Maybe 30 years ago, Oral Roberts University hosted an NCAA men’s basketball regional. Before the actual invitations went out, it looked like Arkansas would be sent to Tulsa. The Hogs at that time were coached by Nolan Richardson, who coached a few years at The University of Tulsa.
For some reason, Arkansas was sent elsewhere and Oklahoma was sent to the Mabee Center. Being a Sooner fan, I went to the game.
A bunch of Razorback fans bought tickets to that regional and rather than eat the tickets, they came to the games. I thought it was rather strange to hear them “calling the hogs” when Arkansas was playing somewhere else.
This was madness.
By the way, the Mabee Center hosted regionals in 1974, 1975, 1978, 1982 and 1985). Tulsa’s downtown arena has hosted regionals but it seems like they send teams here that have little fan support.
This year, the tournament starts on March 17 with first and second rounds in Tulsa; Dayton, Ohio; Hartford, Connecticut; Salt Lake City, Utah; Des Moines, Iowa; Jacksonville, Florida; Columbus, Ohio; Columbia, South Carolina; and San Jose, California (I actually know the way to San Jose).
The South regional is in Louisville, Kentucky; the West Regional is in Anaheim, California; the East Regional is in Washington, D.C.; the Midwest Regional is in Kansas City; and the Final Four and national championship is in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
I hope the finals in Minneapolis are indoors. It gets kind of chilly up there in March.
In 1988, Billy Tubbs and the Sooners beat UT-Chattanooga, Auburn, Louisville, Villanova and Arizona before playing Kansas in the national championship game. OU lost 79-83 in Kansas City. The Sooners had beaten KU twice that year but Jayhawk Danny Manning was on fire and it cost OU a national title.
OU had played for the national title in 1947 and lost to Holy Cross 47-58.
When I was in college in the 1970s, OU never went to the NCAA Tournament.
The last time I checked, former Sooner Blake Griffin was leading the Detroit Pistons in scoring (25 points per game) and assists (5.4 per game). Former Sooner Buddy Hield was the leading scorer (20 points per game) for the Sacramento Kings. And former Sooner Trae Young was leading the Atlanta Hawks in assists (7.7 per game) and he was the second leading scorer.
Those are three great players in a short amount of time and yet OU had an off year this year.
That is madness.
In Stillwater, the Oklahoma State Cowboys have a rich tradition in basketball. OSU was the first school to win back-to-back national titles. The Cowboys have been to the Final Four six times.
Former OSU coaches Henry Iba and Eddie Sutton are legends.
This year, OSU lost several players and didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. The Big 12 is tough and OSU looks like one of the lesser teams at least for a year or two while they rebuild.
That is madness.
My guess is that except for the Super Bowl, more money is bet (mostly illegally) on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship that any other sport.
Years ago, I would take part in office pots. Whoever picked the most teams, won the pot. You got fewer points for games in early rounds and more points for the Sweet Sixteen, Great Eight, Final Four and Championship games.
No one has ever picked every game any year. It would take a minor mathematical miracle for someone to pick all the right teams.
If you think about it, there are 68 teams in a single elimination tournament. It’s one and done. That means 67 teams must have a loss in the final game of the season.
That is madness.
Buying tickets to NCAA March Madness games is confusing. I think the cheapest ticket in Tulsa was $32. Parking passes are $42, according to Stubhub.com. You could get tickets for March 22 and 24 for $160. These prices surely have changed (I checked them in February).
The ticket prices are a lot higher in Salt Lake City, San Jose, Hartford, Des Moines, Anaheim, Louisville, Kansas City, Washington, D.C., and, of course, Minneapolis. The cheapest tickets in Minneapolis appear to cost $339. So a family of four would spend – with parking – $1,420 or so. I bet by now, that would be a whole lot more.
That is madness.
I have cable TV and will be able to watch just about any of the 67 games. TV networks will scramble to get enough commentators and play-by-play men to broadcast all those early round games. As the tournament advances, the announcing gets better.
It always helps ratings if there is a Cinderella team that advances to the Sweet Sixteen. They are fun to watch and they destroy brackets.
This is a lot of activity for a tournament that produces a single winner.
But that is not madness.