The Waterboy
Jeff Yoder | Sports Co-Editor
This is not a column titled after the 1998 comedy with Adam Sandler. It's a place to take a break from the action, step over to the sideline and let me refresh you with a cold cup of sports knowledge. Every other week, I'll give a response to the professional and college sports worlds' latest controversy.
This week's column is the first of two dedicated to college basketball during March, the greatest month in the sports calendar. The only thing certain in college basketball this year is uncertainty. The upset has become the norm. If your team is in the top 25 at this point in the season, you have at least four losses blemishing your record-unless you're Gonzaga and haven't had to worry about losing since January because you're preying on teams like Portland. Gonzaga's last loss came to Butler on Jan. 24. Butler took down Indiana when they were No. 1 at the time. The Bulldogs-Butler, not Gonzaga-have since fallen out of the rankings with their 30-point loss to Virginia Commonwealth last week. They've beaten the current No. 1 and No. 2 in the country but got smoked by VCU. Miami soared from unranked to No. 3 in the blink of an eye before crumbling to a Wake Forest team that is under .500. Just as Georgetown reached the top 10 (No. 5) this week, they flopped in their next game to unranked Villanova. Michigan State climbed all the way to No. 4 in mid-February before dropping their last three in a row in the Big Ten. The only "hot" teams right now seem to be Gonzaga and Kansas, since the rest of the top 10 has recorded one loss or more in the past three weeks. In a season when it's almost a curse to be the favorite, this year's dose of March basketball could be one of the most exciting yet. Championship week begins next weekend but bracket predictions have already been in discussion for quite some time. The Atlantic Coast Conference is seemingly a two-horse race between No. 3 Duke and No. 6 Miami. However, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia or Maryland could emerge as a darkhorse in the final week of the season. The Big East, or what's left of it, is sort of the same scenario with Georgetown and Louisville leading the pack and Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Marquette waiting in the shadows. The Pacific 10 has been owned by the three-headed monster of Oregon, Arizona and UCLA all season. The Big 12 and SEC are a bit of a toss-up while the dominant conference in 2012-2013 has clearly been the Big Ten. Though I'm slightly biased, as we all should be living in the Midwest, the Big Ten has been its own drama series this season. Illinois head coach John Groce, a Taylor grad, upset the No. 1 Indiana on a last-second inbounds play. Penn State got their only conference win of the season against Michigan, while they were ranked No. 4. Minnesota climbed all the way to No. 8 around New Year's before losing four straight in January and four out of six in February. And now we've hit March: the time of year when Norfolk State and Lehigh go from no-names to fan favorites in one game. It's also the time of year when a play-in game between Long Beach State and Middle Tennessee becomes worth watching with people's brackets on the line. The Cinderella story has become pretty common in past tournaments. Butler, Davidson, George Mason and Ohio have all found a slipper that fits in recent tournaments. I wouldn't be surprised if this year's "Big Dance" will be passing them out at the front door.
