Why do we love the NCAA Tournament? Because, it’s so unpredictable. Every year, like many Americans, I print out a gazillion brackets and put on my Jay Bilas-esque analysis hat and start making my picks. I arbitrarily pick a handful of upsets in the first couple of rounds because it’s pretty much guaranteed there will be upsets; 13s shocking 4s, 12s beating 5s and so forth.
And, as expected, the 2010 Tourney has been no different, already ripe with a number of shockers, including Georgetown losing to Ohio, Vandy falling to Murray State, and relatively unknown St. Mary’s knocking off #2 seed Villanova in the second round. However, these upsets pale in comparison to Northern Iowa’s surprising victory over the #1 overall seed Kansas, a team many “experts” had picked to win it all.
Cinderella shows up every year to add suspense and excitement, fueling the “Madness”. And, CBS gets a nice return on their multi-million network rights investment with high ratings from these fairy tale teams knocking off perennial basketball powers and making magical runs in the tournament.
People naturally root for the underdog, no matter what sport it is. We love to see David slay Goliath. The NCAA tournament is no different. For example, I fell in love with the George Mason team that beat storied programs Michigan State, North Carolina, and Connecticut en route to an improbable Final Four appearance in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. That simply was a great story.
However, I’m sure CBS doesn’t want the final rounds to be a big glass slipper affair, with a heavy dose of unknown, mid-major Cinderella teams. I commend these teams for their unlikely successes, but would you want to see a Northern Iowa vs. St. Mary’s championship game? Seriously, imagine if the Final Four was Cornell, St. Mary’s, Butler, and Northern Iowa. You couldn’t pay me to watch any of those matchups. I’m sure ratings would not be as high as they would if a Kentucky or Syracuse were one of the opponents. David vs. David matchups are not as intriguing as David vs. Goliath matchups. There is no upset potential in these types of contests. So, I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that at least a one or two seed makes it to Indianapolis.
Going forward, I’m excited to see what other surprises this 2010 version of March Madness has to offer. Parity is good for the game and it’s always fun to see some unexpected teams crash the party. However, if some of you Cinderellas decide to stay until the end, I hope at least one of your bigger, more known stepsisters shows up too. Otherwise, someone will have to spike the punch for me to hang around.
