One of the surest signs of the of the arrival of spring is the arrival of March Madness. Last Sunday was Selection Sunday as all the brackets were filled for all four of the regional tournament sites. Altogether, 68 teams will start the elimination process. I seriously believe that most college basketball fans are just like Vince Vaughn. They tolerate the regular college season simply because it leads to the second season, the NCAA National Championship Tournament.
Last Sunday, fans and Las Vegas waited breathlessly to see if their favorite team was going to be picked to be a part of the Big Dance. For Hoosier fans the Purdue Boilermakers made the cut. They are third seeded in the South Regionals which will be conducted at the KFC Yum Center in Louisville so they really won’t be too far away. They open against 14th seeded Old Dominion on March 23rd. I’m not going to make any predictions…..well maybe one. The opening game looks pretty good for Purdue.
IU Women Make the Big Dance
The Indiana University Women’s Basketball Team made the the NCAA Tournament for the second time in 4 years. The Hoosier Ladies are 10th seeded and will take on the 7th seeded Texas Longhorns in Eugene, Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena this coming Friday the 22nd. The ladies were 20-12 overall and 8-11 in the big Ten. Junior redshirt guard Ali Patberg led the team averaging 16 points a game. Congratulations and good luck to Head Coach Teri Moren and her Lady Hoosiers basketball team.
NIT Tournament
The IU Hoosier Men’s Basketball team and the Butler University men’s team both earned invitations to the National Invitational Tournament which consists of 32 teams that were not quite good enough to make the Big Dance. Still, the NIT is nothing to take lightly. It allows some under-recognized teams to enjoy some post-season success. IU is 8th seeded in the lower left bracket and plays St. Francis on Tuesday and Butler is 5th seeded in the lower right bracket and plays Memphis on Tuesday so by the time you read this both games will have been played. Best of luck to both the Hoosiers and the Bulldogs.
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