Do you know what time it is? It's March Madness, the NCAA Mens Basketball
Tournament. The time of the year when you see commercials on CBS announcing the
Road to the Final Four, the pinnacle of the college basketball year. Each year
64 teams vie for a spot in the Final Four. Teams from the East, Midwest,
Southwest, and West all compete for one spot from each division. The teams that
play for one of these spots can be classified into four different groups. The
Number 1 through 4 seeds, the Cinderella teams, the Bubble teams and the One Hit
Wonders. The Number 1 through 4 seeds make up 1/4 of the tournament. These teams
are the strongest teams in the nation and are usually figured to go to the Final
Four. The teams ranked Number 1 in their bracket have the best chance of going
to the Final Four. Since 1980 at least one Number 1seed has gone to the Final
Four. The number one seeded team has also never been beaten in the first round
of the NCAA tournament. The teams that are 1 through 4 this year, and figure to
be playing for the National Championship, are Kentucky, UMass, Purdue,
Georgetown, Cincinnati, Utah, Villanova, and Arizona. All of these teams had to
have had tremendous regular seasons and conference tournaments to be seeded so
high. On the other hand a "Cinderella" team is a team that had a so-so
regular season and upset a higher ranked team in their conference tournament.
They ride that wave of momentum into the Field of 64 and hope to upset another
higher ranked team in the first and second rounds. These teams usually don't
last farther than the Sweet Sixteen where their season usually comes to an end.
Teams that can be classified into this group are the 10 through 14 seeds. Teams
that fall into this category are Clemson, Virginia Commonwealth, Austin Peay,
Cansius, and Santa Clara. Out of these "Cinderella" teams, many of
them were teams "on the Bubble." These teams finished with a so-so
regular season also but also had a so-so conference tournament. They had to
sweat it out and hope for other teams to falter and the selection committee to
be generous for these teams to make it. Once in the tournament these teams can
be transformed into a Cinderella team by beating two higher seeded teams. Teams
"on the Bubble" are ranked 7 through 9. The teams that can be
classified into this category or groupings are Michigan, Stanford, Bradley,
Wisconsin-Green Bay, and Eastern Michigan. That leaves the last grouping of
teams. The One Hit Wonders. Their describes them perfectly. They usually upset
one team then bow out of the tourney in the second round. The teams in this
category might prematurely be labeled a "Cinderella" team, but after
exiting the tournament in the second round they cannot be given this title.
These teams can be ranked anywhere from 6 through 15. Teams from this group are
Mississippi Valley, Louisville, Iowa, Indiana, Princeton, and Monmouth. So as
one can see there are many different ways to view the teams from the Field of
64. From the Number 1's through Number 4's to the One-Hit Wonders there are many
teams with a shot at winning the NCAA National Championship. You might ask,
"Which team do you feel will win the National Championship?" I feel
the National Championship will go to the Georgetown Hoyas ( a Number 2 seed )
out of the East.