Curse of Belle Knox: Duke loses.

potato · March 22, 2014

with a name like belle knox she was only destined for one career

BMFin · March 22, 2014

This is the only time of year I really look forward to American sports. The NCAA Tournament is so much fun to watch, especially the beginning rounds....Go Gators!

potato · March 22, 2014

quick question BMFin how come its so much fun? i love NBA but when i think of college basketball (granted ive never seen it) i think it would be like watching liverpool university playing john moores in a game of footy. full of drunk, high and amateurish standard players.

BMFin · March 22, 2014

It's a lot of fun because, for the most part, it's a bunch of kids from the major basketball universities playing in a tournament with kids from much, much smaller schools. It's one of those "anyone can win" situations because it's a 'one and done' loss set up. The later rounds usually aren't as much fun because *usually* the favorites win. At the beginning, there can be major upsets when the higher seeds beat the lower. The best I can compare it to is the early rounds of the FA Cup when a League Two team beats a Championship/Prem team.

*The backstory is that in the US, in order to get into the NBA, you have to have at least one year in college. What happens in the NCAA Tournament is the major basketball universities usually only have kids in school for a year or two because they're considered top recruits/talent. They're only attending the university as an audition for the NBA. Then you have the smaller schools where the players weren't considered "major talent", but learn to play as a team, instead of individuals. Watching the different philosophies is entertaining, and sometimes, the team wins versus the favorite. (Pardon the fragmentation, been at it for a while today, so I'm a little wobbly)
@potato
*edit to add potato

potato · March 22, 2014

nice explanation mate, might have to watch one of them if i come across it.

potato · March 23, 2014

just watched dayton v syracuse, not a bad one to pick for my first one. syracuse could have won with a last second three pointer attempt but it failed and dayton reach the sweet 16 for the first time in 30 years.

SerenityNigh · March 23, 2014

potato said:
just watched dayton v syracuse, not a bad one to pick for my first one. syracuse could have won with a last second three pointer attempt but it failed and dayton reach the sweet 16 for the first time in 30 years.

Good explanation by @BMFin. It really is the closest you get to Cup action over here. The opening weekend is the greatest, with basically 8 hours of basketball for four days. The second weekend is great too, because by then you have your Cinderellas sorted out and the basketball usually gets better (from the technical/strategy point of view).