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That's Sports
March Madness Excitement
Tuesday, March 18, 2003
It's that time of year and March Madness is here to bring some exciting hoops action to North America.I've mentioned many times that I'm not a huge basketball fan but I do love this time of the year. It actually started last week with Championship Week throughout the US which kept ESPN in programming as they showed hoops games from 11:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the morning.
College hoops is much different to me than the NBA as the players are giving their all for their schools and not for a paycheck. This year the first round action will be played in eight cities. Oklahoma, Salt Lake City, Nashville, Tampa, Indianapolis, Spokane, Birmingham and Boston are the first round centres.
The Big Ten has five teams in action including Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Perdue and Michigan State. The Fighting Illini are the top ranked Big Ten team as they are seeded fourth in the West division while the Badgers are ranked fifth in the Midwest, The Hoosiers are seeded seventh in the Midwest, the Spartans are ranked seventh in the South while the Boilermakers are ranked ninth in the south.
Bobby Knight's Texas Tech team will not be in the tourney this year as the selection committee decided that they were not worthy. Knight streak of 16 straight years in the March Madness tourney is over. North Carolina is also not in the tourney this year for the second straight time even though they have the longest streak of 27 times in a row in March Madness.
Boston College won the Big East this year but were not invited to the party. They wound up with an 18-11 record, better than Alabama (17-11), Cincinnati (17-11) and N.C. State (18-12). The Crimson Tide, Bearcats and Wolfpack are all ranked 10 seed or better which to me means that the Golden Eagles were worthy of at least a 16 seed somewhere.
Three teams actually pulled themselves out of the tourney even before selections because of possible NCAA violations or academic fraud. Michigan, Georgia and Fresno State all withdrew early.
Kentucky, Texas, Arizona and Oklahoma are all seeded number one and should go deep into the tourney. As we all know there will be some upsets in the first and second round but after that it should be top teams winning out.
My prediction for an underdog to win is Syracuse. Thay are ranked third in the East and have a pretty easy ride for the first two games. If they stay healthy they won't meet a real challenge until Oklahoma in the Elite Eight portion of the tourney. If they beat Oklahoma then they should take out Texas and into the final.
The early round upsets could see Tulsa beat Dayton, BYU over U Conn and Alabama upseting Indiana. The brackets are set and now it's on to a National Title for someone in New Orleans.
Let the magic begin.
Gary Patterson was born and raised in Chatham-Kent. He grew up in Thamesville and now lives in Chatham. Patterson was Sports Director at Beaver Communications an Blackburn Radio for over 15 years. Gary is also the track announcer at Dresden Raceway as well as some appearances at Windsor Raceway. He has played all sports inclduing being a mermber of three OBA Championship baseball teams in Thamesville and has also played hockey and football. Gary still plays golf, slo-pitch and ball hockey and well as the odd game of pick up hockey. Patterson is a passionate Miami Dolphin and Michigan Wolverine football fan. Here are few other details about Gary Patterson: Favourite food: steak, chicken wings, chili or Kenny Tharp\'s famous meatloaf; Favourite non alcoholic drink : Diet Coke; Favourite drink: Scotch, Coor\'s Light; Favourite Sports team : Miami Dolphins/Michigan Wolverines/New York Yankees; Favourite Bar : Bru\'s Room Margate Florida/Pompano Beach Florida; Favourite Bartender : Tanya (Margate), Sarah (Pompano); Favourie Vacataion spot : Pompano Beach Florida; Marital Staus : married with chilren Hockey player : Curtis Jospeh/Todd Bertuzzi; Favourite Football player : Retired Dan Marino, Anthony Thomas; Favourite Basketball player : Steve Nash Favourite Baseball player : Derek Jeter; Favourite colour : Blue; Favourite TV Show : CSI Favourite movie : The Sting, Blue Brothers and Field of Dreams; Favourite song Life Been Good To Me ( Joe Walsh); Favourite Band : Tom Petty/Eagles; Favourite type of Dog: Springer Spaniel; Favourite type of Cat : NONE
