Yes, March Madness is still absolute cinema.
The past four days are widely considered some of the best on the sports calendar. The first and second rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament are in the books, and it had just about everything. Incredible buzzer-beaters (see Kentucky vs. Santa Clara and St. John’s vs. Kansas). Wild endings (see Nebraska vs. Vanderbilt). Furious comebacks for upset wins (see VCU vs. North Carolina and High Point vs. Wisconsin). Iconic performances (see Tarris Reed Jr.’s 31-point, 27-rebound double-double for UConn vs. Furman).
But one thing that seemed to be missing? Cinderella.
For the first time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, it’s now back-to-back years that a 13-seed or lower has failed to win a game. There has been plenty of ink spilled over the past few days about this “trend” and how March Madness has been “ruined” because of the lack of a true underdog run. The two biggest culprits in the detractors’ eyes have been the transfer portal and NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness). While there’s no denying that they’ve made a tremendous impact on the current landscape of college basketball—for better or for worse—there are two other factors as to why we’re not seeing the glass slipper be put on the next darling of the Big Dance.
The first factor is that teams are being more accurately seeded. It’s no secret that the analytical world has united with the sports world over the past decade, and that’s been evident in college basketball with the rising popularity of KenPom ratings. For those unfamiliar, these are advanced analytics that rank teams based on offensive and defensive efficiency, among other things. It was only until 2018 that the selection committee started using these ratings. And while there have been plenty of upsets since then, it feels like the committee has fully adjusted to using these ratings to more precisely reflect how teams should rank in the field of 64 an ensure weaker teams don’t get higher seeds than they should.
The second factor is even simpler: regression to the mean. We have been spoiled by some of the most remarkable upsets in the history of the tournament. The only two 16-seeds to take down one-seeds have taken place in the last eight years: 2018 UMBC and 2023 Fairleigh Dickinson. Three of the four 15-seeds to make it past the first weekend have occurred this decade: 2021 Oral Roberts and 2023 Princeton in the Sweet 16 and 2022 Saint Peter’s in the Elite Eight. Those types of upsets were not happening nearly as frequently earlier this century.
Those who say that the clock has struck midnight on Cinderella have also clearly not been watching the games, even if those upsets haven’t come to fruition. #16 Siena was the top overall seed Duke for 29 minutes and most likely would’ve won had they had more depth in their team (more on their head coach later). #15 Furman gave #2 UConn a run for their money. As did #14 Wright State against #3 Virginia and #13 Hofstra against #4 Alabama. While ‘almost’ only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, the potential for a seismic upset is still very much alive, even if it has not come to fruition for two years running.
It is understandably disappointing that there are no mid-major schools in the Sweet 16 and there were barely any in the Round of 32. It is true that the transfer portal and NIL have made it more difficult for these smaller schools to keep up with the big fish. But it has not killed off the future potential of Cinderella runs and has not worsened the product out on the court. Just look at some of the matchups in store for this weekend: Duke vs. St. John’s. Michigan State vs. UConn. Iowa (a nine-seed that took down the defending champions Iowa, by the way) vs. Nebraska.
Let the Madness continue.
Cornell men’s lacrosse secures statement win
Entering Ivy League play, the Big Red was in need of a pick-me-up after a tight 8-7 loss to Richmond and a rough 19-7 defeat to Penn State. They got that and more with a commanding 18-9 victory over Brown. Cornell was thrown right back into the fire on Saturday as the 10th-ranked Big Red ventured to #3 Princeton. The Tigers came into the contest as the favorites, not only as the higher-ranked team but also as the top team in the Ivy League preseason poll.
Let’s just say the Big Red reminded everyone who still runs the Ancient Eight.
In a rematch of last year’s Ivy League championship, Cornell once again came out on top, this time by a 13-11 scoreline. After trailing 2-1 in the opening five minutes, the Big Red rattled off four unanswered goals to take its first lead of the game, one that it would not relinquish. The Tigers got within one or two goals on multiple occasions, but the Big Red had a response every single time.
It was yet another dazzling display for the dynamic duo of Ryan Goldstein and Willem Firth. Goldstein led the way in goals with a hat trick, while Firth paced the Big Red with five points. One of Firth’s points was a highlight-reel goal, firing a no-look, over-the-shoulder effort right past the Princeton netminder. It was so special that it made SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays. It was a goal that CJ Kirst would have been proud of. Actually, we know he was proud of it because he was at the game and went bananas in the stands when Firth pulled off that bit of magic.
The road to another Ivy League title does not get much easier given how loaded the conference is this year. The Big Red still has to face Yale, Penn and Harvard, all three of which have been featured in the national rankings. But the win over Princeton proves that even though they’re a different team from last year, they’re still very much a force to be reckoned with.
Team USA comes up short at World Baseball Classic
With all the madness going on in college hoops, it can be easy to forget that baseball season will be upon us in a few days’ time. That was not the case this year with the World Baseball Classic back in store. The past couple of weeks produced extraordinary entertainment, immaculate vibes, and high-quality play. The cherry on top of this outstanding rendition of the tournament would have been seeing Team USA come out on top for the first time since 2017.
Ultimately, it wasn’t meant to be.
Venezuela took down the Americans 3-2 this past Tuesday in Miami to capture the country’s first-ever title. While Team USA was favored to win this matchup, to call the loss an “embarrassment” like some have dubbed it would be disrespectful to Venezuela. Their lineup was chock full of MLB talent like Ronald Acuña Jr., Eugenio Suárez, and Maikel Garcia, just to name a few. But the way the Americans performed at the plate in particular made for brutal viewing. They could only muster up three hits in the championship as the bats went silent. That included an 0-for-4, three-strikeout night from captain Aaron Judge, which Yankees fans have been very much accustomed to during most postseason runs.
Speaking of Judge, he said a couple of things over the past two weeks that got people talking. One was about how the crowds at the World Baseball Classic were “bigger and better than the World Series.” This got plenty of people in the baseball landscape riled up, but is he wrong? Did you see how insane the crowds were throughout the entire tournament? Those were the types of crowds you’d see at the FIFA World Cup. And since the WBC is essentially baseball’s version of the World Cup, it should come as no surprise that there’s more passion from the fans for their country rather than for an MLB franchise.
And speaking of passion, there was a perception that Team USA was not having as much fun as the other teams, at least outwardly. Judge refuted those claims, saying they had “a lot of fun” and “some passion.” While the relationship between the level of joy a team exerts and the level of success at the WBC is not correlated, it did feel like most teams struck a nice balance between having fun and taking the tournament seriously, the latter of which has had issues in the past with. Team USA simply took a more serious approach to the tournament, which there’s nothing wrong with.
One thing’s for sure: Baseball fans had plenty of fun watching the WBC, as evidenced by having its highest-ever ratings. Think of this as an appetizer for the main course that is the MLB season.
Other things that caught my eye:
- Last week I shared my thoughts on what Syracuse men’s basketball would and should do when it comes to hiring their next head coach. That question has quickly been answered. In comes Gerry McNamara after his Siena team nearly pulled off one of the greatest upsets in March Madness history. McNamara of course is one of the Orange’s modern-day, winning a national championship in 2003 and holding school records for minutes played and three-pointers made. It will be a full-circle moment, going from playing alongside Carmelo Anthony 23 years ago to now coaching his son Kyan. I thought with new athletic director Bryan Blair that they would venture outside of the Jim Boeheim coaching tree. I stand corrected, though if this Boeheim disciple turns out like the previous one, they’ll certainly start looking elsewhere. McNamara can certainly succeed at his alma mater, but that’s if they provide him the resources needed to restore their former glory.
- It was a tough trip to Lake Placid for Cornell men’s hockey. The Big Red was looking to become the first team since Union from 2012-14 to win three straight ECAC titles. Cornell’s semifinal opponent Princeton featured a familiar face at the helm in former associate head coach Ben Syer, and he got one over his former employers with a 3-2 upset victory. While the Big Red will be left disappointed, their season does continue in the NCAA Tournament. The assumption was that it would be playing in Albany for regionals. Instead, a much longer trip to Colorado is in store as the #11 seed, where it’ll face #5 Denver on Friday. The other two teams in the region are #4 Western Michigan and #13 Minnesota State.
- While MLB Opening Day is on Thursday, the first game of the new season is on Wednesday as the Yankees head to the West Coast to battle the Giants. The Yanks have essentially the same exact team from last year, though the starting rotation will look a bit different for the first couple weeks. With Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon still recovering from injuries, Aaron Boone will yield a four-man rotation of Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Ryan Weathers to start the campaign. The odd man out is Luis Gil, who could be sent down to the minors to bring in an extra reliever or remain at the majors in a piggyback role. But it would be a strange sight to see the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year start off the year in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. As for the Mets, they play the Pirates in their season opener on Thursday and have the daunting task of facing Paul Skenes. They’ll counter with Freddy Peralta, who heads their five-man rotation alongside David Peterson, Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes, and Kodai Senga, with Sean Manaea as the piggyback option.
