Overreactions

First, let me start by saying that my wife's Final Four was Cornell, Kansas, Gonzaga, and Baylor. And the first of those 4 teams to go out was Kansas. Hilarious.

But second, no sooner had the Panthers corralled the final rebound to shock the nation on Saturday night, but the reactions started pouring out all over ESPN, SI, and similar sites. Behold the parity of college basketball! The mid-major tag should be outlawed! There are no favorites anymore! College basketball will never be the same! (Don't believe the reaction was this strong? See here)

Okay. Let's take a deep breath here.

College basketball has not changed forever. There is not a new-found parity. No groundbreaking claims should be made based on this. It's one game, people. Shocking? Certainly. Perhaps one of the top 10 upsets that I personally have seen in the Dance. But there have been upsets before. There has been parity before. And all that really happened Saturday night was that Kansas didn't quite take the Panthers as seriously as they should have. Don't believe me? Well, with 2 minutes to go, when Bill Self finally woke up and realized his team might actually lose, he started pressing, his team started really getting after it defensively, and they came roaring back easily. They just ran out of time (and had one of the ballsiest shots I've ever seen go down against them). Imagine what would have happened if they had started trying like that on defense with 5 minutes left.

I also have a tough time getting behind the mid-majors as much as many in the national media. The fact of the matter for me has always been that, as much as I love the first 2 rounds of the NCAA Tournament, what gets lost a little in that shuffle is that it is still a tournament for the national championship. In the end, that's kind of the only thing that matters. If you don't have a chance to win the whole thing, I'm not sure you can say you're on the same pedestal as the guys who can. And until one of these "mid-majors" goes all the way and wins the national championship, I'm not going to give them the same respect that I give the big boys. I'm just not. Sorry, Chris Mack. The 4 Sweet 16's are impressive, no doubt, but they're not the Final Four. Or the whole thing.

In case you can't tell, I'm also against expansion for similar reasons. But we'll get to that after the season.

Quick thoughts on the games tonight:

1) Syracuse-Butler. I picked Syracuse to go to the finals in my bracket, but I didn't really like the pick. I didn't think the Orange had been playing all that well. Now, I love that pick. The Orange once again looked like their full potential against Gonzaga on Sunday. Butler is a solid team, but I don't think they can keep up with Wes Johnson and I think he has a big game in a 10-point 'Cuse victory.

2) West Virginia-Washington. Everyone loves Washington on the upset here, and for good reason. The Huskies are playing really well right now, and it's really hard to gauge how the Mountaineers will respond with Truck Bryant out. I think if Bryant had gotten hurt BEFORE the tournament, they'd have a better chance because they would have had time to get used to playing without him. But with just a few days to do so, I think they come out with too little confidence and Washington continues their run.

3) Xavier-Kansas State. Here are two teams I know next to nothing about. Obviously, as I picked both to lose in the 2nd round. I wish I could offer some legitimate thoughts, but I just can't. I'm sorry.

4) Cornell-Kentucky. Easily the matchup I'm most excited to see. So much so that I fully anticipate staying up to watch it even with an exam tomorrow. Cornell has looked awfully impressive, but you can't overstate the fact that they've played two RELATIVELY slower, less athletic teams in Temple and Wisconsin. The Big Red has never run into anything like John Wall or DeMarcus Cousins, and I would be particularly surprised if Cousins and Patrick Patterson don't have an absolute field day inside. If Cornell can hit some open 3's- and they will certainly get some open looks against the Kentucky D- then they can keep this close. But if they get cold early, it's going to get ugly.