim coached team in March and maybe April, especially so when the the Orange have long range attack artist Buddy Boeheim available as well as a pesky zone defense that is difficult to adjust to on short notice.
Suffice to say the No. 11 seeded Orange have survived and advanced and ready to take on Houston in a Midwest Regional semifinal.
The Giant-killer has been No. 8 Loyola (Chicago)--another mis-seeded team, which took apart No. 1 seed Illinois over the weekend and now must deal with another Cinderella rep, No. 12 seeded Oregon State, which has roared through the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with the same ease and confidence in which it zipped through the Pac-12 tournament.
Much has been written and argued about the merits of the Big Ten, which was labeled this season's Super Conference.
In fairness to the Big Ten, it was all of US outsiders who put that label on the conference. It seemed a valid theory when the Selection Committee rewarded the Big Ten with not only nine bids, but a top-heavy pair of 2 No. 1' and a pair of No. 2 slots.
A week after it began only Michigan is still standing.
All of this has set up what should be a fun four day festival in Indiana, starting on Saturday afternoon.
Anything is possible, but until proven otherwise we are sticking with Gonzaga in the West and Baylor in the South emerging.
As for the other two Final Four foes?
It's Jump Ball.