Sez Me …
March Madness is the most maddening and exhilarating among American sports seasons. We have nothing else to match it in thrill ride unpredictability. There is no vacancy in the Heartbreak Hotel.
For around four weeks and beginning Sunday with the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s seeding reveal, professional and amateur bettors and lookie-loos will fill out their brackets with all the confidence available, only see them brackets destroyed by next Sunday evening.
Millions of people will make confetti of them as if they were bad checks.
It isn’t impossible to fill out a perfect men’s bracket that includes 68 (soon to be 76?) teams — odds already are in the billions — but if somebody does it this year it will be a miracle added to his walking on water, healing the sick, raising the dead, and providing unlimited loaves and fishes to his audience.
After back-to-back years of UConn — especially in 2024 — there isn’t anything close to a clear favorite.
There’s Auburn, Duke, Houston, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan State and Texas Tech, serving as bracket master’s Joe Lunardi’s top eight teams. Notice half of those are SEC teams, and more will follow tonight. As many as 13 schools from that conference could make the bracket.
After years of dormancy, the SEC — a football munitions factory — suddenly has emerged as the dominant basketball conference.
People wonder how. How? Transfer portal. Football money. NIL money. Basketball doesn’t need many players. Lean green goes a long way in hoops.
Duke might have been the best team, but the Dukies lost freshman Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 player in the country, to an ankle sprain. If he can’t play, the Blue Devils are sunk, really blue, but a No. 1 seed, anyway.
Oddsmakers had lifted Auburn from No. 2 over Duke into No. 1. That lasted a few hours after Tennessee beat the Plainsmen in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
Not many teams are that much better than the others. What to look for is the team(s) getting hot at the right time.
There will be upsets. Always are. But this tournament has flattened out. UConn, with one of the most dominant teams I’ve seen in the NCAAs, wasn’t getting beat last year. There is no school like that now.
In fact, a bunch of teams that can win this thing.
Glass slippers seem to come in all sizes now. …
San Diego State’s men squarely are on the NCAA Tournament bubble. If they don’t make it, they have no one to blame but themselves. Face it, a whole lot of bad losses. …
Against Boise State in the Mountain West Tournament, the Aztecs rebounded like Munchkins vs. Wilt. …
The NFL Team That Used To Be Here needed a guard and it got one who started for the Eagles, enormous Mekhi Becton. Good player. And, at $20 million over two years, a steal in a year when guards are hot commodities. …
The Judases will start grain silos on the right side Becton (6-foot-7) and Joe Alt (6-8 1/2) …
Khalil Mack isn’t what he was, but he’s better than many. The NFL Team That Used To Be Here had to let go of edge rusher Joey Bosa, so keeping Mack around for at least a year was wise. Losing DT Poona Ford to the Rams was not. …
The Judases did well picking up Steelers tailback Najee Harris. He’s not Jim Brown, but he’s a dervish who shows up for work. Still, the J’s need a breakaway back as a change of pace. …
The Chiefs have another player (Xavier Worthy) accused of domestic violence. You tell me: is this a trend? …
DeMarcus Lawrence after free agencing from Dallas to Seattle: “I know for sure I’m not gonna go to a Super Bowl there.” True. But the Seahawks aren’t exactly the Bill Belichick Patriots. …
Former Dallas teammate Micah Parsons wasn’t happy with Lawrence’s remarks, calling them “clown s–t.” To which DeMarcus brilliantly replied: “Maybe if you spent less time tweeting and more time winning, I wouldn’t have left.” …
It wasn’t about money, Myles Garrett said, adding he was through with Cleveland, demanding a trade to a team that could win. The surprise? It was about money. …
Hell, a lot of people can live in Cleveland on $40 million a year. Maybe even $39 million. …
The Bills signed two free agents who, due to PED raps, won’t play at the first six games at the start of next season. No immediate help needed. …
Has free agency John Wayne-d the Eagles defense. They’ll get guys, but it won’t be as good. Comedy is easy, repeating is hard. …
In negotiations, Justin Fields played up the fact that he got benched by the Steelers last year and turned it into $30 million guaranteed from the Jets. …
The Browns basically informed Russell Wilson that he isn’t good enough to beat out Kenny Pickett. Ever heard of “nigh?” That’s where the end is. …
Just Sayin’: Those watching Carlsbad High School graduate Julian Sayin drilling with Ohio State are calling him brilliant, with a Dan Marino release. …
These colleges hiring sports general managers. What do the athletic directors do? …
Congratulations to the Lady Aztecs, invited to The Dance. …
UCSD is becoming a basketball school as quickly as it became one of the world’s great universities. …
If the Padres trade Dylan Cease, they aren’t making the playoffs. You don’t trade your ace at the end of spring training. …
If they do, the Pads should go all out to win future Vedder Cups. …
Mo Vaughn, 1995 American League MVP, its he took performance-enhancing drugs late in his career to accelerate injury recovery. How can we know just how good these guys really were? …
You want amazing? In 2001, 71-year-old Arnold Palmer shot 71 at PGA West. No player has shot his age on tour since. …
Safety bollards on Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter protecting pedestrians have been removed by the Ham & Eggers’ budget cuts. An incredibly bad idea, but not unexpected. …
RIP, Junior Bridgeman. A fine basketball player, brilliant businessman, and by all s a class act. …
Junior was the star of the 1974-75 Louisville Final Four team at the Sports Arena that lost in OT to UCLA in the semis. Best game I’ve seen in person. Louisville was better. It’s just that Denny Crum wasn’t as good as his mentor, Mr. Wooden. …
Charles Barkley: “I’ve been poor, I’ve been rich, I’ve been fat, I’ve been skinny. The Clippers have always sucked.” …
The Celtics shot 63 3-pointers, making 20 (and just five in the second half) in their loss to OKC. You cannot tell me this is basketball. If you do, you’ll be wrong. …“
Jack Kerouac: “The only truth is music.” Maybe it was. Not anymore. Hell, that means most everything now is a lie. …
I like Ken Jennings running point on “Jeopardy,” because it’s good to see a host who, when he acts as though he knows the answer/question, he really does. …
I truly believe that, if Stephen A. Smith has real aspirations to run for president, he isn’t doing it without LeBron’s backing. …
Does Space Corps have an infantry? …
People seem to forget Eisenhower’s Edsel commercial at the White House.
