Hallelujah! March is finally here, and it’s about time! All the games, the injuries, the upsets, and breakout performances have led us to this point in time. We are two and a half weeks away from the First Four play in games, and the Madness is just about to begin. We have a few leagues that will begin their final steps in their own march to the tournament with their conference championships beginning this week. Other major conferences are in their final week of the conference regular season with tournaments in the following week. All of this leads up to the big day: Selection Sunday. The following will give you all that you need to know regarding what to expect leading up to the unveiling of the brackets.
There are four conference tournaments that begin on March 3rdthat will begin the Madness. The Atlantic Sun, the Big South, the Horizon, and the Patriot League all begin the postseason this week. Now, I think that it is safe to say that the majority of you reading this couldn’t name a team from each of these conferences, but that’s ok. However, these tournaments are very important. For teams in the Mid to Lower major conferences, the Automatic Bid awarded to the conference champion is the only way they have to the tournament. It is very rare, almost mythical, for a team to come out of one of these leagues with an At-Large bid. This is their only shot at continuing their season and making an appearance in the Tournament. Without the Automatic Bid, teams like Florida Gulf Coast, Lehigh, and Bucknell wouldn’t upset teams like Georgetown, Duke, or Kansas. These teams were virtually unknown until they made noise in the NCAA Tournament. They would have still if it weren’t for their Automatic Bids they received by winning their conference tournaments.
The second week of March brings you the Power Conference tournaments. These teams have nearly the opposite path to the Tournament than the teams we previously discussed. Just under half of the teams in each of the Power Conferences are playing for an At-Large bid. These teams are competing not only for an Automatic bid in their tournaments, but are also trying to improve their seeding. Seeding is the key to everything once you’re sure you are in. This could be the difference between having a favorable path in the Tournament, to having your bags packed in the middle of the first weekend. Most of the first week tournaments go according to plan. The top teams are usually the ones who win. The second week brings a little different feel to it and regular season champions have a more difficult time in their tournament. The reason for this is that you have 10-14 Power Conference teams all playing in the same arena. Not only that, but the top teams from the regular season have byes, and sometimes double byes, in the first rounds of the tournaments. Case in point: 2011 Connecticut. After losing 7 of their final 11 regular season games, the Huskies went on to win 5 games in consecutive days in the Big East Tournament. They defeated Georgetown (who had a bye) and knocked off Pittsburgh the following night (who had a double bye). When a team wins a game in their conference tournament, they come into the next game with a slight momentum advantage over a team who might have a day off. These tournaments aren’t as sure as the earlier ones, and makes for good entertainment.
After the final whistle is blown, and the last trophy is awarded, it is now time for the Selection Committee to build the bracket. Aside from the first weekend of the tournament, this might be the most exciting time in the process. Teams all gather together in a room and wait (and hope) to hear their name called. For some, it doesn’t matter who they play in the opener. They are just happy to make it this far and anything more is just an added bonus. For other teams, such as the Top 10 teams, they are just waiting to see who and what stands in between them and the championship they seek. There will be joy and disappointment, elation and confusion. Just as there is every year, someone who deserved to get in will be snubbed, and someone who wasn’t expected to hear their name called will. This is the joy of this time of year. Anything that can happen will. There is a reason why everyone can fill out bracket after bracket and there is never someone who gets everything perfect.
March is always an exciting time. A year’s worth of work finally comes to fruition, and it doesn’t always go to plan. The next month of basketball is going to be exciting, shocking, and just plain beautiful. Everyone has a shot, and it will all be amazing to watch.
Chandler Smith
@chansm1th
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