Every March it begins anew. “There weren’t enough upsets… where are all the mid-majors?… no one wants to see a .500 power conference team… no more Cinderellas… this was better years ago… the magic is gone.” Those are the familiar complaints about the second most watched sporting event in the United States. There is functionally a cottage industry in complaining that the NCAA Tournament just isn’t as good as it once was. Twitter was ablaze in these takes during the first round.
And of course that’s nonsense. For starters, this NCAA Tournament first round was the most watched ever. People may whine, but that’s a vocal minority. The general public, and the basketball lifers, still love March Madness. Last season saw records for Final Four and national championship viewing. More people, by a wide margin, watch the tournament than watch the NBA. This thing is a massive, popular, monolith. It still drives an incredible and hilarious spike in vasectomies each year.
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As for upsets it turns out there are just as many as ever. Most seasons there are 4.5 (averages are weird) five seed line or more upsets in the first round. This season there were three. Not a huge departure, but I get where people want more. People forget that the tournament doesn’t end there, though. In fact, this tournament looks to land somewhere in the middle ground because of games like Iowa beating Florida and Texas taking down Gonzaga. If you want to see a St. Peter’s type run or are wishing for the days of George Mason to the Final Four, I understand why seeing a 1,1,2,3 last quartet is disappointing. There were, though, 9, 6, and 11 seeds in the Sweet Sixteen.
And a lack of upsets didn’t mean a lack of first round drama. The cynics point to a 17.4 average winning margin this year as an indication that not much happened this first round. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. For starters, that number is bolstered by some utterly massive blowouts. Four of the eight top two seeds went over 100 points on their way to huge wins and that’s not including Arizona’s massive win in “only” scoring 92.
That didn’t mean there was no drama, though. Duke trailed Siena by 13 and only won by six, Furman pushed UConn to the limit, Cal Baptist went down 26 and then had a chance to make it a one possession game in the final minute against Kansas, VCU roared back from down 19, and High Point one by just a single point. There was good basketball in abundance if you weren’t hung up on seed lines as the most important thing.
And the tournament doesn’t end on that first Friday. Vanderbilt having a game winner against Nebraska go halfway down wasn’t boring, nor was Texas taking down Gonzaga or High Point somehow hanging in a shootout with Arkansas. St. John’s and Kansas played a classic, Iowa took down the defending champs by one, and Tennessee and Virginia were in a good one. Was the Braylon Mullins shot dull? What about UConn or Purdue’s Sweet 16 wins?
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And finally, storylines still abound. Miami played in the most watched play-in game ever because everyone wanted to see what they were about. They showed out with an incredible shooting display. Dan Hurley has ratcheted the crazy up to 11, storming, yelling, cajoling, and gently resting his forehead on the ref. Is there anything better than Duke losing? How about Big Ten teams playing to see who owns the Corn Belt or Rick Pitino completing his image overhaul to become the grandfatherly guy who loves his team?
This is the best sporting event college sport offers. It’s the best thing US sport offers. March Madness still reigns supreme. In fact, it reigns more supreme than it ever has in terms of viewership. It turns out what people actually want is fun basketball and great stories. March is the absolute best for that. Ignore the haters, the NCAA Tournament is still the best thing going.
