Mississippi Valley State Tag

Holy cow folks!  The First Four games last night provided the sports world with the best possible start to the NCAA tournament.  When they first added the play-in game, I found it somewhat meaningless and never cared to watch two teams battle for the right to lose in the NCAA tournament.  Even after the field was expanded to 68  teams in 2011 and thus a total of 4 play-in games.....  Still didn't care too much.  The talent level and potential for good games increased but I still assumed these were teams that were destined for a first round exit anyways.  Plus most brackets don't have you fill out the play-in games so interest level is naturally limited.

Fast forward to the conclusion of last year's tourney and one of those teams (VCU) made it to the Final Four.  And naturally my interest dramatically increased this year when thinking about the success of the Rams last year.  It could have just been a lucky run but when you win 5 games in the NCAA tournament it is clear that skill, preparation, and coaching played a much larger part than luck.  Although I think any coach will tell you that luck is warmly welcomed at any time.