Ethics

The Brink of March Madness

By Ed Brayton

My favorite time of the year is almost upon us. March Madness, baby, the NCAA college basketball tournament. My Dukies lost to North Carolina last night, which is not a surprise. Duke is an elite 8 team at best this year, in my view, and they've been overachieving most of the season. At the beginning of the year I said that the 4 best teams were Carolina, UCLA, Kansas and Memphis; I've seen nothing to change my mind in the interim.

Carolina and UCLA are the most complete teams in the nation. They have imposing low post threats in Hansborough and Love, they've got great point guards, they've got outside shooting, they've got depth and they've got role players that act as glue guys. And they're obviously very well coached. If the brackets work out, they should meet in the final for the championship. But they're not unbeatable, nor are they the only teams with a shot at a championship.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on March 09, 2008 (boomark / email).