March Madness

March is the month for Kansas Jayhawks fans. Every now and then, Missouri or Kansas State will have a good year where they go further in the tournament than KU does. When that happens, KU fans will hear about it until the next season. Well, this is one of those years, and sure enough, KSU and MU fans are voicing their bragging rights left and right.

As they should.

The Wildcats and Tigers had a tournament that either matched or surpassed the Jayhawks. However, the one thing everyone is forgetting is that key word: “tournament.” They had a better tournament. That does not mean they are a better team or had a better season. Missouri fans are certainly aware of this and are proud of how they performed in tournament, which they certainly did meet all expectations.

K-State fans are not as forgiving. Obviously, not all KSU fans are talking smack, and if they are, they’re doing it with class. However, those aren’t the voices we’re hearing over and over again. K-State fans are using KU’s unfortunate loss in the second round as justification for claiming the Wildcats are a better team than the Jayhawks.

I am here to debunk that theory and lay it to rest.

To start, let’s talk about the championship title and what it means. In simplest terms, it’s the team that was able to win six in a row in the month of March against the top teams in the nation. In reality, it’s a highly coveted title that gives a team bragging rights for a year that they are the best team in the nation. But are they really the best team in the nation? Yes and no.

Yes, they are the best team during the month of March…when it counts the most. No, they are not necessarily the best team in terms of overall statistics and performance. The NCAA national championship tournament has a one-and-done format. As KU has proven, all it takes is one off-day to ruin all chances of being the champions. What we need to remember is that losses happen in NCAA basketball…even to the best teams. Not one team lost less than two games in the regular season, and for the top five teams, most of those losses happened to a team with a lower ranking. It happens. Sometimes it happens during March.

If only the best overall team wins the championship, then why is it that a Final Four comprised of all #1 seeds has only happened once? Is it because of bad seeding? Well, some years you can argue that, but for the most part, the NCAA usually gets the #1 seeds right. Also, the designation of an overall #1 seed was started in 2004. Since then, only ONE overall #1 seed has won the tournament (Florida in 2007). Does that mean the other six overall #1 seeds weren’t really the best? No.

Look, the chance of any team winning the championship in any given year is a crapshoot. National championships are few and far between. When it comes to tournament time, the top sixteen teams have an equal chance of winning it all. The differences between the #1, #2, #3, and #4 seeds may be many in the regular season, but those differences mean very little in March. Just look at the numbers. Again, how many #1 seeds go to the Final Four in any given year?

Unfortunately for KU, their upset came way too early. It is acceptable to lose in the Elite Eight and beyond, but in the second round? Unacceptable. This, I will agree with. With that said, it doesn’t matter if you lose in the second round or you lose in the Final Four. The fans of only ONE team are going to walk away not feeling dejected after April 5. Jayhawk fans’ feeling of dejection just came sooner than others.

So if the national championship is more symbolic than indicative, what makes KU the better team? Overall numbers.

Kansas was tied with overall wins and losses. Kansas lost to a team in their conference only once. The conference Kansas plays in has the highest RPI and the second highest Strength of Schedule (SOS). Kansas beat K-State three times…the last win allowed them to take the Big 12 championship. Best overall record in NCAA. Big 12 title. Big 12 championship. 3-0 against K-State. How can anyone argue that K-State is the better team?

K-State was the better team…in March. That’s all. Despite my broken heart, I will say congratulations to K-State for having a better tournament. As far as your bragging rights are concerned…you better win the championship.