0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/16/2016
The magic of the NCAA tournament can be captured in so many ways — more than 16, to be sure. Yet, one way in which to express the beauty of this multi-layered event is that it really isn’t one tournament at all. The NCAA tournament essentially consists of three two-game tournaments, three weekends at three […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
When the bracket for the 2016 NCAA Tournament was unveiled (leaked, more precisely) on Sunday afternoon, you went through the round of 64 wondering which team would win. Before the round of 64 begins, we’re going to engage in a slightly different exercise: identifying which coaches need to win more in the 6-11, 7-10, and […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The Wichita State Shockers hit under 37.5 percent of their field goal attempts Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio — a rate slightly below three-eights of their tries. The Shockers’ two best players — Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker — scored a modest 14 points apiece, combining to hit 3 of 11 three-point shots. Wichita State […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/15/2016
The NCAA tournament bracket is such a big deal not just because teams want to know where they’re going and whom they’re playing. The more fundamental drama associated with a bracket involves the larger combinations of matchups — those which could happen, and those which will either be avoided or delayed. The construction of the […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
After the revelation of the NCAA tournament brackets on Selection Sunday, the annual “who’s in or out” exercise offered a natural way to assess various college sports programs in basketball and football. This won’t be an exhaustive deep-dive; it’s merely a collection of 10 observations about various programs in the two big-ticket sports, hoops and […]
Memebers of the Belmont team sit on the bench during their loss to Wisconsin during a Southeast Regional NCAA college basketball tournament second-round game in Tucson, Ariz., Thursday, March 17, 2011. Wisconsin won 72-58. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
0 comments by Matt Zemek
How hard is it to get a college basketball program to win one NCAA tournament game? The Belmont Bruins are shown above in the cover photo for this story. They fell to Wisconsin in 2011, one of seven NCAA tournament losses without a single win for the program. The Bruins are hardly alone. At North […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The NCAA tournament’s 68 teams have been announced, offering the latest picture of college basketball’s balance of power. How has this balance of power emerged over time? Plenty of fans are aware of programs’ histories on a general level — UCLA dominated in the John Wooden years, Kentucky roared under Adolph Rupp, and Indiana flourished […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The field is set for the 2016 NCAA Tournament. America’s favorite bracketed event begins Tuesday with the First Four. Let’s put before you a number of facts — a sampler platter more than a definitive summary — of the newest edition of the Big Dance: FIRST-TIME DANCERS Championship Week (a fortnight, to be more precise) […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/14/2016
What follows is a review of NCAA tournament selection, seeding and bracketing: SELECTION: TULSA IN, MONMOUTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA OUT This was a year in which the last six to eight teams in the NCAA tournament were all going to possess highly flawed resumes. It was unavoidable that several selections would be disputed. Pundits knew […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/13/2016
The NCAA tournament was just right at 64 teams. No one, I think, disputes this. The 64-team bracket — clean and neat, without play-in games or different amounts of tournament rounds for any team — hit the sweet spot. It catapulted the Big Dance to another level in terms of national interest and captivating, emotional […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
You’ve all lost an hour of sleep, but on the day of the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, who needs sleep? Let’s get right to the chase, knowing this piece won’t have the longest shelf life in the history of mankind. The purpose of this piece is twofold: to prepare you for the selection show while […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/12/2016
Saturday involves a stack of conference tournament semifinals and finals which will reshape the bubble picture. Whether those games will clarify or further muddle the bubble picture is anyone’s guess. You have games to watch, so we won’t drone on forever, but here are five bubble bits you need to know heading into Saturday and […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
We can write about the college basketball Friday many of you witnessed… or we can bring it to you in videos. Why not offer a video essay of what March — as a sports month — is all about? Videos convey the magic of an unforgettable Friday better than most words in the English language […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/11/2016
The Michigan Wolverines have struggled throughout the 2016 college basketball season. Their Friday quarterfinal in the Big Ten Tournament was therefore an embodiment of the season, distilled into one afternoon. Because Michigan was able to pull through one nail-biting game, it is likely — though not absolutely certain — that the Wolverines’ season will be […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Many college basketball seasons are ending this week, and most of them end without hope. For Rutgers or Saint Louis, a season is a black hole which swallows up the head coach and leads to a search for a way out of the darkness. For Georgetown and Boise State, a season was supposed to offer […]
