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It's not every day that the world's most widely read newspaper predicts you to win the National Championship.
Speaking of booming foes, Wichita State took out the top two seeds to win the West Region, Gonzaga and Ohio State. This will mark the Shockers’ first Final Four appearance since 1965 and the first time a Missouri Valley Conference team made the national semifinals since Larry Bird led Indiana State in 1979.
Should Wichita State upend Louisville, it would register much shock value. Perhaps, though, it should not. One of the so-called midmajors has advanced to the Final Four in three of the past four seasons, and Butler made the championship game twice.
Wichita State did not luck its way through upsets over the Zags and the Buckeyes. It withstood late runs by both teams, played more physical than both teams and snagged more than 40 offensive rebounds in four tournament contests. Those second chances will keep a team in most games.
Expect to hear a lot about the Shockers’ rebounding prowess this week.
Should Wichita State upend Louisville, it would register much shock value. Perhaps, though, it should not. One of the so-called midmajors has advanced to the Final Four in three of the past four seasons, and Butler made the championship game twice.
Wichita State did not luck its way through upsets over the Zags and the Buckeyes. It withstood late runs by both teams, played more physical than both teams and snagged more than 40 offensive rebounds in four tournament contests. Those second chances will keep a team in most games.
Expect to hear a lot about the Shockers’ rebounding prowess this week.
Mostly, though, college basketball fans should expect the most unpredictable of outcomes. That is how this season has unfolded, how this N.C.A.A. tournament has unfolded.
They should expect Florida Gulf Coast to capture the attention of the nation. They should expect Harvard to bludgeon New Mexico. They should expect La Salle, winner of a first-four game earlier in the tournament, to advance to the regional semifinals. They should expect Southern, a No. 16 seed, to challenge Gonzaga.
With that logic as the baseline for a forecast, there is no logic in predicting what will happen on Saturday and Monday in Atlanta. Best guesses are just that.
Thus we present your 2013 N.C.A.A. tournament champion: the Wichita State Shockers.
In this, the strangest of college basketball seasons, that ending would not be strange. It would be fitting.
They should expect Florida Gulf Coast to capture the attention of the nation. They should expect Harvard to bludgeon New Mexico. They should expect La Salle, winner of a first-four game earlier in the tournament, to advance to the regional semifinals. They should expect Southern, a No. 16 seed, to challenge Gonzaga.
With that logic as the baseline for a forecast, there is no logic in predicting what will happen on Saturday and Monday in Atlanta. Best guesses are just that.
Thus we present your 2013 N.C.A.A. tournament champion: the Wichita State Shockers.
In this, the strangest of college basketball seasons, that ending would not be strange. It would be fitting.
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