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The University of Virginia Cavaliers swept the ACC regular-season (first title in 33 years) and won their first ACC tournament title in 38 years! (Yes, Duke, UNC, and Syracuse are still in the ACC), but Hoo knew this would be the Wahoo’s year to do something that even Ralph Sampson couldn’t do.
The number one seed Hoo’s play my alumni, the number 16 seed Coastal Carolina University Chanticleers in Raleigh, NC. Being a 16thseed isn’t the best place to be on a bracket, but being one of the 64 teams selected to represent college basketball as one of the best 68 teams in the country is still something to be proud of!
(I still think that eight and nine seeds are the worst! This is mostly because I never know how to decide who will advance on my brackets. The three teams who bust my bracket year after year, after year are Gonzaga, Pittsburgh, and Memphis. So of course, the selection committee has ALL three of my bracket buster nightmares listed as 8 or 9 seeds in this years tournament. Thank you for eliminating my bracket from winning back-to-back championships before the first games has even started.)
Coastal may not have a shot at upsetting a number one seed. A 16 seed has never beat a number one seed, ever. But Coastal is magical place. It’s a hidden gem in the world of college experiences. Anything can happened… tradition starts now.
The only game I watched UVA play was against the University of Tennessee and the Volunteers gave the Wahoo’s their biggest beat down of the year losing by 35 points. UVA’s only other four losses totaled 26 points. (Hashtag ROCKYTOP!)
Charles Barkley may not know how to swing a golf club, but he knows the game of basketball. His thoughts on the Madness “The one team that can go deep in the tournament is the University of Tennessee”!
March Madness has officially begun and the bracket will make bring out your blood sweat and tears. Each pick counts and the more time you spend analyzing and forecasting the more emotion you will show when your bracket quickly is busted. Suddenly, your genius strategy will explode, leaving you to question everything you know about sports and life.
If there are any tips I can give you when creating your perfect bracket its to only do one bracket with an adult beverage, and don’t over think it. Last year I won all three of the bracket pools I was in with the same bracket that I had entered seconds before they were due. (I may or may not have been in Vegas during this time and got an early morning phone call to enter my picks. Yes, I was still in mindset of the night before and clearly vodka was a great teammate.)
For more direction when making what feels like major life decisions, consider that only once have all four number one seeds all played in the final four. Only three times has a number one seed not advanced to the final four (1980, 2006, and 2011). Mid-majors have made the final four six times in the last eight years. And for those thinking Syracuse is going to cut down the nets in Texas; only one team in the last six years has gone on to win the National Championship after losing four games after February 1st. Syracuse started the season 25-0 then lost five of their last seven games.
But Hoo knew the bracket could break down your pride one game at a time, year after year, and still, its one of the most exciting events in sports.
Choose wisely.