Everyone loves an underdog, right?
As the 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships kicked off last Thursday, this year’s tournament has proved to be a year of many surprising underdog wins.
For sport fans who did not fill out a bracket, either for money or just for fun, it could be understood how this tournament has been filled with compelling games that show that the better team may not always win.
On the other side of the spectrum, someone who did fill out a bracket might appreciate the underdog’s efforts, but the aftermath of their wins has affected their respected bracket. As teams are ranked from 1-16, one being the best seed and sixteen being the weakest seed, the tournament has proved that the lower seeding teams don’t only give a fighting effort, but they win.
Teams like Butler, Florida State, Virginia Commonwealth, Richmond and Marquette have all advanced to the Sweet 16, which is the round of the final sixteen teams. The underdogs in this year’s tournament have shocked sports fans. In the ESPN.com Tournament Challenge that is free to enter, no participants have a perfect bracket, and some individuals around the University of Tampa campus in particular are struggling with their bracket.
“My bracket is done,” said junior Miles Natorski. “All the teams who won this year are teams I would never have imagined winning, especially the teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 … Just another year of disappointment.”
The leader of the underdog group has to go to Virginia Commonwealth University out of Richmond, VA. They were selected as the final team into the tournament and were chosen to play in the opening round game against the No. 6 seed Georgetown Hoyas.
As analysts griped and complained about the NCAA committee picking VCU to play in the tournament, the team has won three games to advance to the Sweet 16 to everyone’s surprise. Not one participant in the top-10 of the Tournament Challenge had VCU in the Sweet 16.
Teams like Richmond, which is a No. 12 seed upset No. 5 seed Vanderbilt in the second round. They advanced to the next round to beat No. 13 seed Morehead State, a team that had previously upset No. 4 seeded Louisville. Louisville, just to give some perspective, is a team that made it to their conference tournament final.
It is hard to not root for the underdog teams because it is always a feel-good story to see teams that were not supposed to win do just that. But when a bracket is involved and sometimes the winner receives money, that is the last thing one wants to see.
As participants’ brackets across the nation have perhaps not fulfilled expectations, the tournament has turned into a new experience. Some now get to root for teams who they want to win, instead of picking teams who they think will win.
“I never liked Duke, but since my bracket is so poor I can now root against them and hope the teams I want to win now win,” stated senior Louis Gold.
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships resume Thursday, March 24.
Michael Paonessa can be reached at mpaonessa@spartans.ut.edu.
VCU is going to the final four baby!