2008 Woodie Awards
The Way It Is
Loving Cinderella Stories
By: Casey Hord
Issue date: 3/29/06 Section: Sports
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Casey Hord
Guest Columnist
After three weeks of March Madness our Final Four is set.
This year's tournament has truly lived up to its nickname. It has been nothing short of madness. The seeds of the four remaining are as follows: 11, 4, 3, and 2. The only other time there were no number 1 seeds in the Final Four was in the 1980 tournament where there were seeds 8, 6, 5, and 2.
Being the sports fan I am, I absolutely love the "Cinderella" (or underdog) teams. I love to see them do better and exceed the expectations or predictions of the so-called experts on ESPN and the selection committee who select the teams and the seeds for the Tournament. Even if their excelling is at the cost of my "Heels," as was the case this year with George Mason University.
When you have a Final Four like this year it's almost like a slap in the face to the Tournament Committee. The seeds are their picks in a sense. So when the top seeds all fall, it's like they have stuck their foot in their mouth. How many people got tired of hearing about UConn, Duke, and Villanova?
Something I didn't notice at first, but was pointed out to me during the George Mason and UConn game was the fact that according to the computer ratings or RPI ratings of George Mason before the tournament, they were a much better team than people realized.
These RPI ratings are supposed to be taken into consideration when picking the teams that are to play in the tournament and their seed when they get in. Apparently the Selection Committee must have overlooked George Mason's RPI rating, because they were given the number 11 seed out of 16 possible and were put in the bracket with the number 1 seed of the entire tournament, that team being the UConn Huskies that they beat in overtime last Sunday.
So with all of this in mind, next year be ready for the upsets, know what to look for, and be "that guy" who picks them and says, "I told you so!"
Guest Columnist
After three weeks of March Madness our Final Four is set.
This year's tournament has truly lived up to its nickname. It has been nothing short of madness. The seeds of the four remaining are as follows: 11, 4, 3, and 2. The only other time there were no number 1 seeds in the Final Four was in the 1980 tournament where there were seeds 8, 6, 5, and 2.
Being the sports fan I am, I absolutely love the "Cinderella" (or underdog) teams. I love to see them do better and exceed the expectations or predictions of the so-called experts on ESPN and the selection committee who select the teams and the seeds for the Tournament. Even if their excelling is at the cost of my "Heels," as was the case this year with George Mason University.
When you have a Final Four like this year it's almost like a slap in the face to the Tournament Committee. The seeds are their picks in a sense. So when the top seeds all fall, it's like they have stuck their foot in their mouth. How many people got tired of hearing about UConn, Duke, and Villanova?
Something I didn't notice at first, but was pointed out to me during the George Mason and UConn game was the fact that according to the computer ratings or RPI ratings of George Mason before the tournament, they were a much better team than people realized.
These RPI ratings are supposed to be taken into consideration when picking the teams that are to play in the tournament and their seed when they get in. Apparently the Selection Committee must have overlooked George Mason's RPI rating, because they were given the number 11 seed out of 16 possible and were put in the bracket with the number 1 seed of the entire tournament, that team being the UConn Huskies that they beat in overtime last Sunday.
So with all of this in mind, next year be ready for the upsets, know what to look for, and be "that guy" who picks them and says, "I told you so!"