Thursday, March 29, 2007
I was about to win my office basketball pool. All I needed was Air Force to win and the 75-cent payday was as good as mine!
“But Air Force isn’t in the Final Four,” you say? Oh, but they are. They are semifinalists in the National Invitation Tournament, the basketball connoisseur’s tournament of choice.
The NCAA Tournament is billed as “March Madness,” but how much skill does it take to pick whether a 16-seed will lose the opening round? This year’s Elite Eight featured four number one seeds, three 2-seeds, and one “upset” 3-seed. Across America, office betting pools have been destroyed by the basketball-ignorant participant who just picked the higher seed to win each game.
nutgraf
Participating in an NIT pool also broadens my awareness of the world. Before filing out this year’s bracket, I had no idea there was a school called Marist College. Now I know it’s in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. My next order of business is finding out where exactly Poughkeepsie, N.Y. is.
The NIT, though, is harder. There’s no superstar program playing a glorified high school squad here. Each of the 32 teams is just about equal, each having been a close contender for the final few spots in the NCAA tournament.
With broader parity comes more frequent upsets. The guy in the NIT pool with me chose Oklahoma State to win the entire tournament. They lost in the opening round. How often does that type of drama strike the NCAA tournament?
The NIT format, where all games until the semifinals are played at the higher seed’s home court, makes for greater fan accessibility. Playing in front of passionate fans in a packed arena will always make for better basketball than playing in a half-empty football stadium. If colleges have sports teams to benefit the students, why is student access to the NCAA games so limited? How many KU students had the time and money to travel to Chicago and San Jose this year?
Participating in an NIT pool also broadens my awareness of the world. Before filing out this year’s bracket, I had no idea there was a school called Marist College. Now I know it’s in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. My next order of business is finding out where exactly Poughkeepsie, N.Y. is.
I realize that participating in an NIT pool might seem like a sure sign of a gambling addiction. Rest assured, these are low stakes. Two participants, each supplied fifty cents. We only incorporated money to make it seem more legitimate. I don’t think that’s as much as a cry for help as, say, betting my paycheck on the outcome of Groundhog Day.
Air Force lost the semifinal game, leaving me tied with my coworker. I was so confident that I already had plans for spending my money. I was going to buy an eighth of a pound of Swedish Fish, and then eat them in front of my coworkers, basking in my glory.
Minster is a Lawrence junior in economics
Thibodeaux: Wildcats are rising from the ashes
In losses to ranked teams in preseason, Kansas State finds new motivation ...
Jayhawks maintain consistent top seed over the ...
Kansas basketball has dealt with upsets, but only because they have been ...
Men's golf to travel to New York ...
Led by senior captain Nate Barbee, the young squad looks to dethrone ...
Quidditch team travels to first World Cup
The Kansas Quidditch team will head to New York City this weekend ...
Morning Brew: Top seeds have historical edge
In last 20 tournaments, 95 percent of winners have had one of ...
Don't sweat the preseason stuff
Perkins named NIT ‘Man of the Year’
Quidditch World Cup rankings released
The International Quidditch Association announced the pool-play seedings for the fifth quidditch ...
Men’s ultimate Frisbee to play at Nationals
A group of guys looking for a good time has evolved into ...
Morning Brew: How Conference tournament kicks off ...
Teams can ride momentum, change their seeds.
Minster: Basketball is blocking education
Spoiled fans have forgotten the reason they came to the University. Athletics ...
Morning Brew: NCAA shouldn’t expand tourney from ...
College basketball’s championship tournament shouldn’t let in mediocre teams, even if the ...
Jorgensen: We're number one
Will Kansas be the no. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament? Our ...
Editor's note: Some tips for filling out ...
The Wave editor Scott Toland gives some advice for next year's NCAA ...
Former Jayhawks booted from NBA program
Chalmers and Arthur expelled from rookie symposium after getting caught with marijuana
Morning Brew: Cinderella has left the ball
Only the best of the best remain to compete.
Women basketball players ready for changes
Survival Skills: Doing paper research
Because that paper isn't going to write itself.
Bigger is not always better
NCAA Tournament expansion could weaken March Madness hype.
Homestate team potential NCAA "Cinderalla"
The Wichita State Shockers made it to the NCAA for the first ...
Morning Brew: Jayhawks immune to 'Bubble Watch'
Twenty-one straight tournament appearances give Jayhawks longevity that eludes other teams.
Pressure mounts for top seeds
Bowler leaves legacy of leadership
Beecher: 2,000 is just a number
Kansas’ likely milestone is cool, but it has more important things to ...
Bracket Bash
Men's basketball writers Tim Dwyer and Mike Lavieri shed insight on the ...
Women's tennis matches up players set for ...
Track star Dick Wilson dies at 78
Wilson was a member of Kansas’ 1953 NCAA championship cross-country team.
Texas A&M faces an uphill battle
Kansas could lock up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament ...
The road to Kansas City starts with ...
Jayhawks begin Big 12 tournament hoping to prove they deserve to stay ...
Tournament heartbreak
Morning Brew: opening the NCAA Vault
Website offers commercial-free chance to relive the last decade of basketball highlights, ...
Joseph: Team keeps composure amid bracket mania
Jayhawks remain grounded yet confident before upcoming tournament, avoiding past mistakes.
Carpenter: Nothing to lose this weekend
Just how important are conference tournaments anyway?
Jorgensen: Soak up March Madness
The Big 12 Tournament has seen many exciting finishes, buzzer-beaters and Cinderella ...
Kansas women’s basketball team earns spot in ...
The women’s basketball team made it to the NCAA tournament for the ...
Live Blog: NCAA Tournament day one
All eight teams in the Oklahoma City sub-regional have open practices Wednesday.
Junior’s passion for running leads to first-place ...
Robert Schmidt placed first in his age group at the annual Waddell ...
Jayhawks earn 12 total titles in Jayhawk ...
Eight individuals placed first Kansas while the Jayhawks swept all four relays.
Toland: Upsets commonplace in college
In college sports, anything is possible.
Junior’s passion for running leads to first-place ...
Robert Schmidt placed first in his age group at the annual Waddell ...
From left: Kimberlee Hinkle, Libby Johnson and Hannah ...
1 comment
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
Comments
Minster: NIT offers closer competition
I totally agree. While all of those other suckers out there are trying to predict who's going to make the primary tournament, I like to try to predict who is NOT going to make the tournament and then figure out which of those mediocre teams is capable of beating the other mediocre teams they play. After all, someone HAS to win, right?
That's the funny thing about mediocrity... there's always a lot of company. I guess it's the whole concept of a normalized distribution applied to skill levels of basketball teams. It's about time we started focusing on the other parts of the bell curve where most of the teams are.
I'd like to see things go one step further and see if we can arrange a tournament that includes only the bottom team in each conference. After each game is played, the loser could then go on to play another loser until we're left with the ultimate loser. Just think of the publicity such a distinction would bring to a school, at just a fraction of the cost for coaching salaries.
Oh, by the way, you have a great point about the predictability of the primary tournament. I can't remember the last time anyone besides a #1 seed has made it to the Final 4, for instance. I really don't even know why they bother to play the games up to that point.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID