We’re into the middle of March and that means March Madness is upon us.
The pre-cursor to ‘The Big Dance,’ of course, is conference tournament week…or Championship Week. All across the country, conferences from A to Z are holding their conference tournaments in big city venues and smaller town arenas. Some conference tourneys have already been held and champions crowned; others are in progress. Some started today.
I’ve enjoyed going to a couple conference tournaments. It seems like it has been years since Knoxville hosted the SEC Tourney. It was actually 1989. Thompson Boling Arena also played host to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 in 1994. I was fortunate to be able to attend those games (which resulted in Duke making it to yet another Final Four).
I was also lucky enough to go to two Conference USA Tournaments held in Memphis at the Fedex Forum in 2008 and 2009. Talk about exciting.
There’s something about seeing multiple games with multiple teams (and their fans, cheerleaders and administrators all in town to cheer them on).
For my two teams, Championship Week seems to hold different paths this year.
The Memphis Tigers wrapped up an undefeated run through C-USA with a win last Saturday. By all accounts, they have punched their ticket to the Big Dance. Really, they’re just playing for seeding. An untimely slip-up by the Tigers would surely put them in an unfavorable match-up when the NCAA tourney begins next week.
As for the Vols, the situation is less clear. Depending on which expert you follow, the Vols are anywhere from ‘probably in’ the tourney, ‘'On the Bubble,‘’ or needing to make some hay this week in order to make it. My gut feeling tells me they are probably in right now, but that is shaky because so many teams are on the fringe. If some team gets hot this year and sweeps their conference tournament out of the blue, that probably knocks a team “On the Bubble” off the bubble.
For UT, the best course of action, naturally, Is to win out. My gut tells me if they go to Nashville and win two games in the SEC tourney (a win over the SC-Miss. State game and then over ‘bama), they’re probably in. But my guess is as good as anyone’s – just a guess.
Meanwhile, Belmont University is already assured of a spot, having won the OVC tournament. MTSU also has a pretty good resume and could receive an at-large bid. I always like to see teams from our state do well. I think it reflects very well on the Volunteer State. If all four teams get NCAA bids, that’s a great statement. Can you think of another state in America that would get four bids?
Anyway, it should be a fun week and weekend. There’ll be drama, surprises, buzzer beaters and heartbreak.
Both the Tigers and Vols begin their conference tournament runs tomorrow night. Here’s to many wins for both.
JG
No comments:
Post a Comment