2022 NCAA Tournament Opening Weekend Rewind
Last season’s NCAA Tournaments marked a significant symbolic milestone on the long road back from the the depths of the pandemic. This year’s editions of March Madness, with a return to sites around the country and energetic audiences in attendance, marked another.
Three years elapsed between true NCAA Tournaments, a staggering duration when considered in this context: A freshman in the 2018-19 basketball season would be a senior today.
The Tournament played a critical part in my life. In my deep-dive on the history of the televised postseason for Awful Announcing, I alluded to my dad letting me stay home from school to watch First Round games.
More than just an excuse to play hooky and watch a game I love, however, soaking up the Madness helped me during hard times. The above linked newsletter from last April notes the ‘96 Tournament and the comfort I gained just months after my brother’s death following Marcus Camby and UMass, Allen Iverson in the Jordan XIs1 bringing a new age of Hoya Paranoia, John Wallace almost single-handedly carrying Syracuse to a title, and Darvin Ham breaking the damn backboard.
Five years later, I was nearing graduation at the end of an awful few years after transferring high schools. I never felt like I fit in at my second high school, and my senior year was especially hard. But the 2001 Tournament? Those three weeks as Hampton shocked Iowa State, Marvin O’Connor erupted for St. Joseph’s, and the university in which I would enroll a few months later made the Final Four stand out among the few happy memories I have from those three years.
…Three years. The same amount of time that passed between true incarnations of the NCAA Tournament. I’m older now and that much time passes all too easily. But those years are so precious in our youth, and I can’t help but wonder if the pandemic swept through the globe when I was in high school — or college, when I covered my first NCAA Tournament.
The 2005 pod in Tucson was the first time in my college experience that I truly felt I can make it as a sports journalist. While my prose bordered on corny — yes, even more so than it does now — I’m still proud of the work I did there. It was a seminal moment in my life, just as I’m sure this year’s Tournament is for countless other students covering their first Dance.
I am exhausting a lot of words on myself, I realize, but the intent is genuine: This Tournament means so much more to so many than can be defined in catch-all terms. It’s why the unavoidable complaint, The NBA is better completely misses the point. Yes, March Madness is more enjoyable and memorable when the ball is entertaining, but everyone’s reasons for loving this Tournament aren’t so easily explained.
There’s a magic to March that can’t be replicated. And this year’s return to tradition underscores that.
Now, onto opening-round observations.
MOST EXCITING GAMES OF OPENING WEEKEND
Saint Peter’s vs. Kentucky, East Region First Round
Although there have only been 10 15-over-2 upsets in Tournament history, six have occurred in the last decade and three over the past five years. That might seem like it would lessen the significance, but Saint Peter’s is just the second No. 15 seed to upend a true blue blood of the sport. The other such upset — Lehigh over Duke in 2012 — wasn’t quite as dramatic, either, given Lehigh had the best player on the court in CJ McCollum and the Mountain Hawks dominated much of the way.
Saint Peter’s had to rally to win in overtime against a Kentucky squad that some (myself included) had tabbed for a Final Four run.Arizona vs. TCU, South Region Second Round
The final game of the weekend put a nice bow on the Madness. TCU’s hard-nosed, physical style presented a decided matchup difficulty for the more finesse Arizona, but Bennedict Mathurin combined enough thrilling playmaking with junkyard-dog tenacity in critical moments. He also delivered one of the nastiest dunks I’ve seen at any level in a long time.Murray State vs. San Francisco, East Region First Round
I have issues with this game occurring at all (more on that in a bit), but if the Racers and Dons had to play, I’m glad they delivered with an instant classic.Notre Dame vs. Rutgers, First Four
My relationship with the First Four is love-hate. I appreciate its existence and view it as a worthy appetizer for Thursday and Friday’s main course, but I believe it should be limited only to bubble teams. For that reason, Notre Dame and Rutgers was an ideal First Four matchup.
With the urgency of reaching the field of 64 was evident throughout, and the trading of clutch buckets through the end of regulation and into the overtimes, you can’t tell me this wasn’t a real NCAA Tournament game.
What’s more — and despite coming out on the wrong end of the final outcome — Ron Harper Jr. hit a couple of the most electrifying baskets of the Dance thus far.Gonzaga vs. Memphis, West Region Second Round
Memphis played a nearly perfect game, but Gonzaga showed the kind of mettle that Zags teams have long been criticized for lacking come March. Credit Drew Timme, who may or may not be a future NBA player but looked like the best damn player on the planet in the second half of the Gonzaga rally. More on that in a moment.North Carolina vs. Baylor, East Region Second Round
Brady Manek’s ejection midway through the second half nearly became the catalyst of the greatest collapse in Tournament history. Credit the rest of the Tar Heels, playing a virtual road game against the defending national champion, for rallying in overtime to win. Armando Bacot made several big plays down the stretch, including a beautiful assist, to help Carolina march on.New Mexico State vs. UConn, West Region First Round
Among the many reasons to love March Madness is the emergence of mid-major standouts who etch their name into lore: Mouse McFadden. Fennis Dembo. Harold “The Show” Arceneaux. Thomas Walkup.
Now you can add Teddy Allen to the list. Teddy Buckets’ 37-point dominance of UConn was the stuff of legend and a high watermark in the history of a New Mexico State program with a rich legacy.
MID-MAJOR MALAISE
Formulating a bracket with 68 teams is a difficult task, so by-and-large I try to not complain too much about seeding and matchups lest I become the world’s biggest crybaby. That said, the pairing of Murray State and San Francisco in the First Round sucks and deserves to be called out.
The selection committee showed the West Coast Conference deserved respect both in receiving three total bids, and the seeding. Gonzaga receiving a No. 1 seed isn’t new, but Saint Mary’s at No. 5 and playing relatively close to home is a step up from the dreaded 7-10 or 8-9 spots the Gaels often land.
San Francisco at No. 10 isn’t even an issue in and of itself, as the Dons were firmly away from the First Four and in the field. Murray State, which hadn’t lost in the calendar year 2022 and broke into the top 20 of the AP Poll, had a more legitimate gripe as a No. 7 seed.
But, playing in a relatively weak conference, I can understand Murray State’s No. 7 seeding to some extent. It’s not egregious.
Putting two of the best mid-majors against each other is, however. As noted, the game was excellent. Jamaree Bouyea erupted for 36 points and hit jaw-dropping shots to rally the Dons from a late deficit.
Murray State countered with a well-balanced attack fueled by precise ball movement. It was a thing of beauty, and it would have been awesome to see either team matched up with a power-conference competitor.
To that end, the pairing felt…loaded. The Bowl Championship Series sent a resounding message with regard to non-power conference programs in 2009 when the two undefeated non-automatic qualifiers — Boise State and TCU — were placed together in the Fiesta Bowl.
BIG IS BACK
My all-time favorite film, RoboCop comes from the same decade that produced many of basketball’s all-time best centers: Ralph Sampson at Virginia, Patrick Ewing at Georgetown, Hakeem Olajuwon at Houston and in the same year as the satirical 6000 SUX (1987) David Robinson.
Sports tend to be cyclical; we’re witnessing some schematic shifts in college football away from the high-tempo, offensive-focused brand that proliferated in popularity over the past two decades to more focus on defensive physicality. While basketball’s shift to a more perimeter-oriented approach might take some time, emphases will eventually refocus on dominant interior players who can exploit floor spacing.
A hint of it’s on display in this NCAA Tournament.
Sunday’s nightcap between Arizona and TCU included a battle in the paint between Eddie Lampkin Jr. and Christian Koloko. The two went back-and-forth scoring at the rim, alternating between back-to-the-basket moves with nimble footwork and violent slam dunks.
In the words of Big E, it was two big, meaty men slapping meat.
Michigan played its way into the Sweet 16 thanks in no small part2 to Hunter Dickinson. The Wolverines center went directly at 7-foot Tennessee big man Uros Plavsic for 27 points and 11 rebounds, at one point recording more points than he had touches.
Likewise, Drew Timme’s effort in the aforementioned Gonzaga win over Memphis harkened back to a bygone era of center superiority. His array of simple yet effective moves and strong finishes at the basket buoyed the Zags when they were at their most desperate.
While I’m unsure when basketball might return to a center-focused game, if ever, Gonzaga may embody the ideal look of future teams. The Zags combine a traditional five with a stretch four capable of scoring from 3-point range as well off the dribble, and do so without sacrificing tempo.
CONFERENCE STRUGGLES
The SEC — maybe through it’s relationship with the ESPN machine, maybe not — dominated much of the conversation throughout this college basketball season. There was not-insignificant talk of the conference sending three teams to the Final Four.
Each of the three popular choices to make such a run — Kentucky, Tennessee and Auburn — all lost to double-digit-seed opponents.
In total, five teams from the SEC bowed out to teams seeded 10 or lower: Auburn to No. 10 Miami; LSU to No. 11 Iowa State; Tennessee to No. 11 Michigan; Alabama to No. 11 Notre Dame; and Kentucky’s Saint Peter’s defeat.
Arkansas, the lone SEC squad to advance to the Sweet 16, survived down the stretch against No. 13 Vermont and No. 12 New Mexico State.
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, who has a habit of not always coming off entirely gracious win or lose following NCAA Tournament games3, blamed the conference’s toughness for its lack of March Madness success this year, positing that the game-to-game grind wore them all down.
Huh. I guess that explains why so many one-bid leagues have national championships?
Now, attributing a larger overall narrative regarding entire conferences based on the variables that exist in their own silos of each individual game is misguided. To wit, the Pac-12 is sending twice as many teams to the Sweet 16 as the SEC and Big Ten —and Dickinson’s play for a Michigan team plenty argued didn’t earn a berth was all that separated the Big Ten from going without a single Sweet 16 team — but no one could argue in good faith that this year’s Pac-12 was anywhere nearly as good top-to-bottom as the SEC or Big Ten.
But it is fascinating just how poorly some of the conferences deemed this year’s best, between the SEC and Big Ten and to a lesser extent, Mountain West, performed. Forget sending a representative to the Sweet 16: The Mountain West didn’t have any advance further than the First Round.
So much of NCAA Tournament success or failure comes down to sets of circumstances. If USC avoids fouling Charlie Moore on Friday, for example, and wins in overtime but then loses in the Round of 32 to Auburn, is the SEC suddenly a markedly better conference?
What if North Carolina’s collapse against Baylor continues into the extra frame, coupled with a USC win over Miami? Does the Big 12 — now sending five to the Sweet 16 in this hypothetical — become 20 percent better than the ACC?
Our collective desire to extrapolate greater meaning from chaos — or in this case, Madness — tends to lack nuance.
Then again, the SEC asked for a lot of this so we better fire off the jokes while we can.
The image of Iverson in those gorgeous gray-and-navy uniforms with the Kente cloth trim, rocking a pair of the iconic Jordan XI is seared into my memory in part because less than a year later, AI crossed up Jordan in a moment that remains one of the most thrilling in the NBA’s last 25 years.
Sorry for the pun.
In 2018, Auburn beat Charleston 62-58 in a hotly contested First Round matchup. With the Tigers leading 61-58 and seven seconds remaining, Charleston scoring machine Grant Riller pulled up for a 3-point attempt from the top of the key and was seemingly slapped on the elbow, altering the trajectory of his shot. It’s basketball, sometimes calls get missed. But rather than just accept that the whistle went his team’s way, Bruce Pearl offered up without prompting in his postgame TV interview, “It wasn’t a foul.” Completely unnecessary and a case of Methinks Thou Doth Protest Too Much.