It's March. Do you know what time it is? It's March Madness, the NCAA Mens
Basketball Tournament. The time of the year when you see commercials on CBS
announcing the Road to the Final Four, the pinnacle of the college basketball year. Each
year 64 teams vie for a spot in the Final Four. Teams from the East, Midwest, Southwest,
and West all compete for one spot from each division. The teams that play for one of
these spots can be classified into four different groups. The Number 1 through 4 seeds,
the Cinderella teams, the Bubble teams and the One Hit Wonders.
ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ The Number 1 through 4 seeds make up 1/4 of the tournament. These teams are
the strongest teams in the nation and are usually figured to go to the Final Four. The
teams ranked Number 1 in their bracket have the best chance of going to the Final Four.
Since 1980 at least one Number 1seed has gone to the Final Four. The number one
seeded team has also never been beaten in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The
teams that are 1 through 4 this year, and figure to be playing for the National
Championship, are Kentucky, UMass, Purdue, Georgetown, Cincinnati, Utah, Villanova,
and Arizona. All of these teams had to have had tremendous regular seasons and
conference tournaments to be seeded so high.
ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ On the other hand a 'Cinderella' team is a team that had a so-so regular season
and upset a higher ranked team in their conference tournament. They ride that wave of
momentum into the Field of 64 and hope to upset another higher ranked team in the first
and second rounds. These teams usually don't last farther than the Sweet Sixteen where
their season usually comes to an end. Teams...