{"id":82269,"date":"2019-03-19T12:53:12","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T12:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"\/rcntv\/?p=82269"},"modified":"2023-02-24T16:44:11","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T16:44:11","slug":"madness-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/madness-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"The Madness Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The views expressed in this blog are<\/em> those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s here.\u00a0 After all the regular season games and the grind of trying to win a conference championship, it\u2019s time to play for all the marbles.\u00a0 The NCAA Basketball tournament<\/a> begins officially on Thursday with 64 teams in the race for a National Championship.<\/p>\n

Four teams will vie to get into the 64-team bracket when Temple<\/a> plays Belmont<\/a> and Fairleigh-Dickinson<\/a> plays Prairie View<\/a>\u00a0 in play-in games.<\/p>\n

Without a great deal of time to study, here are my thoughts on the regions:<\/p>\n

EAST – Duke<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zion Williamson is back for Duke and that makes ALL the difference.\u00a0 If he stays healthy throughout, Duke should win the East playing Michigan State<\/a>.\u00a0 I like Yale<\/a> in a first-round upset and I would love to see Fran Dunphy in his last season at Temple get into Thursday\u2019s first round.<\/p>\n

WEST \u2013 Gonzaga<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though Gonzaga lost the West Coast conference championship game, when Gonzaga is at its best, they are as good as anybody.\u00a0 Remember, they beat Duke and Williamson played in that game.\u00a0 Michigan<\/a> looks like they could be upset before getting to the West final.\u00a0 Nevada<\/a> could be troublesome especially on offense.<\/p>\n

SOUTH \u2013 Tennessee<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It just seems to me that every year Virginia<\/a> finds a way to lose \u2013 no one will forget their first-round loss last year to UMBC<\/a>.\u00a0 I do not see them losing early, but I also do not see them winning their region.\u00a0 Tennessee<\/a> has been as good as any team in the nation at times this year.\u00a0 If they put it all together here and get a monster effort out of Grant Williams, they will get to the Final Four.<\/p>\n

MIDWEST \u2013 North Carolina<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wish I could have more shocking news for you this year, but it looks like the #1\u2019s are the best.\u00a0 I even think Virginia is the best, but I cannot in good conscience think all four #1\u2019s will get through.\u00a0 Carolina\u2019s road to the Final Four looks fairly certain.\u00a0 Perhaps, Kentucky<\/a> can give them a game if Kentucky gets to the Elite Eight.<\/p>\n

My National Championship pick is forthcoming after I screw up my own bracket.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSING)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Bryce Harper is still hitless (if you don\u2019t count getting hit by a pitch). Anyone getting nervous?\u00a0 He is 0-8.\u00a0 There are still 10 days until opening day.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. I am starting to feel badly for Saquon Barkley. The Giants<\/a> just seem to be making themselves worse and worse with their trades and anyone who watched them last year knew that their real problem was the offensive line.\u00a0 Remember how great running back Barry Sanders was on a very bad team \u2013 the Detroit Lions<\/a>?\u00a0 He never achieved team success.\u00a0 Is Saquon the next Barry?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. One team\u2019s displeasure can cause great anticipation from another team. For example – Odell Beckham to the Browns<\/a>; Le\u2019Veon Bell with the Jets<\/a>; Joe Flacco to the Broncos<\/a>; Michael Bennett to the Patriots<\/a>; etc.\u00a0 There\u2019s excitement in the air, particularly in Cleveland where the air seems to disappear around the fifth game every year.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. I am not that familiar with \u201cFortnite\u201d, but I know it\u2019s the rage with younger people. Well, I heard it was also the rage in the Phillies<\/a> locker room last season to the point where some players were playing it during the game.\u00a0 Veteran Carlos Santana took care of that problem by taking a bat to the TV to make sure no one would play again.\u00a0 Good for him!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. The Southern Lehigh<\/a> and Bethlehem Catholic<\/a> girls are in the PIAA<\/a> state semifinals. Congratulations to the teams and their coaches.\u00a0 Here is hoping they play for the PIAA state championship this weekend.\u00a0 Go Spartans!\u00a0 Go Hawks!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

             <\/p>\n

            \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. It\u2019s here.\u00a0 After all the regular season games and the grind of trying to win a conference championship, it\u2019s time to play for all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Madness Begins - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Madness Begins - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. 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