Jorgensen: Soak up March Madness
No matter which team you cheer for, tournament time is always something to look forward to.
The Big 12 Tournament has seen many exciting finishes, buzzer-beaters and Cinderella stories.
Wednesday, March 7th, 2007
March Madness is the best time of the year.
I would rather it be tournament season in college basketball than my own birthday. I love trying to predict tournament fields, figuring out what teams are hot and ultimately filling out brackets.
As a side note, I consider myself a sports freak, and I hate it when I lose an NCAA tournament pool to the guy or girl who picked their Final Four by basing their picks on the coolest mascots.
1996-97 — Kansas, lost in Sweet Sixteen to Arizona
1997-98 — Kansas, lost in second round to Rhode Island
1998-99 — Kansas, lost in second round to Kentucky
1999-00 — Iowa State, lost in Elite Eight to Michigan State
2000-01 — Oklahoma, lost in first round to Indiana State
2001-02 — Oklahoma, lost in Final Four to Indiana
2002-03 — Oklahoma, lost in Elite Eight to Syracuse
2003-04 — Oklahoma State, lost in Final Four to Georgia Tech
2004-05 — Oklahoma State, lost in Sweet Sixteen to Arizona
2005-06 — Kansas, lost in first round to Bradley
For now, I wanted to share some research I did on the relationship between a team’s finish in the Big 12 Tournament compared to that team’s NCAA tournament finish.
The charts to the right show the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments finishes of both Kansas and the conference tournament champion.
Let me say this: There’s no clear-cut way of determining how a team will do in the NCAA tournament based on its Big 12 Tournament result. In fact, there’s absolutely no consistency between Big 12 tournament success and NCAA tournament success. This just adds to the March Madness phenomenon, and that’s why I love it!
A few teams have found success in both tournaments, notably Oklahoma in 2002 and Oklahoma State in 2004. Both won the Big 12 Tournament and advanced to Final Four.
Two teams, Kansas, last season, and Oklahoma, in 2001, were the Big 12 Tournament champions but lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
So, who is going to win the Big 12 tournament? It’s hard to say.
Year - Big 12 Tournament Result
NCAA Tournament Result
1996-97 — Champion Lost in Sweet Sixteen to Arizona
1997-98 — Champion Lost in second round to Rhode Island
1998-99 — Champion Lost in second round to Kentucky
1999-00 — Lost in second round Lost in second round to Duke
2000-01 — Lost in semifinal Lost in Sweet Sixteen to Illinois
2001-02 — Lost in championship Lost in Final Four to Maryland
2002-03 — Lost in semifinal Lost in championship to Syracuse
2003-04 — Lost in semifinal Lost in Elite Eight to Georgia Tech
2004-05 — Lost in semifinal Lost in first round to Bucknell
2005-06 — Champion Lost in first round to Bradley
Kansas, Texas and Texas A&M are the obvious picks. Some of the conference’s bubble teams — namely Kansas State, Oklahoma State or Texas Tech — trying to make a statement could very well knock off any of the top three. But even an early loss in Oklahoma City wouldn’t be all bad for Texas, Texas A&M or Kansas. A few extra days of rest and practice before an NCAA first round game would certainly be beneficial.
In any case, the games will be fun to watch. The Big 12 Tournament has seen many exciting finishes, buzzer-beaters and Cinderella stories. Just sit back, watch, enjoy and soak up the best time of the year.
Jorgensen is a Baldwin City senior in journalism.
— Edited by Ryan Schneider
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