The ball was scheduled to go into the air shortly after noon today. There’s no telling who would have been in that initial game, where it would have been played, who would have been the game officials and whether either team involved would have had a real shot at the championship. They would have been in the NCAA Tournament, though, so they would have had a chance. And that is what has always made this event extraordinary.
Like most of you, I would have watched that game on television. I have covered 32 NCAA Tournaments, starting in 1988, but I have watched the first round on TV almost as often as I have been in the arena.
There are varying reasons why I so often have been away from the arena on opening day: travel costs when I was in the newspaper business, joining the old Sporting News Radio crew from 2001-08 to do the all-encompassing programs we called “Tournament Central” and, last year, using the occasion to visit Sporting News headquarters in Charlotte to spend some time around co-workers I rarely see.
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That was the plan this year, as well: two days in Charlotte, then a drive over to Greensboro to cover (most likely) the adventures of Maryland and Duke.
So I will miss the opening round of the NCAA Tournament — the greatest day in sports, because it lasts 48 hours — in the same way as most of you. I would have watched on TV, diverting my attention from one game to another depending on which was most compelling, and which happened to be in a television timeout.
This is what I was looking forward to seeing this year, that we never will:
Dayton invading Indy
As Bill Self established in a recent conversation with reporters, Kansas had chosen to play in Houston in the event they were the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, which was all but certain. The most likely scenario at that point would have seen Baylor lose at some point in the Big 12 Tournament and either fall down to the edge of the No. 1 seed line or slip to a No. 2. That would have bumped up the Flyers to a No. 1 seed with geographic preference, which would have been the short drive to Indianapolis (over jetting to New York). Dayton’s fans are the most loyal in the game, sticking with their program through difficult seasons and shifting conference affiliations. They were being rewarded with the program’s greatest year in five decades — along with the program's first National Coach of the Year in Anthony Grant — and thousands would have wanted seats at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Ashton Hagans' return
It never made sense to me that Hagans received such criticism, just when Kentucky found the rhythm that led to 12 victories over 14 games. I felt bad for him that he felt the need to step away from the team for its final regular-season game — which the Wildcats won in a dramatic comeback at Florida— and I was eager to see him rebound in the SEC or NCAA tournaments.
Leonard Hamilton in the spotlight
He built winning programs at places where it had never (Miami) or rarely (Florida State) been accomplished. He is only 18 wins away from 600. Why is that not respected more? Florida State had a chance at making Hamilton's first Final Four; instead, the Seminoles were handed a trophy they deserved (they did win the ACC regular season, after all) for a tournament that was not completed.
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Seton Hall’s shot
The Pirates did not end the regular season in grand style, losing to Villanova and Creighton as All-American Myles Powell suddenly struggled to find his perimeter touch. There still was the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden to get all of that back in order. I figure the Hall probably would have wound up no better than the doorstep of the Final Four, but I wanted to see Powell get the shot he earned at making the big shots he specialized in delivering.
Malachi Flynn
I probably would never have gotten the opportunity to see him in person, as San Diego State was likely to be placed in the West Region, opening the tournament in Sacramento. But I loved how Flyn played under pressure in some of the Aztecs’ close games and, we all know, the NCAA Tournament is all about pressure.
Rutgers on the bracket
Not since 1991 have the Scarlet Knights earned their way into the NCAA Tournament. This year, they did. Their season-ending wins against Maryland and Purdue placed them firmly into every bracket projection considered by the BracketMatrix.com compilation, including Sporting News'. Even if they’d lost their second-round Big Ten Tournament game against Michigan — they were warming up for a noon start when the event was cancelled — the Knights still would have been in.
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Could Providence have continued rolling?
The Friars won six in a row to close the season, and eight of their last 10, which included four wins over teams projected as consensus top-5 seeds at the Bracket Matrix and five that were expected to be in the field.
Steve Forbes’ moment
Since he became the head coach at East Tennessee State — after he’d lost his job at Tennessee, after he’d spent time coaching in junior college, and after he’d gotten the chance to join Gregg Marshall on the bench at Wichita State — Forbes has done outstanding work. Each of the five Buccaneers teams he has coached won at least 24 games, and the 2017 edition made it to the NCAAs. But this was by far his best team, with a legitimate shot to win a game or two. The Buccaneers were 30-4. They played Kansas tough on the road and went into LSU and won by double digits. They had a chance.
One last lap for Payton Pritchard
He was a precocious freshman on a Final Four Oregon team. Now he was a legit All-American on a team with a chance to return. He was maybe the last player you’d want to see with the ball if your team was holding a two-point lead with 10 seconds remaining.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
I covered basketball at the Georgia Dome in the 2001 regional final (Michigan State over Temple), in the 2012 regional final (Kentucky over Baylor) and in the 2002, 2007 and 2013 Final Fours (Maryland, Florida and Louisville were the winners). This would have been my first trip to this new building, which is rather amazing. Looks like it might be awhile before I get there.