April 8, 2014

Monday night concluded one of the most, if not the most, bizarre NCAA tournaments that I can remember. Bizarre as in "Bizzaro World." Everything seemed backwards. Good was bad, bad was good. Up was down and down was up. Top seeds played like low seeds and low seeds played like top seeds. Freshmen played like seniors and seniors played like freshmen. It was madness in every sense of the word...

Monday night concluded one of the most, if not the most, bizarre NCAA tournaments that I can remember.

Bizarre as in "Bizzaro World." Everything seemed backwards. Good was bad, bad was good. Up was down and down was up. Top seeds played like low seeds and low seeds played like top seeds. Freshmen played like seniors and seniors played like freshmen. It was madness in every sense of the word.

It all started on Selection Sunday when two of the four No. 1 seeds, Virginia and Wichita St. were announced. While they had plenty of support and evidence to back up their selection, they had plenty of detractors. In fact, there was so much negative talk about this year's No. 1's that the idea of a No. 1 finally going down to a No. 16 looked like it could happen. Gone were the days of trying to determine how big of a point spread there would be for a top seed in the opening round. No more UNLV with a 30-point spread against Montana in '91. By the way, the Runnin' Rebels covered that spread.

By early afternoon on the first day you could see the bizarre pattern start to unfold. No. 11 Dayton knocks off No. 6 Ohio St. in the first game of the Round of 64. Later that night, No. 3. Duke falls to No. 14 Mercer and you had to know that this was going to get crazier before it would return to normal.

While the No. 1's survived the opening round, they were not out of the water. By the time the first weekend wrapped up, a No. 1 had fallen along with two No. 2's and two No. 3's. As for the bracket-keepers like me out there, there was more red on my bracket by the end of the first weekend then a federal government balance sheet. It seemed like every pick I made, the opposite happened. It continued through the following weekends. The higher the seed, the harder they fell. Syracuse? Kansas? Gone after the second round. Virginia? Gone. Michigan St.? Gone. Michigan? gone. By the time the Final Four rolled around this weekend, all rhyme and whatever reason that was left, was gone. In fact, it got so bad that I did the unconscionable for a native of Illinois. I actually voiced out loud that -- ugh -- Wisconsin was going to win it all of the remaining Florida, Kentucky and UConn.

So, we were left with a No. 7 -- UConn -- against a No. 8 -- Kentucky -- in the championship game. This may have been the most upside-down matchup of all time. While Kentucky the school is ripe with tradition, Kentucky the team was anything but. The Wildcats started five freshmen Monday night. It was the first time since Michigan's Fab Five in 1991 that this had happened. Kentucky is just two years removed from their last championship game and there wasn't one player on the court that had played for that team. On their road to the championship game, the Wildcats knocked off a No. 1 and No. 4 and two No. 2's. The freshmen, who had lost 10 games during the regular season, were turning into pros (literally) right before our eyes. UConn had a similar run of success, although they had some experience in the lineup. The Huskies knocked off 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds on their way to Monday night's game. And if this isn't the most backwards stat of the night, it was UConn that was coming off a year of ineligibility for NCAA violations and NOT John Calipari and Kentucky.

In the end, one of the most normal of all outcomes played out. Experience beat youth as UConn won, 60-54. While Kentucky played like seasoned pros (literally) for most of the tournament, the final two minutes of last night's contest, they played like freshmen. UConn, winners of four championships in the last 16 years, concluded their most improbable run to end the madness of an improbable tournament.

Here's one more thing to ponder. With NCAA Div. I football moving towards a tournament to crown their champion, imagine what a No. 7 vs. a No. 8 would look like in the championship game. It would look like, well, UConn vs. Kentucky.

afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com

@CN_AaronF

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