The numbers show how ‘mad’ March has been
If this year’s NCAA tournament hasn’t provided you with some thrilling moments so far, then I suggest you find another sport to watch.
March Madness has been the perfect name for the NCAA tournament so far, and the way things have been going the next four rounds are going to provide enough excitement to knock your socks off.
Close games, upsets, a few overtime games, and now the field of 64 has been narrowed to a field of 16. The final 16 teams includes two No. 12 seeds, one 10 seed, one seven seed, one five seed, a four seed, four No. 3 seeds, two No. 2 seeds and for some strange reason all four of the No. 1 seeds. I guess that’s why they’re No.1 seeds.
If you have 12 or more teams left on your bracket, then I salute you for a job well done.
Every now and then I like to break things down by the numbers, and after some careful tabulations I’ve come up with the following:
In the first round the average margin of victory was 15.5937 points. Three games were blowouts, with a 30-point or more margin of victory. Thirteen games saw a victory margin of 20 points or more. Four games had a winning margin of five points or less, and three games ended with a two-point margin of victory or less.
The first round saw two games go to overtime, Western Kentucky over Drake and San Diego over Connecticut. The biggest margin of victory in the first round was UCLA’s dominating performance over Mississippi Valley 70-29.
In the second round the average margin dropped to 11.25 points. There were two games with a 30-point or more margin, three games of 20 points or more, six games with a five-point or less margin of victory and two games with a two-point or less victory.
Add two more overtime games, and we had ourselves a super exciting second round.
Every year there’s a debate over which conference is the strongest. Taking a look at the teams remaining in the tournament I would have to say the Big East, with West Virginia, Villanova and Louisville still standing, and the Pacific Ten, which also has three teams ‘ Stanford, Washington State and UCLA ‘ with a shot at the National Championship might be the front-runners.
The Big Ten and Big 12 have two teams each left in the running, with Michigan State, Wisconsin, Kansas and Texas holding on. The Atlantic Coast, Conference USA, SEC, Atlantic 10, Sun Belt and the Southern Conference all have one team still standing.
Even though two conferences have three teams left, as of today I would have to say the Big 12 is on top as both Kansas and Texas represent the conference with No. 1 seeds in the tournament.
It’s pretty hard to nail down the best game over the weekend, but Western Kentucky’s win over Drake and San Diego big win over Connecticut rank at the top of my list. But for me the best two games happened to involve one of the teams I despise in college basketball and that team happens to be Duke.
There was no bigger Belmont fan than me on Thursday night. The Bruins just missed knocking off the No. 2 seed in the West. But I tip my hat to West Virginia, which sent Duke back home in the second round. That couldn’t have pleased me more.
Tennessee’s run could end against Louisville, especially if the Vols continue to turn the ball over and play sloppy on both ends of the court as they did against American in the first round and Butler in the second. You can’t give up big leads if you’re looking to make it to the Final Four.