Virginia Commonwealth and Butler. UConn and Kentucky.
If you picked two out of the four schools remaining in the Madness as March turns to April, well done. All four and you’re likely on your own. Even with analysts around the country preaching the parity this season in college hoops, this year’s tournament has been the definition of topsy-turvy: “in a state of utter disorder or confusion.”
That sounds about right to me. Probably about right, according to your bracket, too.
But, bracket busted or not, it is that parity that truly makes this tournament so fulfilling. It is unpredictable, it’s one and done and it almost guarantees a Cinderella every year. This year, along with all the No. 1 seeds, any semblance of dominance was thrown out the window.
Shaka Smart and his Rams ride into the Final Four with their university selling T-shirts that decry, “There goes my bracket!” Hey, I’d wear that with pride.
While former Boston College hoops head coach Al Skinner picks Butler to end VCU’s awe-inspiring run, I’ll root for the upset. Sure they’re both mid-majors, and sure Butler is last year’s Cinderella, but the Bulldogs are vying to get back into the title game. Why not stand behind the Rams? It’s not a bandwagon — it’s an underdog story.
Whoever comes out on top in the matinee will take on a coach and a school with storied basketball tradition. Jim Calhoun will enter sacred ground among coaching ranks if he can lead the Huskies to a third national title while at the helm. And while John Calipari is still seeking his first national championship, his success at the college level is undeniable. His young Kentucky team is the third school he has coached to the Final Four — no small feat.
Add in the personal history between Calhoun and Calipari (only 60 miles or so used to separate them during Calipari’s UMass Amherst days), as Skinner told us on NESN Daily this week, it should be an interesting handshake.
It’s hard to imagine that these two games can live up to the wonder we’ve witnessed thus far in the Big Dance. Then again, given every buzzer beater and every upset, it’s hard to bet against the rollercoaster ride rolling right into the championship game.
