Thoughts on the First Rounds of the Men's NCAA Tournament
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The first weekend of the men's NCAA basketball tournament has come and gone like a whirlwind. I watched a ton of the games, and my son's team who qualified for state, and I have some thoughts.
The very first thing I thought of this morning as I updated our brackets that, for the most part, the big spenders in NIL are winning games, and winning them with relative ease. Every one seed, save for Florida, more on them in a bit, had little to no trouble making it to the Sweet Sixteen. I watched Michigan, who held a slim four point lead in their round 1 game, end up rolling both opponents on their way here. They won their first game by 21, and they beat SLU by 23. They have looked good and I have been enjoying watching them play. Arizona had a battle for about two minutes last night against Utah State, and made easy work of their first two opponents. They have been bigger, faster and overall better than both teams they have played. And Duke, even though they had a first round fight with Siena, easily dispatched with TCU and looked back to normal. They are as good as a team is in men's college hoops this season, and with the benefit of the refs' whistles, they should make the Final Four.
Florida, the number one seed that worried me most, proved why last night. They couldn't even get a shot off in the final seconds. They struggled to guard Iowa. They struggled on the boards. They weren't hitting shots. And when you combine all of that, that results in the madness of March. Iowa played well, don't get me wrong, but Florida blew it last night and they are the first number one seed to be bounced from this tournament. And it happened before the Sweet Sixteen. It is hard to go back to back in college sports, but I expected them to be playing this weekend. My hat is off to Iowa though. They slowed the game down, had Florida play at their pace and level and won the game on a last second three. It was your quintessential upset.
Other than the one seeds, we have one double digit seed here, Texas. Texas has played very well, they played their way in from the First Four and beat two quality teams in BYU and Gonzaga. They will be up against it playing Purdue, but they have more than proved their worth so far in this tournament.
Every other team, save Texas and Iowa, is a 6 seed or better. We have six Big Ten teams. I mentioned Michigan and Iowa already, and joining them we have Michigan State, Illinois, Nebraska and Purdue. Purdue and Michigan State belong and have looked very good in their first two games. Nebraska survived a buzzer beater and look to be on borrowed time. And Illinois may be playing the best of any Big Ten team right now. They have blown by their first two opponents and look as locked in as ever. The Big 12 have three teams, Arizona, Houston and Iowa State. Houston looks as good as Illinois, but they play better defense. Iowa State is making shots and they are lethal when they are hitting threes. And Arizona is a legit one seed. They are so damn good in every facet. The SEC also has three teams, Arkansas, Alabama and Tennessee. Tennessee squeaked by Virginia, and without the help of late whistles, they may not be here. They are about to hit a buzzsaw in Iowa State. Alabama beat the snot out of Texas Tech last night and have me very worried as a Michigan fan right now. They look very good and very determined. And Arkansas, mainly Darius Acuff, have been as elite as they come on offense. They needed a late game surge to beat High Point, but High Point was the early darling and they were making shots. Darius Acuff is so good and I'm stoked he is getting proper billing as a top prospect in the next NBA draft. And we round out the Sweet Sixteen with two Big East teams, St. John's and UConn. St.John's won on a buzzer beater over KU, but I felt like they were the better team. They're tough as nails and they will make Duke uncomfortable this weekend. UConn looks to be back to normal and they are mashing teams on the boards and hitting outside shots. I'm really excited to root for them when they take on MSU this weekend. UConn has always held a place in my heart, they may be the only college team other than Michigan that I have ever liked, so they will get my allegiance in their upcoming game.
But, the sheer fact that no mid majors are in the Sweet Sixteen, that only four mid major teams won a first round game, and then were easily disposed of by a power conference team, that should show you how big the gap is right now in the NIL era. The teams that can spend the most are winning at the highest clip. Michigan has four starters that are transfers. St.John's best player started his career at KU. Arizona is filled with transfers and five star freshmen. Duke has the best freshmen NIL money can buy. This is the way of college sports right now, and it will stay this way until some regulations are put in place. Until then, the tournament, and any other playoff scenario in major college sports, is going to be filled with teams that spend the most. That is how it is. That's good for me as a Michigan fan, but I get the frustration from fans of smaller schools. It takes away some of the beauty of the tournament.
Where we stand today, I have all four of my Final Four teams left. I have my title game still in play. I got 11 of 16 Sweet Sixteen teams right. And it is because I went chalk. And with all this being said, I still had a blast watching all weekend, and I cannot wait to watch this weekend. I love college sports, and I adore the tournament.
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.