Sweet 16

March Madness is upon us, well, it's upon me. I love this time of the year. I don't know if it is because I went to an ACC school, I mean THE ACC school - Duke, but there is definitely something about this part of the sports season that I love. This past weekend the Sweet 16 was set. One of the things that is so compelling about the tournament is the ability of major underdog teams to defeat powerhouse schools. That didn't really happen this year on the men's side. For the first time ever, the top three seeds in all four sections made it to the Sweet 16. No real major upsets. There have been plenty of end of the game heroics for the higher seeded team to win, but in the end they did win.

All this means I have done pretty well in my brackets, I have 13 of the 16 teams. I had Clemson, Wake Forrest, and Kansas winning, but they didn't. After watching as many games as I could, I am still pleased with the rest of my picks.

This morning when I woke up to Sports Center, I was gifted with what has been missing from the men's side to some degree. The lady Vols lost in the first round over the weekend. Now they were seeded fourth, but if there is a powerhouse in women's basketball it is Tennessee. Their coach has more wins than any other coach, men or women. They have been great for a long time. They lost to a team they would have in any other year beat by 40 points.

I'm not sure why this pleased me today other than to keep the hope alive that the underdog still has a chance. I still believe that the NCAA tournament is the best way to determine the national championship and no matter what record you had coming into the tournament, everyone starts out 0-0 and the last team standing is the best.