March
Madness is a fickle mistress. One minute
she can have you writhing in ecstasy, fulfilling every boyhood fantasy the other
eleven months wouldn't dare fulfill, no matter how many cosmos you buy them. And then the next minute, you're on the floor,
yelling the safe word in vain as she rains pointed blows down on you with the 30"
riding crop you picked out because you thought, this is something February
wouldn't be into. "Gonzaga! Gonzaga!
Gonzaga!" you cry out, your muffled screams drowned out by the ball
gag in your mouth, the gas mask covering her head, and the Captain Beefheart
blaring from the hi-fi. "She's too
much for my mirror" are the last words you hear before you finally succumb
to unconsciousness, only to wake up bound and bruised, in the fetal position,
leaving yourself to wonder why you put yourself through this and what the hell
happened to that $100 that used to be in your wallet.
It
was the latter for me last Thursday night, as IU went down in a blaze of horror
to Syracuse, playing the worst game of the year and possibly the worst game of
the Tom Crean era. The Orange followed
that up with an even more convincing win over Marquette to clinch a Final Four
berth. Meanwhile, Michigan ruined any
realistic chance I had in any of my remaining brackets by trouncing Florida,
Louisville overcame the worst basketball injury I have ever seen and beat Duke
soundly, while new tournament darling, Wichita State, held off a furious Ohio
State rally to clinch its first Final Four since the Johnson Administration.
Here
are the Final Four game times this Saturday (Eastern). Both games are on CBS:
(W9)
Wichita State vs. (MW1) Louisville – 6:05 p.m.
(S4)
Michigan vs. (E4) Syracuse – 8:49 p.m.
As
I'm wont to do, I'm going to drop some Final Four statistical knowledge on you.
10
(tie). Syracuse plays a 2-3 zone. This is a fact that was apparently lost on
anyone who has been the head coach at Marquette since 1999.
10
(tie). Michigan and Syracuse's matchup
marks the first time two #4 seeds have met in the Final Four.
9. Based on past performance of national titles
per Final Four appearances, here is how the teams stack up as far as percentage
of national titles per Final Fours. Not
very good:
1. Syracuse:
25% (1/4)
2. Louisville:
22% (2/9)
3. Michigan:
17% (1/6) (I'm including the vacated Final Fours in 1992 and 1993)
4. Wichita State: 0% (0/1)
8. The 4 combined national titles (which will
become 5 come next Monday) is relatively low.
If you look at every year since the tournament began and count all of
the Final Four schools' national titles (whether it was won that year, prior,
subsequent, or later vacated), this will be only the 18th time (out of 74) –-
and the first time since 1985 -- that the Final Four schools' combined national
titles is 4 of fewer.
4:
1945: Oklahoma A&M (2), Arkansas (1), Ohio
State (1)
1959: California (1), Cincinnati (2), Louisville
(2)
1960: Ohio State (1), California (1), Cincinnati
(2)
1961: Cincinnati (2), Ohio State (1), Utah (1)
1983: NC State (2), Louisville (2)
2013: Louisville (2), Syracuse (1), Michigan (1)
3:
1939: Oregon (1), Ohio State (1), Villanova (1)
1950: CCNY (1), NC State (2)
1952: Kansas (3)
1955: San Francisco (2), LaSalle (1)
2:
1941: Wisconsin (1), Arkansas (1)
1943: Wyoming (1), Georgetown (1)
1944: Utah (1), Ohio State (1)
1947: Holy Cross (1), CCNY (1)
1956: San Francisco (2)
1979: Michigan State (2)
1985: Villanova (1), Georgetown (1)
1:
1954: LaSalle (1)
7. There are 9 schools with 8 or more Final
Fours: UCLA (18), North Carolina (18),
Duke (15), Kentucky (15), Kansas (14), Ohio State (11), Louisville (10),
Indiana (8), and Michigan State (8).
This is the 28th year in a row and the 56th year out of the last 57 that
at least one of those 9 teams has been in the Final Four. In fact, one of those teams has been in all
but 8 of 74 Final Fours (1941, 1943, 1947, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1956, and
1985).
6. Wichita State becomes only the second 9-seed
to advance to the Final Four, after Penn did so in 1979, and the first Missouri
Valley Conference team since Indiana State in 1979 to make the Final Four.
5. Wichita State's last Final Four appearance
was in 1965. The 48 years between Final
Fours represent the fourth-longest span between Final Fours. Here are the spans between Final Fours over 30
years (which also includes Michigan this year).
Note that none of these teams won the title upon their return to the
Final Four. Of course, if Duquesne ever
makes it back to the Final Four, God help us all.
59
years: Wisconsin (1941-2000)
56
years: Stanford (1942-1998); Texas
(1947-2003)
51
years: West Virginia (1959-2010)
48
years: Wichita State (1965-2013)
44
years: Oklahoma A&M/Oklahoma State
(1951-1995)
41
years: Oklahoma (1947-1988)
39
years: Georgetown (1943-1982)
37
years: Illinois (1952-1989)
36
years: DePaul (1943-1979)
33
years: St. John's (1952-1985); Arkansas
(1945-1978)
32
years: Villanova (1939-1971); Utah
(1966-1998)
31
years: Ohio State (1968-1999)
4. Louisville is the only #1 seed in the Final
Four. This is the fourth year in a row
that one or fewer #1 seeds have advanced to the Final Four, and the 14th time
since 1985 it has happened. Based on the
past results, Louisville should feel pretty good about its chances, as 7 of the
11 teams who have been the lone #1 seed in the Final Four have gone onto win
the title. Here is a breakdown of how
many #1 seeds have advanced to the Final Four each year since 1985.
2013:
1 (Louisville)
2012:
1 (Kentucky*)
2011:
0
2010:
1 (Duke*)
2009:
2 (North Carolina*, Connecticut)
2008:
4 (Kansas*, Memphis**, North Carolina, UCLA)
2007:
2 (Florida*, Ohio State**)
2006:
0
2005:
2 (North Carolina*, Illinois**)
2004:
1 (Duke)
2003:
1 (Texas)
2002:
2 (Maryland*, Kansas)
2001:
2 (Duke*, Michigan State)
2000:
1 (Michigan State*)
1999:
3 (Connecticut*, Duke**, Michigan State)
1998:
1 (North Carolina)
1997:
3 (Kentucky**, North Carolina, Minnesota)
1996:
2 (Kentucky*, Massachusetts)
1995:
1 (UCLA*)
1994:
1 (Arkansas*)
1993:
3 (North Carolina*, Michigan**, Kentucky)
1992:
1 (Duke*)
1991:
2 (UNLV, North Carolina)
1990:
1 (UNLV*)
1989:
1 (Illinois)
1988:
2 (Oklahoma**, Arizona)
1987:
2 (Indiana*, UNLV)
1986:
2 (Duke**, Kansas)
1985:
2 (Georgetown**, St. John's)
*Champions
**Advanced
to championship game
3. The average seed for this year's Final Four
is 4.5, which is only the 4th time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams
that the average seed in the Final Four is more than 4 (and the second time in the last three years).
2013:
4.5
2012:
2.25
2011:
6.5
2010:
3.25
2009:
1.75
2008:
1
2007:
1.5
2006:
5
2005:
2.75
2004:
2
2003:
2.25
2002:
2.25
2001:
1.75
2000:
5.5
1999:
1.75
1998:
2.25
1997:
1.75
1996:
2.75
1995:
2.25
1994:
2
1993:
1.25
1992:
3.25
1991:
1.75
1990:
3
1989:
2.25
1988:
2.5
1987:
2.5
1986:
3.75
1985:
3
2. This marks only the 13th time since 1985
where a team seeded 5 or higher has advanced to the Final Four. Here are the years in which there have been
any teams seeded 5 or higher in the Final Four since 1985. Only twice has a
team seeded 5 or higher won it all:
2013:
1: 9-seed Wichita State
2011:
2: 8-seed Butler** and 11-seed VCU
2010:
2: 5-seeds Butler** and Michigan State
2006:
1: 11-seed George Mason
2005:
1: 5-seed Michigan State
2002:
1: 5-seed Indiana**
2000:
3: 5-seed Florida**, 8-seeds North Carolina and Wisconsin
1996:
1: 5-seed Mississippi State
1992:
1: 6-seed Michigan**
1988:
1: 6-seed Kansas*
1987:
1: 6-seed Providence
1986:
1: 11-seed LSU
1985:
1: 8-seed Villanova*
*Champions
**Advanced
to championship game
1. For the 20th time since 1985, the Final Four
features a team that has never won an NCAA title. Since 1985, here are the
years in which a Final Four featured at least one team that had never won an
NCAA title (at the time of that year's Final Four). Obviously, the earlier you
get, the more teams you have:
2013:
1: Wichita State
2011:
2: Butler**, VCU
2010:
2: Butler**, West Virginia
2008:
1: Memphis**
2006:
3: Florida*, George Mason, LSU
2005:
1: Illinois**
2004:
1: Georgia Tech**
2003:
2: Syracuse*, Texas
2002:
2: Maryland*, Oklahoma
2001:
1: Maryland
2000:
1: Florida**
1999:
1: Connecticut*
1997:
2: Arizona*, Minnesota
1996:
2: Massachusetts, Mississippi State
1994:
3: Arizona, Arkansas*, Florida
1991:
1: Duke*
1990:
4: Arkansas, Duke**, Georgia Tech, UNLV*
1989:
4: Duke, Illinois, Michigan*, Seton Hall**
1988:
3: Arizona, Duke, Oklahoma**
1987:
3: Providence, Syracuse**, UNLV
1986:
2: Duke**, LSU
1985:
3: Memphis State, St. John's, Villanova*
*Champions
**Advanced
to championship game
For
what little hope I have left in any of my 20+ brackets, go Shockers!
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