Familiar faces, new places
Nobody will get a lump in their throat or start sizing up glass slippers for programs like these — Alabama, Illinois, Baylor.
They’re not underdogs. They’re hardly unknown. What they are is a group of new teams with wellrecognized names in the NCAA Tournament, and they’re hoping to keep making life hard on some of the programs that have long had a stranglehold on March.
Alabama is a 2 seed, matched for the best in its history, on the strength of its first SEC Tournament title in 30 years.
Baylor, building momentum for a while now, beat out Kansas for the Big 12 regular-season title despite a three-week break induced by the coronavirus. The Bears are top-seeded for the first time.
Illinois is making its first trip to the tournament since 2013, joining a more traditional Big
Ten power, Michigan, as a No. 1 seed.
“I’d be lying if I said there weren’t a lot of uh-oh moments” along the road to rebuilding Illinois, coach Brad Underwood said.
All these programs have, indeed, had their uh-oh moments over the years, which is what makes their trip to the top of the brackets unique.
Even before the pairings were announced, the pandemic ensured this NCAA Tournament was going to be a much different affair. Then, some dominos started falling. Duke and Kentucky, two longtime maestros of March, didn’t even make the field of 68 — the first
time that pair has missed the tournament together since 1976.
Michigan State struggled. Kansas had a notquite-Kansas kind of year. North Carolina found itself with a late-season matchup against Duke not for the ACC title but basically to keep its tournament chances alive.
Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide was rolling, and it had nothing to do with the football field. They make movies about the history of Alabama football. The history of Alabama basketball can be written on a postcard: Wimp Sanderson and his plaid sports coat, Robert Horry, one trip to the
Elite Eight in 21 previous. visits to the tournament.
THURSDAY’S EARLY GAMES
Texas Southern 60, Mount St. Mary’s 52: Tigers forward John Walker III celebrated the program's second NCAA Tournament win the way he always envisioned — hooting, hollering and just having fun. Nothing, not even a small, mostly quiet arena, could dampen his enthusiasm.
After scoring a seasonhigh 19 points, grabbing a career-high tying nine rebounds and leading the Tigers back from a 10point halftime deficit to win the first tourney game in nearly two years, Walker let loose.
“I feel like I’m on top of the world,” he shouted. “I just wanted it so bad, it wasn’t even about me.
“It was about going out there and beating a good team and getting it done.”
Drake 53, Wichita State 52: Joseph Yesufu scored 21 points as the Bulldogs’ achieved their first NCAA Tournament win in a half-century. Drake’s previous tournament victory was 50 years ago to the day –March 18, 1971, against Notre Dame.