What I Think I Know About The Men's NCAA Tournament!

Welcome to the “Casual Fan” section of The Show Notes! This is where I talk about sports. Certain aspects of what you read here, such as the depth of the analysis and amount of objectivity, will vary depending on a number of different factors. I promise to always be entertaining though. If you like this, check out my show!

We have made it through the first weekend of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament! If you’re like me, you entered March Madness with even more questions than there are games. Luckily, as we get closer to crowning a champion we also get closer to getting some answers. Let’s take a look at the things I think I know as we head into the Sweet 16!

UConn is a juggernaut

In my lifetime, only 2 programs have repeated as NCAA champions. The common thread between the 1992 Duke Blue Devils and the 2007 Florida Gators was continuity. Whether it was Christian Laettner, Grant Hill, or Bobby Hurley for Coach K’s squad or Joakim Noah, Al Horford, and Corey Brewer for Coach Billy Donovan down in Gainesville, the stars of their first title run all returned for the sequel. 

That makes what this season’s UConn Huskies are doing even more improbable. 5 of their top 8 leaders in minutes per game last year have moved on, including stars Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins. However, you couldn’t tell based on how well they’ve played. 

As the #1 overall seed in the tournament, they’ve cruised to 2 blowout victories and look primed to repeat. I’ve looked at every possible way to try and discredit them because their coach Danny Hurley, whose brother Bobby I mentioned above as a member of that Duke team that repeated in 1992, is an incessant whiner, but my renowned hater skills have failed me. They take on San Diego State on Thursday and are the only double-digit favorite in any of the Sweet 16 games.

Greg Sankey spoke too soon

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey seems hellbent on changing the format of the NCAA Tournament in order to get more teams from power conferences into the mix at the expense of mid-major schools. This is no doubt a ploy for more money, but Sankey framed it as an issue of competitiveness. 

He apparently forgot to tell member schools of his conference that they are supposed to be better than their mid-major counterparts as only 2 of the 8 SEC teams selected are still alive. Even more embarrassing, 5 SEC teams didn’t even make it out of the 1st round despite being the higher seeded team, including 4-seed Auburn and 3-seed Kentucky, who each lost to, you guessed it, mid-majors. 

I’m an advocate of leaving the current tournament format untouched. The potential for upsets and Cinderella stories is a huge part of the tournament’s mystique. It would appear the basketball gods agree. 

NC State’s DJ Burns Jr. should be your favorite player

The state of South Carolina is a basketball talent hotbed. Men’s, women’s, college, pros, it’s hard to find a corner of the basketball world without a star from the Palmetto State. The biggest star in the men’s tournament just might be Rock Hill’s DJ Burns Jr. 

The #3 recruit in the state behind Zion Williamson and Ja Morant in 2018, DJ initially signed with Tennessee out of high school. A redshirt season there saw him transfer back home to become an immediate impact player at Winthrop before heading up to Raleigh to play for the Wolfpack.

He burst onto the national scene with his showing in the ACC tournament where he led North Carolina State to the title and a bid in the NCAA tournament while earning tournament MVP honors. At 6’9” 275 lbs, he’s gotten a lot of attention for his frame, but it’s his play that catches my attention. 

He’s got incredible footwork, pivoting and pirouetting with a deftness that leaves defenders guarding air. His preferred destination with all of these moves is his left hand. I know it, you know it, and his defenders know it and are out there trying to stop it, yet it is inevitable. If you somehow manage to keep up with his beautiful choreography, your only reward is an up-close look at the feathery soft touch he uses to place the ball in the hoop. 

As enjoyable as DJ’s post moves are to watch, his passing might be even better. I scared my dog yelling at a pass he made out of a triple team that led to a 3-pointer. He seems unaffected by where the extra defender comes from or how many extra defenders there are. He has the strength to not turn the ball over and the vision to find the open player. 

Burns is a well-rounded player, a throwback to when having a big man dominate the block mattered, and an entertaining post-game interview. Do yourself a favor and check him out while North Carolina State is still in this thing. They face 2-seeded Marquette next.

My Sweet 16 Picks

• UConn over San Diego State

• Illinois over Iowa State

• UNC over Alabama

• Arizona over Clemson

• Duke over Houston

• Marquette over NC State

• Purdue over Gonzaga

• Creighton over Tennessee