March has come to an end, but we still have one more weekend of madness with Final Four kicking off on Saturday. Out of the teams remaining, Michigan State is the only team who is used to being on this stage. Virginia is making its first Final Four appearance since 1984, and both Texas Tech and Auburn are making their first appearances ever. Just because these teams aren’t normally in contention to win a national title, does not mean they were surprises. These teams have been in the national spotlight all year long and are all deserving of a national championship.
That’s what makes this year’s tournament special; there was no team that made that Cinderella run that we have become used to.
Last year it was Loyola-Chicago. They were an 11-seed that wasn’t a thought in anyone’s mind until they wound up in the Final Four. You probably remember the exciting Florida Gulf Coast team that made their legendary run to the Sweet 16 as a 15 seed. Any college basketball fan will remember the ultimate Cinderella with the Butler Bulldogs coming so close to a title two years in a row. These unsuspecting teams are fun to watch, and every year people try to guess who the next one is going to be, but the lack of a Cinderella this year is actually good for the sport.
When this season started, all eyes turned to Duke. Many fans thought this team was going to be unstoppable. They had the top three freshmen in the country, including Zion Williamson, a once-in-a-generation player. This team had more hype then any team maybe ever, but they showed us they were beatable early in the season. They weren’t the dominant team we all expected, but the best part was there wasn’t one.
There were about 10 teams who separated themselves throughout the year and they all beat up on each other during the regular season. Duke was the clear favorite, but any one of these teams could win it all, and it was going to be settled on the court in March. That’s what makes the NCAA tournament so exciting. Sure, it’s fun to rally around a school that you know doesn’t belong there, but March is where the stars are supposed to shine. The most thrilling matchup of the tournament so far came from Carson Edwards of Purdue University and Kyle Guy of University of Virginia playing out of their minds, both believing they belong in the Final Four. These are the games that college basketball fans live for and are the performances that go down in the record books. We didn’t want a Michigan State-UCF matchup to go to the Final Four, we wanted Michigan State-Duke.
We don’t need a Cinderella to cheer for to create excitement, we don’t want a VCU or a George Mason just happy to make it this far. We want teams who aren’t satisfied unless they’re lifting a trophy on Monday night. That’s what makes this year so great and why this Final Four could produce a game that is talked about forever.
Mark Vaccaro, Contributing Writer
vaccarma@bonaventure.edu
