Sports Illustrated called the 2010 NCAA men’s basketball championship “The Perfect Tournament” before it reached the second of three weekends. Upsets make for great theater, indeed, but here’s what fans were deprived of as a result:
1. Darington Hobson playing east of the Mississippi River » The junior college transfer tore up the Mountain West, but the closest New Mexico came to playing in the Eastern time zone was College Station, Texas. With an upset loss to Washington in the second round, East Coast TV viewers still think he doesn’t exist.
2. Georgetown vs. Ohio State in a rematch of the 2007 Final Four » No team laid a bigger egg on day one than the Hoyas, preventing John Thompson III from getting a chance to exact revenge on Thad Matta. Then again, if Armon Bassett had 32 points vs. the Hoyas, Evan Turner probably would have put up 50.
3. Syracuse vs. Kansas State in the Exasperated Facial Expression Throwdown » It would have been awesome to sit back and watch Jim Boeheim and Frank Martin take turns staring down their players in an up-and-down, turnover-filled extravaganza.
4. James Anderson vs. anybody but Georgia Tech » While Richmond allowed St. Mary’s to become one of the best stories of the opening weekend, the Big 12 player of the year got snuffed out by the Yellow Jackets in the first round. Oklahoma State would have found itself in the region semis had it been sent to Providence instead of the Spiders.
5. Kansas vs. Kentucky » Without the Jayhawks and Wildcats, this year’s one shining moment will be exactly that. Of course, BCS apologists absolutely love it
