Madness driven by March
I know Len's going to offer his Final Four thoughts in the morning, but I wanted to post a few thoughts while the regional finals are fresh in my mind...
As a chemistry and physics professor, I know too well that all processes are generally inefficient and reaction yields can be pretty low when you finally get your desired end product. What's my point? March Madness and one's bracket usually gives the "Average Joe" (or in my case, Schmoe, Schmendrick... whatever Yiddush term floats your boat) exponentially diminishing returns!
So, we have a Final Four of West Virginia, Duke, Butler, and Michigan State. How many of us had ANY of these teams in our brackets? I at least kept on track with West Virginia, my predicted champion for the whole thing. Other than that, my bracket progressively declined like interest rates on a checking account (remember when we used to have legitimate interest bearing accounts?!). I was correct on 16 of the 32 teams to make it through the first round, 7 for 16 through the second round, 3 for 8 through the Sweet Sixteen round, and 1 for 4 to make it to the Final Four. If any of you remember geometric progressions in Algebra or Calculus class, my bracket is almost a perfect geometric REGRESSION, declining by a factor of approximately 2 each step (i.e., 2^-n or 1/2^n).
Yuck! Forget the mathematical theory... the bottom line is either I stink at picking brackets or you really need to have a special knack. But I don't feel alone with my sorry bracket. I'm sure a lot of folks picked Kansas, Kansas State, and Purdue for their Final Four too. If memory serves me correct, didn't President Obama pick Kansas and Kansas State among his Final Four? See? Even our nation's Big Cheese can crap out trying to play NCAA Nostredamus!
What have I learned from Bracketology? If you're not a Math Savant, or a leading authority on college basketball, the only sure-fire way to have a successful bracket is to FILL IT IN AFTER THE GAMES ARE PLAYED!
But seriously, as much as I would've loved to be King of the Bracket, I've had a lot more fun watching some incredible games whenever I got the chance. So many games went to the final buzzer, and just as many games had more momentum changes than health care reform. AND, best of all, we have a couple of pretty good games to look forward to in next weekend's Final Four:
Butler vs. Michigan State
Duke vs. West Virginia
I know, I know... the Butler Bulldogs have to be a sentimental favorite, playing minutes away form their campus, everyone harkens back to "Hoosiers", and Gene Hackman's going to be on the sidelines for added nostalgia. Yes, and Duke is the lone #1 seed left, outlasting a physical Baylor team down the stretch with better rebounding and composure...
But I'm looking for a Michigan State-West Virginia final, and I'm sticking to my story... Mountaineers hoist the trophy and clip down the nets after a 67-61 win.
Why MSU-WVU? How can I go against my original prediction and not have the Mountaineers playing for the title on April 5th? But why Michigan State? Call it a feeling, but there's something special about a Tom Izzo-coached team in March, more special than Butler. Would I be surprised if Butler knocks off the Spartans? No, but just as the local hype eventually took its toll on Baylor in Houston, something tells me Butler may have the same fate against a veteran coach with lots of Final Four experience.
I know some folks would love to see MSU against Duke, Izzo matching wits against Coach K (I'm not going to try and spell it), but I think Bob Huggins has his team going on all cylinders for the entire tournament, not just the east regional.
Tom Izzo and Bob Huggins both coach a physical, defensive-oriented style, a hoops version of Rex Ryan's "ground and pound". Both MSU and WVU are capable of suffocating the life out of Butler and Duke, and that's what I expect... two very tightly-played semifinals with the more muscular teams surviving.
Then again, come April 6th, I could be sauteing some crow. It's not like I know any of these outcomes in advance...
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