I can’t believe the NCAA March Madness on Demand (MMOD) only has audio for this game. Yet another reason that this game is not really part of the NCAA tournament and why expanding past 65 teams will just make those teams also not part of it.
I’m interested because it would be cool if Ark-Pine Bluff makes it. Winthrop played in the first-ever Opening Round (i.e., Play-In) game in 2001 and lost but has been to the real part of the tournament seven other times.
Congrats to Lehigh for winning the Patriot League. Now would the NCAA Selection Committee be cruel and put the Mountain Hawks into the Opening Round game again? They lost in 2004 and have not made the proper 64 bracket since 1988. I also hope Wofford can be one of the top 63 teams since it’s their first time at the dance and they should experience it at a Region site, not Dayton, Ohio. The poor Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) have combined to lose 7 of the past 8 Opening Round games… the one they didn’t lose, yup, Lehigh of the Patriot League (Florida A&M of the MEAC beat them).
This is why I don’t like the Opening Round game. The loser is forgotten… it’s like an extra conference tourney game. In fact, I don’t even count the loser as part of the teams that made our “pool” that year. It’s just awkward. Tuesday in Dayton? Definitely not as good as Tuesdays with Morrie.
Congrats to Oakland for making their 2nd tourney appearance after winning the The Summit League’s tournament. But this time, they were the #1 seed and have a 26-8 record. The last time, they were 12-18 after somehow winning the then Mid-Continent Conference tourney and actually won the play-in game. So 14 teams are in, 51 to go.
I take one trip to the emergency doctor for my son and the Play-In game is already over? 🙂 BTW, my 23-month old son is okay though he may have a scar. I actually thought since I had to leave early from work (as did my wife) that I would be able to catch the game but all that was on was NIT stuff. Did they play this early so those in Newfoundland can watch it at a decent hour? Well, no one else cares.
Well, I’ve gotten the bracket to work with Firefox and IE 7 but others haven’t been so lucky. One of these days we’ll transition to a better java applet but it works for most people.
Also, make your payment arrangements. We’re behind last year’s pace and are projecting around 80 entries so make sure to tell your friends to enter!
I don’t know if they’ve done this is previous years, but they’ve already announced the opening round game (Coppin St v Mt St Mary’s) prior to the bracket reveal. This seems odd… maybe airfares go up in an hour? I wonder if UCLA will get the winner?