The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

    Rosenberry Crunch: A tale of two brackets

    Did you catch the men’s college basketball final on Monday? If you are reading this, I’m guessing you didn’t. That’s because if you saw it, your eyes probably fell out of your head.

    Butler shot under 19 percent! I would say that they couldn’t shoot it into the ocean, but they never got the chance because they fell in and drowned.

    UConn wasn’t too much better, making roughly a third of their shots. Kemba Walker probably had the worst game of the season.

    I think both teams may have gotten together and watched the Wisconsin/Penn State game where the teams combined for 69 points. Emulating terribleness is a bold game plan, so I applaud the Bulldogs and the Huskies for doing it.

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    That championship game wasn’t just an outlier, it was systemic of the tournament as a whole. There were countless terrible games. Not every game, but quite a few of them. Other than the championship game, the games in which Kansas, Ohio State and Wisconsin lost were terrible affairs.

    Hey, I am able to shoot like crap, too! Can you give me a scholarship?

    On the other hand, you have the women’s tournament, which featured a good final game between Notre Dame and Texas A&M. Both teams played well and actually gave their fans something decent to watch.

    And prior to that, it was a solid tournament with some upsets and a lot of close games where both teams competed. Sure there were some blowouts, but the best effort got put forward which is more than I can say for the men.

    This brings me to my next point at why the women’s tournament was better.

    A team that doesn’t usually win, won. The Aggies may come from a major conference and were a two seed, but they are not a traditional power.

    In fact, prior to the last decade, they were really bad. Maybe not eye-fall-out bad like Butler, but pretty bad.

    What’s funny is that women’s basketball is not known for its parity. That’s what the men’s game is typically linked to.

    It usually involves Geno Auriemma standing atop a mountain amidst bolts of lightening cackling at the teams that his Huskies struck down.

    If not UConn, some other power such as Tennessee wins nine out of 10 times.

    The men’s tournament usually does have more upsets and this year wasn’t any different. Just look at how well Butler and VCU did. However, just like how it normally is, a traditional power won the thing.

    Sure, UConn was a three seed and had nine losses, but they were the hottest team in the country with a great player in Walker and a coach in Jim Calhoun who already had
    two titles.

    If that is an underdog, then sign me up.

    Saying there is truly parity when a team like UConn still wins it doesn’t make sense to me.

    OK, there still is a wider variety of teams that win in the men’s tournament and I’m sure this tournament is going to be an anomaly in terms of its quality. Well, I’m really hoping it is, because I don’t enjoy being nauseous for a month.

    However, a team like Texas A&M probably won’t win in the men’s tournament. I’m not saying A&M completely came out of nowhere, but it is still surprising to some degree.
    Butler may be the one team that could do this on the men’s side, but they will need to play better in the final. You know, aim for that metal-cylinder or something crazy like that.
    The women’s tournament was the only one of the two to feature some differentiation in terms of who won. Not to mention that the quality was better.

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    Rosenberry Crunch: A tale of two brackets