Troy Appuhn hardly flinched at the question: Where would the Kansas Jayhawks wind up in his NCAA tournament bracket?
“I’ll probably have them winning it all,” said Appuhn, a resident of Omaha.
His answer hardly came as a shock, if only because Appuhn was decked out in a blue KU cap and windbreaker, and because his mother, Lois, was wearing a blue KU sweatshirt. Besides, it’s no great risk to pencil a No. 1 seed into the Final Four.
But what about Kansas’ disappointing NCAA tournament record, he was asked. The Jayhawks are a dreadful 6-4 as a No. 1 seed under coach Roy Williams. After they lost convincingly to Oklahoma in Sunday’s Big 12 tournament final, some of the faithful may have begun to fret. Not Appuhn.
“I never look at history,” Appuhn said. “Usually, history has been that they lose. You have to look at what happens this year.”
On the day after Selection Sunday, fans across Bracketville began dipping their toes into NCAA tournament pools, filling in those 64 blanks and trying to figure out what, and who, is going to go down in the next three weekends. As they tackle the task, some may wonder how a seasoned professional goes about handicapping the brackets.
I often wonder the same thing.
I’m afraid I can’t offer any insights. But I can provide a snapshot of how one copes with the annual humiliation of having one’s tournament brackets published in a major metropolitan newspaper:
I usually spend about five minutes–10 if the phone rings–filling out the bracket. Hey, it’s not the LSAT.
I never consult any research material, other than that morning’s USA Today. I also avoid listening to sports-talk radio. Life is full of sacrifices.
I typically enjoy research, but I have scant interest in the “facts” trotted out by so many tournament experts–the history of 14th seeds, for example, or the winning percentage of Catholic schools on Sundays.
When it comes to bracketology, I am not a man of principle. Scratch that. I am not a man of consistent principles. I change my tune all the time, like a car radio set on “scan.”
This year, my principles were few, and fairly simple.
Discount brand names. Thus, I have Valparaiso over Kentucky, Murray State over Georgia and Pepperdine over Wake Forest. But I have one of the great brand names–UCLA–to go all the way to the Elite Eight.
Beware of directional schools. That explains why I like Southern Illinois over Texas Tech and Bob Knight, and Western Kentucky over Stanford. I stopped short of picking Central Connecticut State over Pitt.
Avoid hyphens. Thus, Illinois-Chicago, UC-Santa Barbara and UNC-Wilmington are one-and-done.
Stay close to home. The NCAA selection committee this year made an effort to slot teams as close to campus as possible in the first two rounds. Thus, I’m picking Pitt to prevail a few miles from its campus and for Maryland to breeze in Washington. But I don’t like Cincinnati, which is playing just up the Ohio River in Pittsburgh. And here’s a news flash: 16th-seeded Winthrop has no shot against Duke despite having home-state advantage in the South Regional opener in Greenville, S.C.
When in doubt, pick against the Big Ten. Though my friends at the league office in Park Ridge don’t like to hear it, the league stinks like a week-old bar rag. How else could a puny outfit like Iowa advance to the tourney final? Besides, I wasn’t far wrong when I picked the Big Ten to go 0-for-the-bowls last winter (it went 2-4, and 0-for-New Year’s Day), and my friends in Park Ridge don’t bring that up, do they?
I made an exception for Illinois, which I peg as a late bloomer capable of reaching the Final Four. Lest anyone call me a homer, this is purely a professional opinion. I pray Atlanta doesn’t turn into a crossing-guard convention. Go easy on the orange gear, Illini fans. And one person to a pair of sweats, ladies.
I have no principles regarding Boston College and Boston University, being unable to distinguish between them. They won’t be around long enough for anyone to learn which is on Commonwealth Avenue and which is in Chestnut Hill.
Those are my secrets. You expected more insight? Not at these rates. This is thankless toil. The sports department will receive a pile of “Dear Idiot” letters when these picks go sour, but does anyone ever bother to give credit when I’m on the mark? Did anyone thank me last year, when I accurately tabbed Duke, Michigan State and Arizona for the Final Four–in November?
Of course not.
But back to the brackets.
As I filled out my sheet Monday, I kept wondering what to do with Kansas. A lot of people have wondered what to do with Kansas. Many of them now reside in California.
My first thought was to pick the Jayhawks to win the whole thing. After all, they had looked unstoppable in annihilating Texas Tech, an NCAA sixth seed, by 40 points in the Big 12 semifinals in Kansas City’s Kemper Arena. And they hadn’t lost since little Alexis Appuhn was born.
But on Sunday OU clubbed KU in K.C. The nine-point defeat raised some troubling questions about the Jayhawks’ ability to cope with a mean, physically gifted team, and several in the NCAA tourney fit that description. (Don’t blush, Cincinnati, Maryland and Illinois.)
Besides, there’s all that horrible history…
I needed an answer. So I zipped out to Lawrence and looked for signs.
First stop was the Jayhawk Bookstore, perched atop Naismith Hill with a view to Allen Fieldhouse. No clues there, although they do sell a placard, suitable for dorm rooms, listing the mileage from Lawrence to various other places. According to this placard, it’s 824 miles to Atlanta. Hmmm….
Outside the store I encountered the Appuhn clan. Troy and his wife, Carol, had come with Troy’s mom, Lois, to roust up some proper attire for their 6-week-old daughter, Alexis. By proper, I mean anything bearing the strutting Jayhawk logo.
“There’s nothing small enough for her,” Carol Appuhn said. The Appuhns like KU’s draw in the Midwest Regional. Troy said he wasn’t too concerned about losing to OU Sunday in K.C. “Anybody can get beat,” he said. “I just think they were looking ahead.”
That’s what the Lawrence Journal-World was thinking too. The front page of the Journal-World, the Bible of Rock Chalk Nation, bore a reassuring headline Monday: “KU looks past loss to NCAA tournament.”
Beneath the headline was a color photo of Kansas coach Roy Williams. He was crouched in front of his bench wearing a familiar March expression: anxious. I began to wonder whether Williams knew something the rest of us didn’t.
At Jayhawk Spirit on Massachusetts Avenue, natty black caps commemorating KU’s 1999 Big 12 tournament title were being sold at half-price. That was the last postseason tourney the Jayhawks won. Was the owner making room for new inventory? Hmmm…
As I cruised around town, crossing streets named for Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio–clues, perhaps, that the Hoosiers, Wildcats and Buckeyes are in for long runs this month?–nothing seemed to jump out. Then I wheeled down 11th Street, a winding lane that descends toward Memorial Stadium until it is bisected by another street.
Illinois Street: a dead end.
Finally, a sign.
The Illini over Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen, just like last year.
Duke wins it all, just like last year.
