MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / March 29, 2000

So, how’s your bracket for the NCAA Tournament looking? Mine went down about the same time that St. John’s was going down todefeat against Gonzaga. It’s safe to say that I’m not in the running for anyof those great prizes that sandbox.com is giving away in its contest.Of course, I’m not the only one. The contest’s $10 million prize for picking all63 games went by the waistside in just the third day of the tournament.

Arizona’s loss to Wisconsin took care of the remaining contestants. Gettingthe questions right on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” are a lot easier than guessing the winners in this most unpredictable of tournaments.

I’m sure all of you out there had Wisconsin heading to Indianapolis, right? After all, the Badgers came into the tournament with a stellar 18-13 record.

But what many didn’t realize was that the Badgers also brought in a defense that could be described as, well, badgering. Just ask Fresno State, Arizona,LSU and Purdue whether Wisconsin deserved to get a bid or not.

And, say, wasn’t the Big 10 (plus one) Tournament just held a couple of weeks ago? Part Deux begins Saturday as the Wisconsin goes up once again against Michigan State. If these teams have a “haven’t we done thisbefore?” look to them, it’s easy to understand. After all, this will be thefourth meeting between the schools this year. Michigan State has won thelast three. And so far, the Spartans have been about the only sure thing inthis tournament.

You want sure things? Forget about the other side of the bracket. That iswhere Florida, the No. 5 seed in the East, will take on North Carolina, the No.8 seed in the South. Now, before the season, this might not have been such asurprise matchup. Florida was predicted by many to be the tops in the SECwhile North Carolina was expected to reign supreme in the ACC. So what’sthe big deal about two of the best teams in two of the best conferences meeting in the Final Four? Well, you see, there was this matter of a 30-plus game regular season. Andthe Gators and Tar Heels could be said to have underachieved during that season, especially North Carolina. After all, when was the last time Chapel Hillexperienced 13 losses in a season? And yes, Florida took the SEC title as expected. But the Gators had to share it with LSU, Tennessee and Kentuckyand were knocked out of the SEC Tournament in the second round. Plus, theGators had to survive a major scare against No. 12 seed Butler in the firstround of the NCAAs.

So as we head to Indianapolis, we are left with a No. 1 seed, a No. 5 seed andtwo No. 8 seeds. Absent from the RCA Dome will be the likes of Duke,Stanford, Arizona and Cincinnati, all teams ranked in the top five for much of the season. Instead, we have three programs – Michigan State, Florida andWisconsin – more known for their football teams in recent years, and a fourth whose biggest news on the basketball court in recent years as been the retirement of its coach, Dean Smith.

But, hey, isn’t this what the NCAA Tournament is all about? Why else would it be called March Madness? And who doesn’t mind a little unpredictability, unless, of course, you wanted to be a millionaire.

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