ARLINGTON, Texas – More than anything else, the NCAA Tournament’s format is what makes it so incredible. The threat that each game could be a team’s last provides more intrigue than most postseasons.
It is overwhelmingly exciting, but cruelly unfair. Teams such as Wichita State and Virginia and Arizona probably deserve to be in the Final Four more than Kentucky or UConn, but the tournament isn’t designed to be fair. It is built with the expectation of the unexpected, wiping the slate clean for nearly every team – just win six games.
The lesson here is it doesn’t matter that Florida has won 30 straight games or that Kentucky lost 10 games this season or that UConn got hammered by 33 against Louisville last month.
If it happened before the tournament began, it no longer matters. Kentucky is not a No. 8 seed. UConn is not a No. 7 seed. They are two of the best teams in the nation.
UConn (+6½) over Florida: For all that went right in the Huskies’ regular-season win over the Gators, UConn only had two players score in double figures. Though Florida boasts one of the nation’s best defenses, the slow pace suits UConn well. With a low score and increased pressure on each possession late in the game, you want the ball in Shabazz Napier’s hands. You want the best – and most confident – player on the floor. Another win wouldn’t be the upset this spread suggests.
Kentucky (-1½) over Wisconsin: The Badgers could have their typical stellar shooting performance and it still may not be enough, as Michigan learned. The Wildcats have owned the glass in every game of the tournament, with repeated second chances on the offensive end reviving a season that looked lost. It wasn’t clear whether Kentucky would ever get going. Now, it’s hard to see them getting slowed.
2014 record: 33-18-3
2011-13 record: 72-47-2