March
Madness is a bitch. Plain and
simple. One minute, she's all,
"Yeah sure, I'll totally put Florida, Michigan, San Diego State, and
Michigan State in the Final Four for you because I love you, and I really want
you to succeed." Then the next
minute, she's all "John Calipari just gave me a Corvette, so don't ever
call me again. Oh, and I was sleeping
with Bo Ryan like the entire time you and I were dating." As you wipe the tears from your eyes and the
vomit from your mouth, couch, and cashmere sweater that you are wearing for
some reason, all you can do is ask "what have I done to deserve
this?" The answer to the question
isn't at the bottom of a bottle of gin, but you double check, just in case.
My
biggest fears played out on a national stage this past weekend. It started off great, as Florida beat Dayton
to clinch the Gators' 5th Final Four berth (and fourth under Billy
Donovan). Then, Wisconsin beat Arizona,
which was good for me, even though I didn't have Wisconsin going to the Final
Four a lot of my brackets, since it knocked Arizona out of the mix. It's Bo Ryan's first Final Four as the
Badgers' head coach, and the program's 3rd overall.
Then
Sunday came. There was so much promise, followed
by so much heartache. The Big Ten seemed
to have a legitimate shot at getting three Final Four teams for the first time
in conference history. Michigan State,
however, was playing UConn in the Huskies' backyard, and UConn ended up winning
a hard-fought game, pulling away at the end, for the Huskies' 5th Final Four
berth. No matter, I thought. As long as Michigan beats Kentucky, I still
have a chance.
I went from having a decent shot at finishing in the money in several of
my pools to having all of my brackets eliminated from contention, when some
highly paid Kentucky freshman hit a 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left, clinching the Wildcats' 16th Final Four
berth and 3rd in the last 4 years under John Calipari (until they are vacated
at a later date, of course).
Here
are the Final Four game times this Saturday (Eastern). Both games are on TBS:
(S1)
Florida vs. (E7) Connecticut – 6:09 p.m.
(W2)
Wisconsin vs. (MW8) Kentucky – 8:49 p.m.
As
I do this time of year, I'm going to drop some Final Four statistical knowledge
on you.
10
(tie). Thanks to Michigan and Michigan
State pissing away their Elite 8 games, the Big Ten missed its shot to have
three teams in the Final Four, which would have only been the second time a
conference has had three teams in the Final Four (Big East, 1985).
However,
if Wisconsin beats Kentucky on Saturday, it will be the 6th different Big Ten
school to have reached the championship game since Michigan State won the Big
Ten's last title in 2000 -– the most of any conference in that span:
Big
Ten: 5 (Illinois (2005), Indiana (2002),
Michigan (2013), Michigan State (2009), Ohio State (2007))
ACC: 4 (Duke (2001*, 2010*), Georgia Tech (2004), Maryland
(2002*), North Carolina (2005*, 2009*))
Big
East: 3 (Connecticut (2004*), Louisville
(2013*), Syracuse (2003*))
Pac-10/Pac-12: 2 (Arizona (2001), UCLA (2006))
SEC: 2 (Florida (2006*, 2007*), Kentucky (2012*))
Big
12: 1 (Kansas (2003, 2008*, 2012))
Conference
USA: 1 (Memphis (2008)
Horizon: 1 (Butler (2010, 2011))
*Won
championship
If
the Badgers win it all, it will end the Big Ten's longest title drought since
the 16-year span between Ohio State's 1960 title and Indiana's 1976 title.
10
(tie). Kevin Ollie of UConn and Bo Ryan
of Wisconsin are coaching in their first Final Fours as head coaches, Billy
Donovan is coaching in his fourth Final Four, and John Calipari is coaching in
his fifth Final Four, although only three of those are still recognized by the
NCAA.
History
is not on Ollie or Ryan's side, as only 24 of the 151 coaches coaching in their
first Final Four have won a title, and 14 of those titles occurred when John F.
Kennedy was still alive. Here are the
coaches who have won an NCAA title in their first Final Four appearance,
reverse chronologically:
2008: Bill Self (Kansas)
1999: Jim Calhoun (Connecticut)
1998: Tubby Smith (Kentucky)
1995: Jim Harrick (UCLA)
1989: Steve Fisher (Michigan)
1985: Rollie Massimino (Villanova)
1983:
Jim Valvano (NC State)
1979: Jud Heathcote (Michigan State)
1974: Norm Sloan (NC State)
1966: Don Haskins (Texas Western)
1963: George Ireland (Loyola (IL))
1961: Ed Jucker (Cincinnati)
1960: Fred Taylor (Ohio State)
1959: Pete Newell (California)
1955: Phil Woolpert (San Francisco)
1954: Ken Loeffler (LaSalle)
1947: Doggie Julian (Holy Cross)
1945: Henry Iba (Oklahoma A&M)
1944: Vadal Peterson (Utah)
1943: Everett Shelton (Wyoming)
1942: Everett Dean (Stanford)
1941: Harold Foster (Wisconsin)
1940: Branch McCracken (Indiana)
1939: Howard Hobson (Oregon)
An
additional 41 coaches have made it to the national championship game and lost
in their first Final Four appearance:
2013: John Beilein (Michigan)
2010: Brad Stevens (Butler)
2007: Thad Matta (Ohio State)
2006: Ben Howland (UCLA)
2005: Bruce Weber (Illinois)
2004: Paul Hewitt (Georgia Tech)
2002: Mike Davis (Indiana)
2000: Billy Donovan (Florida)
1998: Rick Majerus (Utah)
1991: Roy Williams (Kansas)
1989: PJ Carlesimo (Seton Hall)
1988: Billy Tubbs (Oklahoma)
1987: Jim Boeheim (Syracuse)
1986: Mike Krzyzewski (Duke)
1982: John Thompson (Georgetown)
1980: Larry Brown (UCLA)
1979: Bill Hodges (Indiana State)
1978: Bill Foster (Duke)
1976: Johnny Orr (Michigan)
1975: Joe B. Hall (Kentucky)
1974: Al McGuire (Marquette)
1973: Gene Bartow (Memphis State)
1972: Hugh Durham (Florida State)
1971: Jack Kraft (Villanova)
1970: Joe Williams (Jacksonville)
1969: George King (Purdue)
1967: Don Donoher (Dayton)
1959: Fred Schaus (West Virginia)
1958: John Castellani (Seattle)
1957: Dick Harp (Kansas)
1952: Frank McGuire (St. John's)
1950: Forddy Anderson (Bradley)
1948: Bill Henderson (Baylor)
1946: Ben Carnevale (North Carolina)
1945: Howard Cann (NYU)
1944:
Earl
Brown (Dartmouth)
1943: Elmer Ripley (Georgetown)
1942: Ozzie Cowles (Dartmouth)
1941: Jack Friel (Washington State)
1940: Phog Allen (Kansas)
1939: Harold Olsen (Ohio State)
9. This year is rare because each of the Final
Four teams has already won an NCAA title.
This is only the eighth time this has happened since the NCAA tournament
began in 1939. The other years in which
this occurred were 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2007, 2009, and 2012.
8. 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. Pretty
good:
1. UConn:
75% (3/4)
2. Kentucky:
53% (8/15) (I'm including the 1949 Final Four and national title, even
though that should be considered vacated due to a point-shaving scandal, as
well as the Final Fours in 2011 and 2012 and national championship in 2012,
even though those will undoubtedly be vacated at some point, since John
Calipari is incapable of taking a team to the Final Four without it later being
vacated)
3
(tie). Florida: 50% (2/4)
3
(tie). Wisconsin: 50% (1/2)
7. There are 9 schools with 8 or more Final
Fours: UCLA (18), North Carolina (18), Kentucky
(16), Duke (15), Kansas (14), Ohio State (11), Louisville (10), Indiana (8),
and Michigan State (8). This is the 29th
year in a row and the 57th year out of the last 58 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 75 Final Fours (1941, 1943,
1947, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1956, and 1985).
6. UConn is the first 7-seed to advance to the
Final Four since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, and only the
second 7-seed (Virginia, 1984) to ever advance to the Final Four.
5. The 14 combined national titles (which will
become 15 next Monday) is also relatively high. 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 21st time (out of 75) that the Final Four schools' combined
national titles is 13 or greater. Of
course, everything is skewed whenever UCLA is in the Final Four, since they
have 11 titles, so below is the list, with the non-UCLA Final Fours in
bold. As you can see, this is only the 6th
time the Final Four schools' combined national titles is 13 or greater when
UCLA was not in the Final Four.
1. 1975:
23 - UCLA (11), Kentucky (8), Louisville (3), Syracuse (1)
2
(tie). 2008: 19 - Kansas (3), Memphis
(0), UCLA (11), North Carolina (5)
2
(tie). 1995: 19 - UCLA (11), Arkansas (1), North Carolina
(5), Oklahoma State (2)
2
(tie). 1972: 19 – UCLA (11), Florida State (0), North
Carolina (5), Louisville (3)
5
(tie). 1993: 17 - North Carolina (5), Michigan (1),
Kentucky (8), Kansas (3)
5
(tie). 1976: 17 – Indiana (5), Michigan (1), UCLA (11),
Rutgers (0)
5
(tie). 1974: 17 – NC State (2), Marquette (1), UCLA (11),
Kansas (3)
5
(tie). 1968: 17 – UCLA (11), North Carolina (5), Ohio
State (1), Houston (0)
9
(tie). 1973: 16 – UCLA (11), Memphis State (0), Indiana
(5), Providence (0)
9
(tie). 1969: 16 – UCLA (11), Purdue (0), Drake (0), North
Carolina (5)
9
(tie). 1967: 16 – UCLA (11), Dayton (0), Houston (0),
North Carolina (5)
9
(tie). 1964: 16 – UCLA (11), Duke (4), Michigan (1),
Kansas State (0)
13
(tie). 2012: 15 – Kentucky (8), Kansas (3), Louisville
(3), Ohio State (1)
13
(tie). 2007: 15 - Florida (2), Ohio
State (1), UCLA (11), Georgetown (1)
13
(tie). 1998: 15 - Kentucky (8), Utah (1), North Carolina
(5), Stanford (1)
13
(tie). 1971: 15 – UCLA (11), Villanova (1), Western
Kentucky (0), Kansas (3)
17
(tie). 1962: 14 – Cincinnati (2), Ohio State (1), Wake
Forest (0), UCLA (11)
17
(tie). 1997: 14 - Arizona (1), Kentucky (8), Minnesota
(0), North Carolina (5)
17
(tie). 1980: 14 – Louisville (3), UCLA (11), Purdue (0),
Iowa (0)
20
(tie). 1991: 13 - Duke (4), Kansas (3), North Carolina
(5), UNLV (1)
20
(tie). 2006: 13 - Florida (2), UCLA
(11), LSU (0), George Mason (0)
4. Moving on to another worthless statistic, if
you just look at how many titles the schools had won up to that point (and not
including that year's title), this year is even rarer. Here are the top ten years for number of
prior national titles for the Final Four teams (with the number of titles up to,
but not including, that year):
1. 2008: 17 - Kansas (2), Memphis (0), UCLA
(11), North Carolina (4)
2. 1995:
16 - UCLA (10), Arkansas (1), North Carolina (3), Oklahoma State (2)
3
(tie). 2014: 14 – Kentucky (8), Connecticut (3), Florida
(2), Wisconsin (1)
3
(tie). 2007: 14 - Florida (1), Ohio
State (1), UCLA (11), Georgetown (1)
5
(tie). 2012: 13 - Kentucky (7), Kansas (3), Louisville
(2), Ohio State (1)
5
(tie). 1975: 13 - UCLA (9), Kentucky (4), Louisville (0),
Syracuse (0)
7. 1976:
12 – Indiana (2), Michigan (0), UCLA (10), Rutgers (0)
8
(tie). 2006: 11 - Florida (0), UCLA
(11), LSU (0), George Mason (0)
8
(tie). 1998: 11 - Kentucky (6), Utah (1), North Carolina
(3), Stanford (1)
10
(tie). 1980: 10 – Louisville (0), UCLA (10), Purdue (0),
Iowa (0)
10
(tie). 1993: 10 - North Carolina (2), Michigan (1),
Kentucky (5), Kansas (2)
3. Florida is the only #1 seed in the Final
Four. This is the fifth year in a row
that one or fewer #1 seeds have advanced to the Final Four, and the 17th time
since 1979 it has happened. Based on the
past results, Florida should feel pretty good about its chances, as 8 of the 14
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 1979.
2014:
1 (Florida)
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)
1984:
2 (Georgetown*, Kentucky)
1983:
2 (Houston**, Louisville)
1982:
2 (North Carolina*, Georgetown**)
1981:
2 (LSU, Virginia)
1980:
0
1979:
1 (Indiana State**)
*Champions
**Advanced
to championship game
2. The average seed for this year's Final Four
is 4.5, which is only the 6th time since the tournament began seeding in 1979
that the average seed in the Final Four is more than 4 (and the third time in
the last four years).
2014:
4.5
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
1984:
2.75
1983:
3
1982:
2.75
1981:
1.75
1980:
5.25
1979:
3.5
1. Including UConn and Kentucky this year, 26
teams seeded 5 or higher have advanced to the Final Four since seeding began in
1979, and this is only the 5th time since 1979 that multiple teams seeded 5 or
higher have advanced to the Final Four. Of
the prior 24 teams, only 3 have won it all, another 6 have been runners up, and
the remaining 15 have lost in the semis.
Here are the years in which there have been any teams seeded 5 or higher
in the Final Four since 1979:
2014:
2: 7-seed UConn and 8-seed Kentucky
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*
1984: 1: 7-seed Virginia
1983: 1: 6-seed NC State*
1982: 1: 6-seed Houston
1980:
3: 5-seed Purdue, 6-seed Iowa, 8-seed
UCLA**
1979:
1: 9-seed Penn
*Champions
**Advanced
to championship game
In closing, fuck
Kentucky!
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