Faster than a University of Texas exit from the Big Dance, the 2006-2007 NCAA men’s basketball season is drawing to a rapid close. This upcoming weekend will cap off another wonderful season and conclude the greatest of all sporting events – the NCAA Tournament. Forget the Super Bowl, World Series, and NBA Finals. To hell with any car race – especially if it’s a NASCAR event. Nothing matches March Madness. How many great games were we fans of sport blessed with this year? College basketball simply cannot be topped.
The Final Four are set: UCLA, Florida, Georgetown, and Ohio State will compete to determine this year’s national champion, and it is a worthy field. No Cinderellas here. For the first time since 1993, the Final Four features teams seeded either No. 1 or 2. These are powerhouses, and no one should be surprised that once the dust settled, these teams remained, ready to battle.
It could be epic.
There are many subplots. Georgetown is back in the Final Four for the first time since 1984, when they were led by coach John Thompson and star Patrick Ewing. This year’s Hoya team is coached by John Thompson’s son, John III, and features Patrick Ewing’s son doing a scary imitation of his father. UCLA and Florida will meet in the semifinals, a rematch of last year’s national championship game, won in dominating fashion by the Gators. If Florida survives, and Ohio State can get past Georgetown, we will be witness to a freaky occurrence – Ohio State vs. Florida, a repeat of the NCAA football national championship game.
It’s enough to make anyone who loves sports and odd coincidences salivate.
There are some great individual matchups, too: Greg Oden vs. Roy Hibbert, a classic meeting of traditional back-to-the-basket 7-foot centers. Foul trouble will probably tell the story of this one, though I think it’s safe to say that Ohio State can more likely afford having Oden on the bench than can Georgetown with Hibbert. Also, the guard matchup between Florida and UCLA will be great – Darren Collison vs. Taurean Green. Everyone seems to agree that Florida has the advantage with its inside game, so the outcome of UCLA-Florida will likely come down to who gets the best guard play, and Green and Collison will be guarding each other all game. It should be fun.
My bracket, of course, is shot. I was a dummy, a fool who bought into the Longhorn hype. I thought Texas could ride the Durant Train all the way to the national final, where they would lose to Florida. I expected more from A&M. I even expected something out of Texas Tech. Sweet mother of god, I’m from Oklahoma! And I went with the Texas teams. I thought they all played pretty sound ball. Tech beat two Top 10 teams this year – why couldn’t they surprise someone in the dance? A&M had that rugged defense – but then they lost their legs, looking about as well-conditioned as the fat guy from Lost. And I’d rather not go into the debacle that was USC’s drubbing of Texas, a game that shattered my hopes of winning the Chronicle office pool.
Yes, my bracket is trashed – though if Florida comes through, I may have at least some hope of a respectable finish – but I can take some comfort in the fact that I will again prove my predictions are more sound than my “Possession Arrow” counterpart Shawn Badgley.
This article appears in March 23 • 2007.