When I was a little kid I was never able to sleep on Christmas Eve. I could hardly even stand to close my eyes. I would just lie there thinking of what was about to come the next day – the presents, the food, the people, the excitement. It was excruciating and torturous, and every second seemed like an hour. Now that I am older, that Christmas eve experience takes place on a Wednesday in the middle of March. The tournament starts tomorrow, and I absolutely cannot wait. Ever since the college football season ended my primary focus has been on college basketball, and it all leads to the three weeks of insanity that get underway tomorrow. I have played every game over in my mind a million times, and I have a hundred different theories about how it might all work out, but until it starts we can’t be sure which, if any, are correct. As I sit here willing the hours to pass until the first tip-off, here are the ten things that I am most looking forward to about the first two rounds:
1. O.J. versus Beasley. The USC – Kansas State game is overhyped and it might disappoint, but the chance to see two guys who are almost certain to be excellent pros, and who are the heart and soul of their exciting teams, is a dream for basketball fans. I just wish they weren’t playing on the first day – a game like this should be on the second weekend.
2. Davidson versus Gonzaga. Speaking of things that shouldn’t be on the first weekend. These are two mid-major programs that make a joke of the term mid-major because of their continued success and their willingness to seek out and challenge the best. Mark Few is a coaching machine, and Stephen Curry is as much fun to watch as any player in the tournament. The fireworks in this game should be crazy, and the winner stands a decent chance of moving on into the second weekend.
3. Butler versus Tennessee. Butler will have to get past a tough South Alabama team first, but if they do then their second game will be a classic. Both teams are very talented, and both will be highly motivated because they should be insulted by the seeds they were given. Tennessee was the last two seed when they had a legitimate claim at a number one, while Butler is better than they were last year when they were a five, and yet they got a seven. Feeling slighted often brings out the best in teams.
4. Watching Vanderbilt struggle. Shan Foster is a very nice player, but I have very little faith in the Commodores. They are maddeningly inconsistent, and I think that they are the worst of the number fours by a wide margin. They have tough games against Siena and then the winner of the Clemson-Villanova game, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see them fall before the weekend is over.
5. Swearing at Duke. Like many of the sports fans on this continent, I truly, deeply hate the Blue Devils. Every time I see Coach K I feel a very strong urge to slap him. I don’t like his team much this year, and I really don’t like how they are playing lately, so I am hopeful and cautiously optimistic that they will face a challenge that they are not up to.
6. Watching Memphis prove a point. I am a huge and unapologetic fan of John Calipari and Memphis, so I am very sick of hearing how they are overrated and won’t be competitive. I’m sure that the team is much more sick of it than I am. They have a fairly soft opening weekend, and I think that the feelings of disrespect will fuel them to come out and deliver a real message in their first two games. Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts match up well with the two best players on any team in the country, and I hope to see them prove it.
7. Seeing which Indiana shows up. The Hoosiers have some incredible talent and should be in a good position to do some serious damage in this tournament. They aren’t because the school hired the worst kind of human being as a coach, and he screwed them over. I am very curious to see if they can play up to their potential. If they can it will make for a couple of very interesting games. Unfortunately, my instinct is that they won’t.
8. West Virginia versus Arizona. Arizona is underachieving, and they have had to endure a truly bizarre coaching situation this year, but they have three legitimate first round draft picks on the roster, and they can play as well as any team when they are at their best. If they can get their act together they could go far. That’s a big if, but if they can pull it together then it would be very exciting. And yes, some of my motivation here is to see Duke lose.
9. Purdue versus Baylor. Purdue is an exciting team to watch which is just dripping with potential because of the incredible collection of young players and the solid coaching. Baylor’s resurgence is one of the more incredible stories in recent basketball history. This is one of those games that I wish both teams could win, so I will be overrun with mixed feelings as I watch this one. I just hope that it is a memorable game.
10. Four straight days of endless basketball. The two best days of the tournament are the first two days because of all the games and the crazy storylines that emerge every day. The second two days are almost as good for most of the same reasons. This weekend makes me happy to be a sports fan, and even happier that watching the games is essentially my job. Life is good.
