Three Cheers and Trepidation with VCU

First off, a moment of silence for my bracket and the millions of others that went up in smoke this weekend....

(It was all good just a week ago)

Now slap me in the head for not trusting UConn since I've seen them all year. They demolished Kentucky in the Maui tournament and made those freshmen look downright average compared to John Wall and Co. last year. They've won nearly every big game they needed to win. Kemba Walker has run out of superlatives for his play while Jeremy Lamb is having his coming out party. Did I really think my Blue Devils were gonna beat them?

(By the way, Duke got the crap kicked out of them worse than any team in 20 years. Not since the 1990 title game when UNLV overwhelmed them physically, mentally, athletically. Hard to argue why Derrick Williams isn't the best Pac-10 prospect since James Harden)

Aside from praising UConn and John Calipari making his Final Four debut**, the fact that No. 11 seed VCU is in the Final Four is both a great story and a problem. It's great for Shaka Smart coaching his boys up and catching fire from the perimeter and for those of us who remember former guard Eric Maynor beating Duke in 2007. It's great because this is one of the greatest runs in March Madness history. 

Yet it's a problem. It's the 1st time that all 4 No. 1 and No. 2 seeds are gone before the Final Four. But like most folks, I didn't have much faith in the No. 1 seeds this year because while they were great, they weren't dominant teams and for the first time, I filled out my bracket with no clearcut idea who would win. 

The No. 2's were almost the same. UNC and Florida were great teams but they had their shortcomings. Notre Dame was overrated and San Diego State's great year fell victim to the UConn buzzsaw. 

There's reason for parity in college basketball. This year's freshman class was the weakest in 5 years besides Harrison Barnes and Jared Sullinger. Nearly all of this year's top players didn't look like exciting NBA talent. More upsets happened because teams just weren't that good and teams like Arizona, UConn and Kentucky came together at the right time. 

Butler's a great story, being the first mid-major to reach back-to-back Final Fours since UNLV in 1990 and 1991. VCU's even greater for this year. But it's also a byproduct of a weak season that inadvertently added to the March drama.

The bigger problem with VCU's success, though, is the folks who'll use this to justify expanding the tournament. They'll say that thanks to the First Four, teams can go on a miracle run in a similar way. Nevermind the fact that expanding the tournament is watering down the field even more in a watered down era of college basketball.

While some teams get screwed every year from the Big Dance, letting in more teams isn't the answer.  Expanding it to 96 teams gives the Selection Committee an out for their mistakes while bringing in more teams who have no business being there.

Case in point, the Big East had 11 teams in this year's tourney. How did that work out? The Pac-10 didn't deserve more than 3 teams (not counting USC in the First 4). Mid-major conference bids should be determined by how teams do outside of conference not just finishing top 3. 

Too much of anything is never good. Pretty soon, we're gonna be letting in every team that finishes .500 and while we may love the drama, the tournament will lose it's magic as folks will tune out average games while waiting for the better ones. 

VCU is gonna inadvertently give the powers that be more reason to want to recreate their success. Each win should be praised but it could be a case of backhanded praise if the NCAA meddles in this story. 

I'm still ready to enjoy this unlikeliest of Final Fours, but it's a strange case of wondering if this is all good or just a sign of the times. 

**Somehow I doubt Coach Cal is gonna get this trip removed from his resume like he did at Memphis and UMass. But the fact he did it without an All-American or much fanfare is impressive.

There Will Be Madness (Bracketology Fails, Little East and Upsets)

I've been watching March Madness for 16 years and this year's version is one of the wackiest since 2000 when 8 of the top 12 teams (2 No. 1's, 3 No. 2's, 3 No. 3's) were gone after the first weekend and we had two No. 8 seeds in the Final Four. Granted we still have 3 No. 1's and all the No. 2's but here's who's still dancing: No. 11 VCU, No. 11 Marquette, No. 10 Florida State, and No. 12 Richmond.

VCU, a First Four team or Florida State will be an Elite Eight team while higher seeds Notre Dame, Syracuse and Pitt will be watching this weekend's games at home. I'll bury the Big East later but think about that. Who honestly had half of those teams advance?

That's the beauty of March. The surprise stories as well as the expected ones which help you almost forget your bracket. I remember past years watching VCU beat Duke with Eric Maynor and nearly beat UCLA the following year. Florida State beat Duke earlier this year with physical play and Marquette hasn't gone this far since I saw Dwyane Wade mess around and get a triple double on Kentucky in 03.

Speaking of my bracket, it looks good if you only count the East and West brackets. I lost a total of three teams, including two Sweet 16 picks. But if you click below and look at the right side, it's got more red than those Red Asphalt tapes they made us watch in driver's ed.

More reason for me to hate the South. Terrible luck picking teams. My Southeast bracket on the bottom right has been shot, including my Final Four pick Pittsburgh. I'm in the bottom half of most of my pools because I took more gambles than I should've and didn't predict the ones that happened (except for being 3rd in one ESPN pool)

Which leads me to the Big East, the 2nd biggest story of the tournament.

11 Teams in, half are gone by the start of the "3rd round" (by the way, is this another casualty of the First Four? Hate it.) and four more to follow. The best conference in America? I sure didn't think so this year when I saw teams besides UConn and Pitt. Syracuse was overrated, Notre Dame was nice but not elite. If St. John's didn't lose their 2nd best player to an ACL injury, they would've been a Sweet 16 team.

Let's all point and laugh at this ineptitude of overhype and comeuppance. If not for Kemba Walker's brilliance and Steve Lavin's resurgence, that conference would be a bigger joke this year. Five of the nine lost by 8 or more points and you can't blame Louisville for losing by one. Pitt's loss will go down as one of the most heartbreaking and surreal 8 seconds I've ever seen.

Big East? More like the Little East. Glad we kicked out the children so the big boys can keep dancing.

- Morehead State's Kenny Faried earned himself a trip to the NBA Draft with his two stellar games this weekend. Amazing rebounder and defender who'll make some team proud.

- Texas/Arizona lived up to the hype of maybe the best 2nd round (excuse me, 3rd round) game besides San Diego State and Temple. The first few hours of the 1st round were probably some of the best excitement I've seen in years.

- UCLA, Michigan and St. John's will be Top 10 teams next year, assuming nobody leaves. I'm proud of my Bruins for hanging tough with Florida after nearly blowing a big lead to Michigan State. Michigan's got a backcourt to watch for 2 years with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Darius Morris. And St. John's is bringing in another Top-5 recruiting class.

- Kansas is still alive. Surprise, surprise. Not as surprising as Wisconsin

- I'm happy for several LA kids I covered showing up big in the tournament. Jordan Hamilton (Texas), Derrick Williams (Arizona), DJ Gay and Kawhi Leonard (San Diego State), Morris (Michigan), and Tyler Honeycutt (UCLA) all repped the City of Angels proud.

Week 2 of the Madness coming up Thursday. Already looking forward to previewing Duke vs. Arizona - rematch of one of my favorite teen memories. The 2001 National Title Game.