Ten Shockers of the NCAA Tournament

My dear, sweet wife, who had never filled out a bracket for March Madness prior to this year, nearly accomplished something that I have failed to do my whole life: beat my dad in the family bracket pool.

I finish every year in second place. Every single year. And now, with the latest addition to the family, my wife is pushing me down to third. And she didn't just beat me. She killed me. By ESPN's scoring system she beat me by 330 points, 730-400. That was the first big shocker of this year's tournament. It was the greatest Cinderella story I can remember, and unfortunately ended just like Wichita State's Cinderella run.

No, seriously. Her run ended the exact moment Wichita State's did. Had they held on and won that game, Michigan's win later that night would have given her the win in our family pool.

I'm torn. On the one hand I wanted my wife to win so I could give my dad a hard time. But on the other hand, he could have given me a pretty bad time by reminding me she had just accomplished something I never could. So maybe it's for the best that one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history never happened.

Regardless, I need to warm up my hands for the massage I now owe her.

But this tournament was not void of upsets, Cinderellas, and madness. There was plenty of that to go around. This post will look at the "Shockers" of the tournament, named after that Wichita State Shockers squad with came within two baskets of being the lowest seed to ever reach the National Championship game.

Shocker #2: Florida Gulf Coast

There were only a couple of things that could possibly overshadow Wichita State's run to the Final Four and one of those was a 15 seed making it to the second weekend of the tournament. And the fact that it happened is incredible.

They were fun to watch, weren't they? Just in case you've forgotten just how fun, here is a video with some of their dunks and dances for your enjoyment:

I picked Georgetown do go to the Final Four, but I had no problem celebrating the seventh 15 seed to win an NCAA tournament game. It was historic, and it was entertaining, and it just kept on getting better.

I made sure to catch their second game from start to finish, just in case they made even more history by becoming the first 15 seed to reach the Sweet Sixteen. Not only did they do it, they did it in style. They certainly looked more like a seventh seed than San Diego State did. They played with energy and a whole lot of confidence. They were loose, playing with nothing to lose, and having fun. Teams should take note of their relaxed style of play. It worked wonders and FGCU dominated their way into the Sweet Sixteen and the history books.

I'm not sure if Sherwood Brown or Brett Comer or any of the rest of the guys have NBA futures, but they sure are talented athletes. And congratulations to Coach Andy Enfield being hired as the new head coach at USC.

Shocker #3: The Shockers themselves

Wichita State wasn't as electrifying or fun to watch as FGCU was, and they are a bit of an interesting case for a Cinderella team, but they were seeded ninth and reached the Final Four. It was an impressive run. They spent much of the season ranked, beginning the season with a 19-2 record before a three game losing skid and finishing the season 7-6 in their last 13 games prior to the NCAA tournament.

It was because of that less than stellar stretch that many picked Pitt to win over Wichita State, and even those that picked the Shockers certainly didn't pick them over the top-seeded Zags.

Wichita State came within 5 points of a title game appearance

They grabbed the attention of a lot of people after that win, including NFL quarterback athlete Tim Tebow, who gave them quite a pep talk heading into the Sweet Sixteen. It worked, and they had quite a run. They won in blowout fashion and ground it out in some tight games. And they nearly pulled off an incredible upset that would have helped them become the lowest seed to ever reach the championship game.

They may not have set that record, but they lived up to their name and shocked everyone by reaching the Final Four.

Shocker #4: Oregon's 12 seed

This one was just a tragedy. Perhaps it should even be considered a crime. Oregon was ranked as high as 10th during the season, and still ranked 25th on March 4. Then they proceeded to win the Pac-12 tournament, and what was their reward? A 12 seed!

Unfortunately for Oklahoma State, their first opponent
was a woefully under-seeded Oregon squad.

The Selection Committee should be ashamed of themselves on this one. They robbed a quality Oklahoma State team of the "second" round match-up they had earned by being pitted against a very, very good opponent. It was even unfair to Saint Louis, who should have been playing Oklahoma State or a lesser 12 seed, not a grossly underrated Oregon squad playing with a chip on their collective shoulder.

But bravo to this Oregon Ducks squad. I have expected them to play frustrated and angry at the injustice of their low seed, but instead we watched them respond like they had something to prove. And prove it they did, making a run to the Sweet Sixteen before running into the Louisville buzz saw that nobody could quite keep pace with. But they hung tough even in that game.

In spite of the crimes committed against them, they still created a memorable tournament they should be proud of.

Shocker #5: Mountain West Conference

For some reason, we all thought that the Mountain West was like the Big East. We all thought these teams beat themselves up because they were all really, really good and that one or two of the five teams to break into the Big Dance could make a nice run, with the most likely candidate being New Mexico. But as it turns out, unlike the Big East, this conference was once again lackluster and failed to live up to the hype.

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: I still think the Big East as we've known it the past few years, was overrated. But they did make runs and win some national titles, which is significantly more than the Mountain West accomplished this year.)

The Mountain West was 2-5 in the NCAA tournament this year, with the only wins coming against 8th and 10th seeded teams. One of those losses found its way into the history books as San Diego State became the first team to allow a 15 seed to advance to the second weekend, and they did it in style. The ten point result makes it seem like it may have been a relatively close game. It wasn't. They never stood a chance. They got flat-out embarrassed.

Harvard helped expose the mediocrity of the MWC.

If the Mountain West had been such a great conference, you would think that the team that somehow managed to win both the regular season title and conference tournament crown would be able to take down 14th seeded Harvard, right? Nope. And it was such a disappointment it prompted one of their beat writers to call it quits after 33 years following the team.

Now that's a disappointment.

Shocker #6: Harvard

Okay, did anyone honestly see it coming? I don't know of a single person who predicted Harvard to win over New Mexico, and I can't imagine too many people did. Except for maybe Harvard grads. They're probably smart enough to realize the Mountain West was going to fold.

Shocker #7: The "other" 1 seeds

I know that the big buzzword around college basketball this year was "parity," but I still didn't entirely see the collapse of all the non-Louisville one seeds coming. I knew Kansas would pack their bags early, though they actually made it one round farther than I thought they would.

But I had Gonzaga in the Final Four and Indiana was my pick to cut down the nets in Atlanta.

I thought Gonzaga had a relatively weak region, and I thought Indiana was the best overall team in the country. That was kind of disappointing.

Gonzaga went down in the Round of 32, and Indiana and Kansas both lost in the Sweet Sixteen. Parity, parity, parity. And it was still a shock to see all three go home that early.

Shocker #8: Mitch McGary

McGary was a monster
in the tournament.

He only started two games prior to the NCAA tournament. But John Beilein made what turned out to be a genius move by thrusting McGary into a starting role for the Big Dance.

And he thrived on it. He scored in double figures in every game other than the championship. He had three double-doubles, and was one rebound short of a double-double in two other games. Prior to the championship game he averaged 16 points and 11.6 rebounds per game in the tournament. Credit Louisville for holding him to 6 points and 6 boards, because prior to that is was looking like he was absolutely unstoppable.

On a team that had the National Player of the Year in Trey Burke, who would have thought Mitch McGary would be the one to steal the show?

Shocker #9: Kevin Ware's injury

Don't worry. I will not post, or link to, any pictures or videos of Kevin Ware's horrific injury.

Wow. It was rough. My heart goes out to the guy. The only injury that compares is Joe Theismann's career ending leg break. I won't link to that one either.

In all my life I have never seen anything that bad on a basketball court. Sure there is the occasional broken bone, ACL tear, or dislocated shoulder, but nothing like this.

Louisville cut down the nets for Kevin Ware.

But what impressed me most was the response of everyone involved. The team battling in a close game at the time of the injury to blowing it wide open for a 22 point victory in the second half. They didn't fight off the emotion, they used it to their advantage. They went out and made sure they didn't let their teammate down, and it was incredible to watch. They rode that emotion through the title game, overcoming deficits to come out on top.

I was also impressed with Kevin Ware's response. From the moment it happened, saying "I'll be okay, Coach, just win," to his ability to make light of the situation on Letterman's Top Ten. He seems like an impressive kid, and I wish him the best in his recovery and the remainder of his career.

Shocker #10: Louisville Cardinals

In a year where being the top dog meant losing within days of earning a top ranking, the Cardinals took their number one overall seed and did exactly what they were supposed to do with it: they won.

Shocker.