The annual rite of “March Madness” has now entered its second frenetic week. Just the “Sweet 16”teams remain from the original field of 68 basketball teams that participated in the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament.
This year, for the first time since 2000, all three major local collegiate teams
were included in the field. The Saint Louis University Billikens drew a #4 seed based on their sensational season under interim coach Jim Crews, who filled in admirably for the late Rick Majerus, who died in early December of heart disease.
The University of Missouri entered as a #8 seed. It was a year of trials and tribulations for the Tigers, as head coach Frank Haith spent much of the season under the threat of potential sanctions levied by the NCAA for possible ethics violations while head coach at the University of Miami. Haith persevered on
the court, however, doing his best to guide the Tigers to a season that fans
hoped would equal the sensational, 30-win roster of 2011-12.
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Meanwhile, the University of Illinois came into this season with a new head coach, Jim Groce, and little realistic expectations of setting the college basketball world
on fire. Groce replaced Bruce Weber, who took the Illini to the championship game early in his tenure before the fire of enthusiasm waned last season.
The Billikens’ season came to a crashing halt when SLU was thoroughly thrashed by Oregon in the third round of the tournament. While many were disappointed that the Bills didn’t advance further, the team should take pride in all that it accomplished in this most challenging of seasons. Besides, Oregon should never
have been seeded at #12 to begin with, and had a decided “home court” advantage at its regional tiff with SLU in California.
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The Tigers were predictably as uneven and undisciplined as they’ve been all
season. Last year, Haith’s squad played as a unit and achieved greatness. This
season, it seemed that various players were going in opposite directions in
many games, particularly on the road, where the Tigers developed a nasty
penchant for folding late in the second half and ultimately losing. In their only tournament game, they let Colorado State dictate the style of play and consequently ended up on the wrong side of the final score.
Conversely, the Illini utilized the experience they gained while brawling through the incredibly difficult Big Ten season they endured. To put in perspective, consider this: Entering the “Sweet 16” round of competition, it’s possible that there could be an all-Big Ten “Final Four.” Pretty incredible, isn’t it?
After upending 10-seeded Colorado, the #7 seed Illini took 2nd-seeded
University of Miami down to the final seconds last Sunday before finally
succumbing to the powerful Hurricanes. There was no disgrace in that, however, as Coach Groce made believers out of his players as well as many Illini fans with the team’s tenacity and fight all year.
So, what’s next? Crews has a decision to make about staying with the Bills, assuming he’s officially offered the head coaching position. Remember, Majerus
talked Crews into returning to college basketball coaching, so he’d likely be
comfortable leaving the arena once again.
Haith has the task of rebuilding the Tigers as he did in his first season. He has the ability and the intelligence to accomplish such a task again, assuming his players buy into his program with the intensity and devotion they displayed in 2011-12.
As for Groce, he’s won the admiration and respect of his team and its fans as well
as his bosses at the University of Illinois. Even within the rugged confines of the Big Ten, he should be able to duplicate the Illini’s success this season.
All in all, it was a fabulous season of NCAA men’s basketball for local college
fans. Let’s do it again next year.
Evan Makovsky
HOST, THE E-MAK SHOW
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www.emakshow.com