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Monday, November 25, 2024
Much the same as the NFL season opening on a Thursday night or Major League Baseball beginning on a Sunday night, the NCAA Tournament beginning with play-in games on a Tuesday night-starting with two 16 seeds against each other-will never feel right. That said, as long as the NCAA continues playing its First Four, then Tuesday night was a pretty good start for a tourney.
The NCAA Tournament field is set, and there’s a lot to talk about. Plus the other three tournaments announced their fields, and weather appears likely to impact a number of travel plans in one part of the country.
The 2016 NCAA Tournament needed its signature game, and it got one in no better place-in its final game. And it was much-needed in a tourney that in many ways was slightly below average.
The one tournament that uses a series to determine its champion has a dramatic final. Plus coaching moves lead the way, and a Tiger will try out the NBA Draft but could return.
Years from now, perhaps the best compliment one will be able to give one of the most talented senior classes in the history of George Washington basketball is that not only did they go out as champions, but they also went out playing their very best.
The college basketball season is a journey in every way, and few demonstrated that better this year than Old Dominion. The Monarchs’ 2014-15 campaign was truly a long and eventful one, full of ups and downs, successes and disappointments. It may not have always lived up to expectations on the outside, but there were plenty of reasons for that. Still, it would be hard to argue that ODU didn’t make the best of it.
The fifth entrant in NCAA Division I’s college basketball postseason debuted on Monday with the first-ever Vegas 16 tournament tipping off. If you’re a history buff, you really should check it out now because…if the event is relying heavily on ticket sales, the odds of there being a second one are not very good.
George Washington’s experienced core of seniors Patricio Garino, Kevin Larsen and Joe McDonald has accomplished a lot in four years together, so adding another milestone to their careers and to the school’s history books is a fitting ending for the three.
With the NCAA Tournament now on recess for a few days, the coaching merry-go-round is starting to spin again. Monday saw several vacancies filled, more created and rumors of still more to possibly come. The biggest moves both came in the Big 12, where TCU hired former Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon and Oklahoma State landed Stephen F. Austin’s Brad Underwood.
Two days into the 2015 NCAA Tournament have felt kind of like trying to start up the family roadster after she’s been sitting idle in the garage for a couple years. It’s taking a little time to get the engine warmed up, but slowly it’s getting back up to speed.
