Let The Games Begin

There’s a reason we call it madness. It’s the 75 foot desperation shot that swishes through the net as time expires; the bracket-busting upsets and Cinderella teams that shock even the most seasoned analysts. It’s the overlooked foul or the questionable call that completely changes the outcome of the game. It’s the humanness of the tournament that makes it a free for all in which all 68 teams – no matter how seemingly insignificant – have a fighting chance at the title, but where no team – not even the most talked about, high seeded one – is ever safe from the determined underdog.

This is unpredictability personified, where luck and desire are just as important as how prepared you are, where there is never any shortage of unbelievable or surprising moments, and where only those who fight through any challenge thrown their way can return home victorious while everyone else leaves early with heads down and tails between their legs.

This is March Madness.

Most of the postseason mayhem is born out of unforeseeable upsets from the most unlikely of teams. The underdogs with nothing to lose and everything to prove, the Cinderella teams that rise from obscurity to find their place in history among the elite of the day. Last year it was the Butler Bulldogs, a team that no one saw coming and one whose half-court shot was just centimeters from making them the 2010 National Champions instead of the Duke Blue Devils.

Every year, looking at the final four teams in the tournament is like playing a game of Which One Doesn’t Belong. This year, four remain but none belong. Connecticut finished the regular season ninth in the Big East. Kentucky was supposed to be here a year ago, riding on the coattails of John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins. But they fell short of even a Final Four appearance and with most of that team in the NBA now, John Calipari was forced to start fresh. Butler is back but they also lost their star player, Gordon Hayward, to the NBA, leaving them without a vital piece of their game. But not one of these teams can compare to the unexpected emergence of Virginia Commonwealth University.

VCU went 23-11 and lost five of their last eight regular season games. No one thought that they even deserved a spot in the NCAA tournament over teams like Virginia Tech. But the Rams have silenced everyone who doubted them. From first four (play-in games that resulted from the expansion of the tournament field from 64 to 68 teams) to Final Four, it’s as if no one told these guys that they are an 11^th-seeded team that should’ve gone home weeks ago. Instead, they’ve stuck around, ending the tournament dreams of five teams by an average of 12 points. Four of those teams include 6^th-seeded Georgetown, 3^rd-seeded Purdue, 10^th-seeded Florida State, and number one seeded Kansas. All upsets. All predicted to send the Rams packing.

VCU has already made history, not only as the first team from the school to reach the Sweet Sixteen, the Elite Eight, and the Final Four, but also as one of the tournament’s most unlikely Cinderella stories ever. Yet, they’re not satisfied. “We still got two games left.” senior forward Jamie Skeen told Sports Illustrated's Tim Layden after the Rams took down Kansas.

It’s an outstanding accomplishment to get to the Final Four, but none of these teams want it to end here. The real madness starts now because while four remain, only one can reach the ultimate goal and earn the title of National Champions.

--Emily

Article: Layden, Tim. "Rocking The Chalk." Sports Illustrated. 4 Apr 2011: 38-46. Print.

Picture: Sports Illustrated. Web. 30 Mar 2011. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1103/ncaa-best-shots-tournament/content.32.html.