NCAA madness long precedes March
by Mike Lopresti, USA TODAY Sports
It’s not just the changing faces at No. 1 that gives this college basketball season the feel of being as unpredictable as the flight path of a gnat. It’s all the scores that defy logic, and description.
The Year of the Upset. No, strike that. The Year of the Inexplicable.
Good thing this isn’t football, where one bad loss can kill a season. There’d be dead hopes scattered everywhere.
It’s a screwball year generally in the game of basketball, when the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks might not make the NBA playoffs, and North Korea’s best new American buddy is Dennis Rodman. But the college basketball guys have taken it to a higher level, with an obvious message.
Everybody is vulnerable, nobody is flawless, most are in danger when they leave the comfort of home. The question is what kind of carnage that will cause in March.
But just look at all this mess.
Michigan was all dressed up to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Penn State was 0-for-2013.
Penn State 84, Michigan 78. And they thought they football season had surprises.
Minnesota’s game was frostbitten. The Gophers had dropped eight of 11 games, including the previous two by a combined 47 points. Indiana was settling in at No. 1.
Minnesota 77, Indiana 73. The Hoosiers have been nominated as the poster team for this season, by virtue of managing to lose three different times when ranked No. 1.
Kansas was 19-2, the pride of the Big 12. TCU was 0-8 in the league, the undisputed basement resident of the conference.
TCU 62, Kansas 55. The Jayhawks scored 13 points in the first half. Bill Self said it was the worst team Kansas had put on the floor since the days of James Naismith. That seemed awfully insulting. To Naismith.
Georgetown is 22-4, and 12-3 … [For more on College basketball madness long precedes March, click here.]
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