Reflections on March Madness 2010

For the past 2 years, I have entered a bracket challenge contest hosted by CBS Sports. I find that it makes following the NCAA tournament a little more enjoyable. This year, over 40 people entered the group. Of these, only one other entry matters at all. It seems there is a disagreement on who the College Basketball Ninja of the family would be. After this year, there should be no doubt.

Last year I squeaked by my in-family competitor by one point. It was enough to claim the title for the entire year. This year, my competitor entered two bracket submissions to double his chance at winning. It did not work. I beat both handily and will retain the family title for at least another year.

The talent might be genetic since my youngest daughter Allison is tied with my competitor and may end up beating both of his brackets also. Allison knows very little about college basketball as she proved by picking Marquette in the Final Four.

As is typical for every tournament, this years has been entertaining. This year has also been more surprising than most. I have only seen one person select Butler in the final four. That person is the overall winner for our group's bracket challenge. Obviously KU's early departure surprised me and most others. I really thought they would hang around longer than Kentucky. Kentucky wins the award for most improved team. Last year they were an NIT also-ran. This year they regained powerhouse (near glory) status and made the Elite Eight. It remains to be seen whether they can become national title contenders on a consistent basis. Losing Demarcus Cousins and John Wall to the NBA will not help them.

I think the biggest surprise to me was the poor performance by the Big 12 conference. I really thought they had 4 Final Four caliber teams in KU, Baylor, Kansas State and Texas A&M. Yet, the Big 12 is not represented next weekend. Texas, and Texas A&M lost due to horrible late game coaching and not because their opponents were better. Kansas State could have won, but melted down in the last 4 minutes - an exact opposite performance from 2 nights before when they shone in regulation and 2 overtimes against Xavier.

KU will remain a mystery. It appeared their performance in the second round was similar to other close games during the season. They seem to think that they can turn it on when needed, so dominating a team was not necessary. They squandered an opportunity to get to the Final Four only facing a single top ranked team as the early favorites in their region bowed out early. Those opportunities only come around every once in a while.

There is always next year. KU will again be tough, but Kansas State may be tougher. The guard may be changing in the Big 12. Only one thing is certain - the family College Basketball Ninja. That would be me.