Fielder's Choice
Last year prior to the NCAA Tournament, my son Andy launched the Burleson Ballers through the app, Sleeper.
We all wanted to have some fun picking the winners in the college basketball 68-team tournament field.
I won. Unfortunately, there were no prizes.
This year, I’m in fourth place as the tourney moves to the Sweet 16. My chances of a repeat are slim.
I think all of us, plus about everyone else in the country, got shocked when St. Peter’s, a 15th seed, knocked off Kentucky, a second seed, in the opening round.
And then the Peacocks went on to win in the second round, too, over Murray State. Their success defines March Madness.
St. Peter’s is a small Jesuit university in Jersey City, New Jersey.
According to an article in the New York Times, it has approximately 2,300 students. Kentucky has 32,000.
St. Peter’s had never won an NCAA Tournament game before last Thursday. Kentucky has won eight NCAA championships.
St. Peter’s men’s basketball coach Shaheen Holloway made $266,344 in 2019; Kentucky head coach John Calipari’s base salary is $8.5 million.
St. Peter’s basketball revenue was $1.6 million in 2019-20, while Kentucky’s was $29.3 million.
Some sports experts are calling the Peacocks’ win over Kentucky likely the biggest of all time in the NCAA Tournament.
There are a couple of 11th seeds in the Sweet 16, too Iowa State and Michigan.
It’s what I love most about NCAA Tournament time the unpredictability.
CBS Sports recently ranked the biggest upsets ever of the NCAA Tournament’s opening weekend.
Number seven was one I remember the best. On March 22, 2013, 15th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast stunned secondseeded Georgetown 78-68. After that win, Florida Gulf Coast also went on to down San Diego State, a seventh seed.
Coming in at number four was 15th-seeded Middle Tennessee’s upset of secondseeded Michigan State on March 18, 2016. The final score was 90-81.
The recent St. Peter’s shocker over Kentucky came in third.
At number two was Lehigh’s major upset of Duke, 75-70, on March 16, 2012. Lehigh was seeded 15th and Duke second. The Duke roster included eight future NBA players. But future NBA star C.J. McCollum, of Lehigh, scored 30 points in the upset.
At number one was the only time a 16th seed has beaten a number one seed UMBC over Virginia 74-54 on March 16, 2018. It takes the cake as the biggest shocker ever, not just because the 16 versus the one, but the margin of victory, too.
I also Googled the most memorable moments ever in the NCAA Tournament. The Chicago Tribune list includes Indiana’s perfect season in 1976 and Christian Laettner’s famous buzzer-beater to knock off Kentucky 104-103 in 1992.
This year, I picked Gonzaga to win it all. But that doesn’t mean I’m pulling for the Zags necessarily. I will always like the underdogs, like St. Peter’s.