By Woodrow Carroll
To understand the upsets in the men’s NCAA basketball tournament think of the number 23, is the combined seeding total of the four teams which made it to the Saturday, April 1 Final Four this season.
To clarify, the four teams that were ranked No. 1 when the field of 68 was announced, Alabama, Houston, Kansas, and Purdue, did not reach the Final Four, and we knew to begin with that upsets were going to happen. With no upsets the Final Four total would have been four. That potential figure disappeared quickly when No. 1 Purdue was knocked off by No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson, 63-58.
In looking at the Final Four, there are No. 4 Connecticut, No. 5 Miami (Fla.), No. 5 San Diego State, and No. 9 Florida Atlantic. The seeding of those four finalists added together is 23.
When it comes to the underdog making waves, the 1985 men’s NCAA Tournament is often cited and it is slightly misleading, largely because Villanova ranked No. 8 came away the surprise champion.
The Villanova Wildcats’ 66-64 conquest of defending NCAA champion and No. 1 Georgetown was truly a surprise! Yet, the Final Four was not a shocker once past Villanova.
Besides Georgetown and Villanova, the other two semifinalists in 1985 were No. 1 St. John’s and No. 2 Memphis State. It was a 64-team tourney not the 68-team final of recent seasons, but, that made little difference! More notable was the fact that Final Four had three Big East Conference teams, Villanova, Georgetown, and St. John’s.
Purdue fans should take note!! Michigan beat Fairleigh Dickinson, 59-55, in an opening-round game in the 1985 tournament. Michigan was a regional No. 1 ranked team and Fairleigh Dickinson was No. 16 seed.
Strangely enough, Michigan saw its tournament run come to an end in 1985 with a 59-55 loss to Villanova.
It seems that with each passing season, the University of Connecticut has a team in the NCAA finals whether men’s or women’s. Often it has been both teams! This year it is the men’s team.
The Connecticut women, under head coach Geno Auriemma, the Connecticut women have captured 11 tournament championships. Shockingly, by Connecticut standards, the women’s team was eliminated in Sweet 16 this year by Ohio State last week. The men’s team, however, is in the Final Four and has a good shot at winning the championship given the upsets that have befallen favorites.
Being a No. 4 seed among lower seeds in this case is grounds for UConn optimism.
UConn has captured four men’s championships starting with the 1999 men’s championship. Championships in 2004, 2011, and 2014 complete the list. The Huskies national championship in 2014 merits a further look.
If Villanova’s championship in 1985 was a shocker, the UConn championship in 2014 was a surprise. The Huskies, with East Aurora High School graduate Ryan Boatright playing a key roll, were only seeded seventh going into the tournament. That low seed carried little weight, however. In the championship game, it was Connecticut beating Kentucky, 60-54, and, 24 hours later, the Connecticut women won the women’s tournament championship.
Keeping it in the family! Rashon Burno just completed his second season as Northern Illinois head men’s basketball coach.
Burno played his high school basketball at St. Anthony’s High in Jersey City, N.J. whose high school coach was Bob Hurley Sr. Well, Hurley the elder’s son Dan is calling the shots for the Connecticut men.
To complete the family picture is Bob Hurley Jr. who is the Arizona State basketball head coach. It was not too many years ago that Hurley, Jr. was coaching at Buffalo and doing battle with Northern Illinois in the Mid-American Conference.