Ricky Dimon
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As usual, the first round of the NCAA Tournament was a wild one. There were plenty of upsets, overtime games, and all-around drama. At the same time, enough favorites and bluebloods took care of business to keep the bracket intriguing and make television networks happy. The stage is set for a blockbuster first weekend of competition in the Big Dance.
Let’s take a look at what happened on Thursday and Friday and discuss what we learned.
What we learned on Thursday: Parity rules
Thursday basically confirmed what we already knew: there is a ton of parity in college basketball.
That has been the case for a while now, as the NBA’s one-and-done rule combined with the transfer portal creates an incredible amount of roster turnover from year to year. Gone are the days when Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski kept players around for what seemed like a decade and had little trouble sustaining a dynasty. There has been no dominant program over the past 10-15 years and rarely has there been a dominant team even in any single season.
Based on what we have seen for the last 4 months and what we saw on Thursday, the 2021-22 campaign is no different. Gonzaga and Arizona look like the best teams on paper, but neither one is any kind of lock to win it all or even reach the Final Four. The Zags proved that by messing around with #16 seed Georgia State for almost 30 minutes in their first-round scare (it was a 59-57 game with around 11 minutes remaining). They ended up getting the job done 93-72 but needed help in the form of a Georgia State injury and foul trouble.
A national title contender that got a lot more than just a scare was Kentucky. The Wildcats became the 10th #2 seed in tournament history to lose to a #15 seed, as they were stunned by Saint Peter’s 85-79 in overtime.
Meanwhile, both of the #5 seeds that were in action on Thursday lost (not exactly a surprise if you know anything about March Madness history) and #4 UCLA trailed #13 Akron 49-42 with fewer than 6 minutes remaining before mounting a late charge to prevail 57-53.
The bottom line is that very few top teams can be trusted. I still have faith in Gonzaga and there is no reason to get off the Arizona bandwagon, but at their title odds (the Zags are +250, the ‘Cats are +500), I’m not throwing my money around in that direction. There are a lot of teams that can win this thing – a lot of teams with better value at longer odds.
Check out our St. Peter’s vs Murray State preview
What we learned on Friday: Raider nation
Day 2 of the first round left a little bit to be desired, at least compared to the lofty standards set by Thursday.
But one team that stood out is Texas Tech. I know it’s easy to look good against Montana State, but let’s not forget about how many heavily favored teams have been struggling with opponents just like Montana State. The Red Raiders most definitely did not struggle. They pounded the Bobcats 97-62 after building a 19-point lead just 7 minutes into the game and a 30-point lead with a minute left in the first half. That is a beatdown. When a team as good at playing defense as Texas Tech is also putting up 97 points in a game, you better watch out. Give me the Red Raiders over Notre Dame in round two and also over the Duke-Michigan State winner in the Sweet 16. At that point, my popcorn would be ready for Texas Tech-Gonzaga.
In fact, it may be time to get on the entire Big 12 bandwagon. That conference went 6-0 in the first round. Actually, if you want to include all levels of competition involving both men and women, the Big 12 is 11-0 in the postseason. That’s a large sample size of success. Respect it.
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