March Madness...Sort Of

Once again, March Madness is in full swing around us. We've had close finishes, controversial calls, and brackets being busted. But in the end, I can't help but feel like this year's tournament has lacked some of the Cinderellas and dramas in years past.

Now, don't get me wrong. What Lehigh and Norfolk State accomplished was incredible and monumental. It had been 11 years since a 15 seed had upset a 2, and we had two such upsets in a matter of hours. And for me, that's what the tournament is all about. It's about the little guy taking on the big boys and slaying the giants. America loves an underdog, and personally watching a mid major go deep is one of the most enjoyable things I can see any given year in the tournament (except for when that mid major is a rival of your school, then it's slightly less enjoyable).

But despite the Freaky Friday of sorts that we experienced, at the end of the day, out Sweet 16 had 14 teams from the power conferences in it. Of the 2 mid majors, one of them is Xavier, and with this being their third consecutive Sweet 16 berth, it's hard for me to consider them a "little guy" anymore. The only true mid major left right now is Ohio, who now gets the dubious distinction of taking on North Carolina in the next round.

I think that part of he problem has just been that the big teams are better this year. Teams like Kentucky and Ohio State and Michigan State have been so much more talented and stronger than these mid major teams, that it has been nearly impossible for David to succeed over Goliath this season.

But I think one of the bigger issues has been with the talented mid majors left out in favor of average big time teams. Take Drexel for instance. The team was 27-6. They won their conference regular season. They went to the finals of their conference tournament. They won 19 games in a row before dropping the conference championship by 3 points. And yet this team was left out in favor of California, a middle of the road Pac-12 team in a middle of the road Pac-12 who was utterly embarrassed in the First Four this year.

Drexel was left out in favor of Connecticut, who sure, plays in the Big East, but lost 9 of their last 13 regular season games, including dropping games to Rutgers and Providence. That team deserves to get in more than Drexel? Oh, and Drexel's one "bad loss" on the season? That would be to Norfolk State. Yeah, those guys who straight out beat Missouri, the number 3 team in the country. What a terrible loss.

I guess that's where my issue of the "madness" is this season. It's not even so much that it's becoming all blue bloods in the later rounds, but that I feel not every mid major got a fair shake. Drexel could have gone far in the tournament, but we will never know, because they were left out in favor of average teams from bigger conferences. And its a shame, because like I said, America loves an underdog, and there is no more compelling television that David taking on Goliath on the biggest stage of em all.