By Matt Curtis and Jake Snyder
This year the number one question during the college basketball season was “how would the tournament work in a pandemic?”. Now that the tournament is over, there is one conclusion that can be made from the madness. That the pandemic tournament was nothing short of Pandemonium. From sister Jean’s return to the mustaches of Cameron krutwig and Drew Timme there was a ton of excitement and little oddities that occurred during this year's tournament.
Have you ever heard of Oral Roberts? Because I certainly hadn't before they knocked off the giant that is Ohio State. Ohio State was not the only big ten team to disappoint. In fact, there wasn't any big ten team that did not disappoint.
The Big Ten wasn't the only conference that disappointed. The ACC had been a tough conference all year. However, the ACC had a terrible showing in the tournament. Oddly enough the tournament was dominated by western teams. Of the sweet sixteen teams there was only 4 teams from anywhere remotely near the east coast. In fact, two of the final four teams were from the old Southwest conference.
Just like every march madness there was a ton of surprising teams. For starters UCLA became the second First Four team ever to reach the final four. UCLA, an 11-seed, was a banked half-court shot by Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs away from sending their final four game into another overtime and then maybe a chance at a spot in the title game. Loyola Chicago surprised once again as it made a run to the sweet sixteen. The team to knockout Loyola Chicago was 12 seeded Oregon State. The Beavers had been picked to finish dead last in their conference to begin the season. Yet they found themselves battling in an elite eight game.
One of the tournament oddities had to be the “bubble” that the players had to stay in whilst in the tournament. They could not leave the building and had to wear tracking devices in order to make sure there were no issues with COVID. Some teams documented themselves even being outside for the first time in days.
It truly was a special tournament for the favorite Gonzaga. Yet somehow it seems like Gonzaga rarely is able to finish the job. The same could be said about this year as what shaped up to be a great title game ended in a Baylor rout of the zags. The top seeded Gonzaga was outplayed and overall, over worked by the Baylor Bears as they took home their first national title.
What truly makes college basketball unique is its parody throughout the sport. In any given game either team no matter how big or strong can win. This phenomenon is what makes it so interesting to watch. The Cinderella story might just be the biggest hook in sports, and it leads to some heartbreaking moments not just for the players but for many fans as well. The notorious videos of heartbroken fans at bars or in their living rooms after their team takes a tough loss are always entertaining.
In a year where there was no certainty whether march madness would even happen, the tournament definitely did not disappoint. For us here with two guys talking sports, it's on to baseball and whether the Phillies will ever live up to their expectations.