Take a Breath, March Madness is Here
March is here. Only three words yet for a college basketball fan, it means far more. This college basketball season has been interrupted on many fronts due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting not only universities but coaches and players as well. March, however, has been almost a light in the basketball tunnel, for sport-deprived fans and athletes itching to get back on the court.
One of the many difficult situations that COVID has presented the college basketball world, has been the lack of non-conference games. Playing the same teams throughout the season makes the guessing game of who is good and who is not, more difficult. The inability to cross-reference teams and statistics has made this March Madness, slightly more mad than usual.
With conference tournaments officially underway, a few conferences no longer need to speculate who will reign supreme. In some notable matches, Gonzaga clinched the WCC conference title, Appalachian State beat Georgia State for the Sun Belt title, Drexel won the CAA conference.
By the end of this week the full list will be complete and Selection Sunday will confirm all automatic bids and release the final bracket. Predicting the number one seeds range on personal opinion but some teams likely to clinch are Gonzaga, Baylor, Illinois, and Michigan. These programs have been dominant throughout the 2021 season, Baylor (21-1), Gonzaga (26-0), Michigan (19-3), and Illinois (20-6).
Coached by NBA legend Juwan Howard, Michigan makes a compelling argument for an ‘all too soon’ March Madness champ. Athletic Director at Michigan, Warde Manuel saw past the criticism of Howard’s lack of a coaching resume saying, “ I have been so pleased with what he has done, how he has gone about it, how he has connected with his staff, with the student-athletes, the performance, the things that you don’t see that I hear about and see in terms of the student-athletes and how they’re engaging, how they are enjoying being a part of this team.”
Led by big man Luka Garza, Iowa is a team that has been extremely dominant in college basketball this season. Garza has lead the Hawks in almost all categories; scoring (averaging 23.88 ppg), rebounds (8.42 pg), and minutes played (31.08 pg). His number will be retired by the program after the completion of the 2021 season. An injury to Joe Wieskamp, however, may be the reason for future March struggles for Iowa.
The powerhouse programs such as Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas have struggled to get their programs back on track. With Jalen Johnson, a freshman forward for Duke, opting out back in February, the Blue Devils have had an extremely up and down season including a season sweep by UNC. Winning their first ACC game against Boston College, Duke may be finally ready to make a run.
If there’s one thing we know about March, however, anything can happen.