SWEET 16, SOUR 54:

Sweet on this tourney: There's much to love about 16 teams left (Bob Ryan, March 22, 2005, Boston Globe)

Don't ask. I have nine of the Sweet 16 left, OK? At least I have three of my Final Four left (Kentucky, Louisville, Oklahoma State). Overall, however, I would have been better off consulting one of my 5-year-old triplet grandchildren. Or my golden retriever.

But I'm lovin' the NCAA Tournament. How could you not?

Having the field at 64 is absolutely perfect, isn't it? (Yes, it's actually 65; don't get me started on that.) It is now ingeniously structured so that there are different attainable goals for different teams. The Vermonts and Bucknells win one, and their season, careers -- and, who knows, maybe even their very lives -- are made. The Wisconsin-Milwaukees -- actually there is no one else left like Wisconsin-Milwaukee -- are totally vindicated just by getting to a regional. And the rest may or may not be feeling pretty satisfied, depending on their particular 2004-05 circumstance.

Of the 16 teams left, eight are from the top tier of the tournament (seeds 1 through 4) and eight are from the other tier. The four No. 1s have held up nicely, but of the 12 2, 3, and 4 seeds, only four remain. Does this mean the tournament committee did a poor job? No. It means it had an almost impossible job to begin with.

Taylor Freakin' Coppenrath...

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 22, 2005 8:16 AM