Ah, the Cinderella. They encompass the list of would-be no-names that emerged from the near-dustbin of college basketball to synergize at the absolute last moment and make a run in their slippers all the way to be Prom Queen at the biggest dance of all.
To some, Cinderella may conjure up visions of Rollie Massimino's hair flying every which way and to others, Jim Valvano running frantically around the court desperately looking for someone, anyone, to embrace. But, did this year's shambles of parity that could be called the NCAA Tournament really provide teams with glass footwear and giant pumpkins?
Early on, it seems as though the head cheerleaders of the nation would walk off into the sunset with a tiara of mesh around their neck. But then, "upset" after "upset" struck. But can you really call them that? Will ESPN Classic be replaying and hyping the 2000 Men's NCAA Tournament as the "Year of the Upset" 10 years down the line? Will the image of your office pool bracket with less checkmarks than your economics midterm remain indelibly etched in your mind? Will those pair of number eight seeds be forever remembered as the upstarts who changed the tourney?
Undoubtedly not. Because as my uncle said, "North Carolina and Wisconsin -- they ain't that bad."
The Tar Heels and Badgers may have been situated somewhere between the 29th and the 32nd best teams according to the committee, but they have some very important factors leaning their way.
For starters, they come from big conferences. I will be the first one to tell you that I love to watch teams like Tulsa and Gonzaga, who receive no legitimate respect all season long, drill teams that have the ignorance to look past them. But, let's also keep in mind that while Gonzaga is playing West Coast conference basement-dwellers St. Mary's, North Carolina had to play teams like Wake Forest, who are finalists in the NIT, and N. C. State every night in the Atlantic Coast Conference. One can argue that it should not matter if and when a Gonzaga were to meet the Tar Heels, but North Carolina has not had a cupcake conference game all season long and Wisconsin had to play Michigan State three times.
Yes, Wisconsin entered the postseason 18-13. Yes, 13 losses. But, their strength of schedule was the 7th toughest in the entire country. North Carolina was not far behind at number 13.
The Tar Heels' schedule looks like a veritable Who's Who of College Basketball: Indiana, UCLA, Miami (FL), Cincinnati and Michigan State -- and that does not even mention the ACC teams. North Carolina went 1-4 against those notable squads while the Badgers went 2-2 against Temple, Syracuse, Wake Forest, and Texas before trudging through the traditional logjam that is the Big Ten. Granted, these are not wonderful records, but were they more valuable than a 30-point dumping of a lesser team which turned into a 2-hour lay-up drill?
After Selection Sunday, Kansas head coach Roy Williams and others questioned whether or not to load up on a softer schedule next season. They reasoned that the committee seemed to reward wins of any sort with bids and higher seedings as they did with teams like Nevada Las-Vegas despite the fact that the Rebels were blown out by Utah by 44 points.
Perhaps the lesson of this tournament is that while the selection committee may not regard "quality losses" as notably as "cupcake wins," the basketball gods do. There are such things as moral victories and learning experiences. It is not a bunch of bull when coaches say they need to prepare their teams for the postseason by playing tough teams all season long. Unlike the fairy-tale heroine mopping the floors, North Carolina and Wisconsin came into March prepared to dance, despite their humble beginnings. And you never know, they may just walk off with the Homecoming King on one arm and the NCAA title in the other.
