It must be March!!!! Well, at least I think it is – the calendar says it is. But after a year of missing the madness of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, some things just don’t feel right. Sure – there are the normal hints. For example, the Ohio Valley Conference started off Championship Week by having their final – where Morehead State crushed regular season champion Belmont by 15 to claim the OVC bid to the dance. So, you already have your traditional upsets happening in the mid-major conferences. But then there is this.
- Belmont normally would be guaranteed a chance in the NIT – but not this year with the NCAA’s scaled back 16 team NIT.
- Morehead State wasn’t the first team to claim a bid – Liberty claimed the Atlantic Sun’s bid even though the final isn’t until tomorrow. That’s because their opponent, North Alabama, is still transitioning to Division I and ineligible for the NCAA Tournament.
- The Ivy League hasn’t played all season, creating an extra at large spot for the dance.
- Duke played their traditional rivalry tonight – losing by 18 points to North Carolina, and falling to 11-11 and likely out of the tournament without winning the ACC tournament next weekend.
- Duke is still better off than Kentucky, who are 9-15 for the season despite their victory this afternoon.
- And Michigan State sits at 14-11 possibly needing to beat #2 Michigan to avoid missing the dance with Duke and Kentucky. They at least have a few more chances in the Big 10 tourney to stay on the right side of the bubble.
So, it is already shaping up to be a wild March. Possibly having an NCAA Tournament without Duke and Kentucky. Contingency plans including replacement teams and the first four games not starting until Thursday, March 18th. The entire tournament being played in the state of Indiana. There are lots of things that don’t feel just right. But at least for now, there is one thing that does feel right. The NCAA is playing college basketball games and plans to announce the 68 teams that will be playing in the NCAA Tournament in just a week. And so that can only mean one thing – IT MUST BE MARCH!!!!!!!!!!
And if it is March, it can only mean one more thing – it must be time to STOMP THE LUNATIC!!!!!!!
That’s right – the Lunatic is back for another month of sleep deprivation, looking through stat sheets in a foolish attempt to show he can predict college basketball games. And I am sure that this will end in the way it always ends, in a horrible beating. We all know better – he is no real threat – his kids will likely have better picks by picking schools that their grandparents attended. But while we all know this will end in a thorough stomping, we will all get to enjoy the entertaining ranting and raving of our favorite sleep-deprived lunatic!!!
So, without any more delays, the 2021 Stomp the Lunatic contest is officially announced!!!!!!!
The most important part is ready – the website is up and ready to go for another year of bracket picks. As always, the website will have all of the pages that make the Stomp the Lunatic great – whether it be NCAA results so the statisticians can build predictive models, poorly done bracketology that will show the Lunatic is simply a crazy basketball fan, cheat sheets once the brackets are released for those of us who don’t want to do hours of analysis, and of course, everyone’s favorite rants about the games.
For now, you can go to the site to see the previous standings or read all the crazy blogs and ramblings. I am sure that I will be ranting all week as I try to set up my pointless bracketology page – there will be tons of great Conference Tournament games to watch. Also, feel free to go on the User Blog page and put your own opinions out there (or simply cheer on your favorite team).
Once the committee has announced the 68 teams next Sunday (March 14th), I will update the site to have the entry form. If you don’t remember the rules (or this email has been forwarded to you), there is a link on the site. As we have done in previous years, we will not pick the 4 play-in games. But with all the COVID protocols, the tournament is starting late. So, all entries are needed by Friday, March 19th by the time the first games start (typically Noon).
So, do your research, get ready for the Madness to begin, and good luck to everyone in STOMPING THE LUNATIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!