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The sweet sound of March is here. No, it's not the spring birds. It's the greatest sports theme of all time – the CBS March Madness song.
That jingle just gives me chills every time I hear it, but now it has more meaning. Virginia Tech is finally in the NCAA Tournament after an 11-year hiatus. Seth Greenberg and his boys accomplished their only goal this season, but now it is a major reality check.
Take a look at the West region, where the Hokies are a No. 5 seed. Take a look again. Now study each name. See any familiar names? Almost half of the 16 teams in the region have won an NCAA men's basketball championship. No other region comes even close.
The South has the least number of former championships with Louisville's two and singles by Ohio State and Stanford. The Midwest comes next with all one-time champs in Florida, Arizona, Maryland, Oregon, UNLV and Wisconsin. Add three more titles to the East, having nine spread between North Carolina's four, Michigan State's two and the singles from Marquette, Arkansas and Georgetown.
That leaves the West bracket. So, would that mean there are 10 championships? Nope. 20? Keep going.
Try 30.
Almost half of the 67 NCAA men's basketball championships are compiled in the West bracket. UCLA takes the cake with 11, followed by Kentucky's seven, Indiana's five, Duke's three, Kansas's two and one from Holy Cross and Villanova. College basketball lives in this year's western bracket. That makes the task even taller for Virginia Tech – a team that has only made it to the Elite Eight only once.
History aside, this bracket should get the most television time. Teams are from all over the country and involve nine "major conference" teams and the ever-popular Gonzaga squad.
Each team played inconsistent in their conferences this season. Kansas had some stumbles and even UCLA struggled at the end of the season. No team can truly say, "Hey, we've played well all season." Southern Illinois may have the best beef. They hung around the top 25 most of the season, but they couldn't close the deal in the Missouri Valley championship game against Creighton.
Some popular picks for those in office pools will be Duke and Kentucky. They both had really bad seasons and got their seeding based on their name alone. Duke couldn't defend its own home court very well and Kentucky didn't beat a ranked opponent all season.
The team that beat the most ranked teams is UCLA with nine, including Kentucky when they were ranked No. 22 earlier this season. All teams struggled at one point during the season. Kansas and UCLA both struggled the least, which is why they are No. 1 and No. 2 respectively.
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