Bracketology '07

The thrill of March Madness has just begun. The weekend was filled with a prelude of NCAA tournament action, which starts this Thursday. I watched in anticipation as my beloved KU took on OU and K-State before reaching the Big 12 finals against Texas.

The Texas rematch looked well…UGLY in the beginning. Everything that could go wrong was going wrong for the Jayhawks in the first half. The shots didn’t seem to fall and Durant looked impermeable. All of a sudden KU was down by 22 points. I sat stunned into silence, hoping someone, ANYONE on the KU squad would take the game into their hands. Of course no one did, instead the KU played as a team. They showcased their tough defense, unselfishly passed the rock and kept taking shots. The hard work paid off as KU began to slowly chip away at the Texas lead.

Texas literally looked worn out and tired in the second half. Durant seemed winded and sometimes confused. And KU just kept just played it cool as a team, even when every hard foul and every possession seemed like a dire straight just to get back ti even. Finally KU took a brief lead with under 10 minutes left only to watch the lead evaporate to a back and forth game until the final minute. In the final 30 seconds it looked as if Texas might pull out the victory, but again KU stayed calm. After a Texas couldn’t capitalize on both free throws to seal the game, KU went down the court and tied it all up with a 3 that was nothing but net.

You could have called the game then and there. You could feel the excitement in the air - THIS IS MARCH MADNESS! We had Texas on the ropes, they were running on fumes and overtime would surely be the final nail in the coffin.

KU emerged at the end of OT victorious. Big 12 Regular Season Champs, Big 12 Tournament Champs and minutes later the #1 seed in the West of NCAA Road to the Final 4 Tournament.
Officially I’d consider myself just a passive Bracketologist in March/April, but I would have to warn all those in the path of KU right.

Get ready to be rock chalked!

I’m predicting that a phog will be rolling into a city near you. It’s hard for me not to predict seeing KU in Atlanta in April. KU is intact, hungry and ready to continue rolling over the competition.