Random NCAA Tournament Thoughts

I don’t mind the NCAA expanding to 68 teams, but that shouldn’t make the Thursday-Friday games the “second” round. Does that mean 60 teams received a first-round bye? It still feels like the first round to me.

Anyway, I had St. John’s in the Final Four. Was that wrong? And does the quick ouster of St. John’s, Villanova, and Louisville indicate that we probably didn’t need 11 Big East teams in the tournament?

As I write this, the Big Ten is 4-2 in the first round with Illinois still to play. The victories have been by an average of 21 points, and both losses were by two points. Maybe the Big Ten should have had 11 teams in the tournament.

OK, OK, I’m trolling for a way to finally get Northwestern into the NCAAs. My alma mater is the only school from one of the big-six conferences that has never been to the NCAA Tournament.

UPDATE: Georgetown lost to Virginia Commonwealth by 18. I believe that gives the Big East a 7-4 record in the first round, with three of the losses coming as the higher seed.

Illinois beat UNLV by 11 after leading by as many as 23. That gives the Big Ten a 5-2 record with both losses coming by two points. Sure it’s not too late to get Northwestern into the tournament?