The best and worst of the NCAA
March 20, 1997
The ‘Clones are in the Suh-weet 16, and I am so happy to say, “I told you so.” This column will be dedicated to all that has happened in the tournament so far.
First off, yes, the Hawkeyes were screwed, and it pissed me off. However, they should have beat Kentucky, and that is all I have to say about that.
Other than that, the selection committee did a terrible job seeding teams, and each member should be seriously reconsidered before the committee lets its lunacy loose on society again next year. Georgia, a three? College of Charleston, a twelve? And the worst of all: Colorado, a nine?
Worse than that, not only did Colorado get ninth seed when they deserved to be at least sixth, most people thought Indiana would beat them.
Now it is award time for the NCAA Tournament and the action that has taken place up to this point.
Worst prediction: Dick Vitale took aforementioned Indiana to beat Colorado, and the game was a blowout by the Buffaloes.
Best Moment: This was undoubtedly when former LSU coach Dale Brown said goodbye to all his colleagues at ESPN. I could not have been happier to see the bore eradicated from my TV. It was bad enough that Brown was a terrible coach, but he was a biased commentator as well.
After Coppin State beat South Carolina and manifested uncontrollable giddiness in NCAA land, Brown pouted and said the Gamecocks were a better team. After that, he pointed out that a lot more fouls were called on South Carolina than on Coppin State, and said the refs obviously weren’t showing enough respect to the second seed.
Worst Announcer: George Raveling, the former Iowa coach who inspired all Hawkeye fans to be happy with Tom Davis — for now, at least.
After boring commentary for the entire Duke and Murray State game, Raveling told listeners the Murray State players could barely keep up because their legs were tired. He made this comment in a close game with around eight minutes left, and after Duke’s two-point victory, it was obvious just how tired those legs were.
Worst Network – CBS keeps on preparing for its bid to become the fourth network. First it loses football to Fox, and now I pray for it to lose the tournament.
CBS plays blowouts while close games are going on in different regions, shows first vs. sixteenth seeds as its featured games, and waits until the last five seconds to take fans away to the end of a close game in another region.
The situation is even worse on CBS radio. The network rarely gives scoring updates on the radio, preferring to give interviews after the featured game. It even stayed with the entire Utah vs. UNC-Charlotte game. In the middle of a 23-point blowout, Clemson and Tulsa battled down to the wire, but listeners were forced to hear the blowout.
Best Team: I would like to say Utah, but I have been saying the Utes all season, so I’ll take Minnesota.
Worst Team: I didn’t think Virginia deserved to make the tournament, and after Iowa embarrassed them, the point was moot.
Hope you enjoy the rest of the tournament!
Cade Remsburg is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Ames.