THE NEW-LOOK NCAA TOURNAMENT
By Kelvin Sampson, Oklahoma

 

Someone asked me the other day if making the NCAA tournament ever gets old. When it does it means I am too old and need to step away from the game. It really is an honor to be playing in sports’ showcase event. There is absolutely nothing like the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

The tournament is much different then it was just a few short years ago. At one time you could look at the bracket and quickly get a pretty good idea as to who would get through the first weekend of the tournament. Sure there would be a surprise or two, but nothing like we have seen in recent years.

Is there really such a thing as an upset anymore?

When you look back to last year’s tournament it was the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin that played like the team from the power conference. Bruce Pearl’s team was impressive in wins over Alabama and Boston College. And they certainly did not back down from the challenge of facing Illinois.

The landscape of college basketball is ever changing. We are not that from removed from a time when a run like Panthers had in 2005 would have stunned everyone. I don’t think anyone is stunned, shocked or surprised with the results in the tournament any longer.

Everyone fully expects the unexpected. Now it’s a matter of determining where it will come from.

Expanded media coverage has helped to bring attention to so many programs, long before the brackets are announced on Selection Sunday. Prior to their run in last year’s tournament, Coach Pearl’s team spent the previous two months ranked among the top five in collegeinsider.com’s Mid-Major Top 25 and they played a nationally televised game against Hawaii in ESPN’s Bracket Buster.

Somewhere, tucked away in one of the four regions, is another UW-Milwaukee story. I just hope that it’s not a repeat story.

Coach Rob Jeter has done a really nice job in his first season. His team is experienced, talented and tough. Their toughness is what really impressed me last season and after watching film it’s clear that they still have that edge. They weren’t just happy to be a part of the dance last season and they will certainly bring that attitude to the tournament this year.

If we don’t come ready to play, we will be going home.

For us it’s literally all about one game at a time. There probably isn’t a more overused cliché in all of sports, but it truly does apply to the NCAA tournament, in more ways then one. A look back to last season will validate that point.

Last season we finished the regular season strong. We were playing some very good basketball and that carried over to the first round against Niagara. But all that momentum we had built up in the previous few weeks meant nothing in round two. We did not play well at all against Utah.

Nobody looked past Niagara. That wasn’t the case at all, but the results do outline the fact that what happened in the regular season means nothing. What happened in the conference tournament means nothing. And the result of one game has no bearing on the outcome of the next game in March.

Bracket projections, upsets, final four picks and all the speculation is for the analysts and fans. Coaches and players had better not look any further down the road then the current opponent. And I can tell that both Oklahoma and UW-Milwaukee are focused solely on one another.