NCAA Tournament: Let the games begin — in earnest

By

Sports

March 21, 2019 - 10:19 AM

Villanova Head Coach Jay Wright raises his arms during the first-half against Seton Hall at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 27. YONG KIM

Reigning national champion Villanova will be in action along with Michigan, the runner-up from a year ago, while Belmont and Murray State open the NCAA Tournament as trendy upset picks.

There’s Kansas and Michigan State to provide some blue-blood flavor, and Murray State’s Ja Morant and Marquette counterpart Markus Howard some star power. There’s the big-name coaches such as Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and the under-appreciated in Wofford’s Mike Young.

What more could you want on the first real day of the dance?

Other than Zion Williamson, of course. Duke doesn’t get started until Friday.

But there is still plenty of intrigue as the first round gets going Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa, with a matchup in the East Region between seventh-seeded Louisville and No. 10 seed Minnesota — the school coached by Richard Pitino , the son of disgraced Cardinals coach Rick Pitino.

The younger Pitino dismissed any notion that the NCAA Tournament selection committee made the matchup on purpose, perhaps to sell tickets or drive television ratings.

“I don’t have a whole lot of opinion on it,” Pitino said, “because when I’m sitting there Selection Sunday, I’m looking around, I’m excited about the fact that I know we’re in the NCAA Tournament. I’ll play whoever. I’m excited.”

See? Intrigue abounds.

Also in Des Moines, the second-seeded Spartans face No. 15 seed Bradley , seventh-seeded Nevada meets No. 10 seed Florida, and the second-seeded Wolverines face No. 15 seed Montana.

Michigan is coming off a tough loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament title game, but coach John Beilein put a positive spin on the showing in Chicago. He saw a team executing at a higher level, one that is hungry to break through and deliver a national championship.

“I’ve had a lot of wins and a whole lot of losses, and after a loss, every time there seems to be a bounce in our team,” said Beilein, whose Michigan teams have twice lost in the national title game. “Hopefully we will have the same edge, right, that we have had in the last couple of years in the first rounds after winning. I think we will have more of an edge, hopefully.”

Here are some other things to watch as the tournament hits its stride:

NOVA’S TITLE DEFENSE 

Villanova certainly didn’t look like an NCAA Tournament team when it lost a Final Four rematch to Kansas to fall to 8-4 early in the season. But veterans Phil Booth and Eric Paschall dragged the Wildcats along, and their late-season run produced a Big East Tournament title and earned them a No. 6 seed in the South Region.

Jay Wright’s crew opens against No. 11 seed Saint Mary’s in Hartford, Connecticut. The Gaels are coming off a 60-47 upset of Gonzaga in the West Coast Tournament title game.

Related