On Your Mark: Let the madness begin

For my wife, the notion there is a sporting event that fits with every season and holiday is a bit horrifying.

Heck, for football gets Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, while basketball gets Christmas. Meanwhile, baseball gets the entire summer to showcase its wares as “America’s Pastime.”

This time of year is arguably the most frustrating for her, however, in part because the end of football season presents the false sense of an opportunity to catch your breath.

But to coin a phrase synonymous with one Lee Corso of ESPN College Gameday, “not so fast, my friend.”

Full focus has now shifted to college basketball, teams nationwide doing their darndest to assure their ticket to the dance floor also called the NCAA tournament.

Over the past few weeks and for at least the next several days, pundits will do their best to figure out any of an assortment of questions, such as:

▪  Which teams will grab the four No. 1 seeds?

▪  Who will be the last four teams included in the tournament field?

▪  What teams will be the first four left out?

▪  What team is this year’s “Cinderella?”

Certainly, most of us are eagerly anticipating Selection Sunday and our first opportunity to look at and begin critical analysis of the brackets.

For the bigger schools, winning more than 20 games and having a solid record against quality opponents is enough to propel them into the tournament.

For players at most other programs, though, even a solid win-loss record won’t matter at the end of the day. Fair or not, their seasons come down to who plays best over the course of a three- to four-day stretch.

While the NCAA likes to describe the first few days of the tournament as “madness,” the volatile nature of the college basketball season truly takes hold during the conference tournaments. Particularly early on in the week, when leagues like the America East, Big South, Big West and Missouri Valley are given center stage, and make teams like George Mason, Hofstra, Winthrop, Coastal Carolina and others household names on a short-term basis.

Often, sports is called the candy store where the ills of life mean nothing and the forecast and cheerful and rosy. Don’t tell that to small school coaches during “Championship Week,” where it is win or go home – NCAA tournament or bust.

Even a regular-season crown is meaningless to small-conference basketball programs. Indeed, you get a shiny trophy and brand-spanking new banner to hang high above your gym, but it does them no good in their pursuit of a tournament bid.

The beauty of the week, however, is also that teams that left much to be desired receive a three- to four-day reprieve to make what may have been an underachieving season a special one.

And honestly, these small-school programs are the ones that have the biggest potential to make the NCAA tournament special.

Everyone inevitably expects one of the favorites to be standing once the dust settles. But what occurs in the first two rounds is what most remember – the frantic finishes, buzzer-beaters and reactions from small schools as they celebrate an upset, and the agony of defeat by larger programs following an embarrassing defeat.

The next few weeks are what make March so beautiful, memorable and also outright agonizing. Enjoy the ride.

Of note

Speaking of conference tournaments, Coastal Carolina claimed the No. 3 spot in the Big South courtesy of last Saturday’s win over UNC Asheville. The Chanticleers now head into this week’s tournament with a two-game winning streak, and knowledge of what it takes to win three games in as many days. Such would also be quite the feather in Coastal’s cap, this being its final year of Big South play. How nice would it be to leave the league on a high note. … Claiming the Lower State AAA title last Friday against Region VII-AAA foe Wilson, the Myrtle Beach girls basketball team will vie for the program’s seventh title when it takes on top-ranked Dreher on Saturday night. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. … With the winter sports season drawing to a close, spring sports are kicking into high gear. Last week, the Michael B. Nash tournament helped get the local soccer slate off to a fast start. This week, Waccamaw will host the Coastal Invitational from March 3-6, while teams will descend upon Myrtle Beach High for Baseball at the Beach from March 3-5. Be on the lookout for Ian Guerin’s prep notebook this week for a comprehensive preview of both baseball tournaments.

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 1:00 AM with the headline "On Your Mark: Let the madness begin."