WEST REGION BREAKDOWN

Gonzaga vs Florida at the PK80 earlier this season in arguably the best game of the season

#1 XAVIER MUSKATEERS

Xavier has a great coach in Chris Mack who is always rumored to get the next huge Power 5 program opening yet he is not taking these openings as he is building Xavier into a powerhouse. The Muskateers return a lot of experience led by Sr. Wing Trevon Bluitt who does it all in scoring, hitting a high volume of treys, and rebounding while taking care of the ball. He hits the bulk of the team’s three pointers however, so if he’s cold then Sr. G JP Macura will need to make up for those misses. JP is a nasty 6-5 guard that plays hard and plays pesty. He is the captain of the All Connor Lewis Team, as a leader of the Muskateers where his teammates love playing with him and moreso are relieved he’s on their team, while opponents hate him. Like hate him! That’s valuable!!! Xavier has an extremely underrated in PG Quintin Goodin who distributes the ball well while limiting turnovers. He’ll have to step up his production of 8.8 ppg in the Madness though. Xavier is picked by many as the weakest #1 seed in the tourney with a solid road record that is peppered with lower ranked Big East teams. Xavier will rely on their vets and the March Madness experience of the these vets.  They’ll have to as this West Region is the All-Veteran Region.

#2 NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS

Talk about March Madness experience! The Tar Heels have Sr. PG Joel Berry and Jr. F Luke Maye and Sr. Wing Theo Pinson who just have 2 national finals and one National Championships under their belts. No biggy. Joel Berry will lead the pack, and as Insanity Report Dean of Correspondents, J-Dawg mentioned many times this season, that UNC should just put Maye and Berry in constant screen-and-roll action every possession ala Stockton and Malone. In the past couple weeks, they haven’t really done this so expect this screen-and-roll to be unleashed. The biggest glaring weakness is the youth and inexperience of their freshmen posts in Sterling Manley, Brandon Huffman and Garrison Brooks. In a UNC system that relies heavily on the size and presence of their posts, the Tar Heels may be exposed on certain post match ups on the blocks and on the boards. Pitt Transfer, Cameron Johnson can shoot the trey well as a tall 6-8 wing. One of the best x-factors in the nation is Theo Pinson with his quickness and hustle on both sides of the ball getting clutch steals and clutch boards while constantly having the toughest defensive assignments every game. If it’s Madness experience you value, then your bracket may very well be writing UNC down 4,5, maybe 6 times.

#3 MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

Michigan has arguably the best and most organized coach in the nation in John Beilein. He is applauded often by Insanity Report Coaching Correspondant, J-Dawg through the defensive principles he teaches extremely well to his players. Michigan had a solid run in last year’s Madness losing in the Sweet 16 to a veteran team in Oregon. Like last year as well, Michigan progressed all season long leading to a Big Ten tourney title. Michigan has solid talent in their sophomores with PG Xavier Simpson (and watch his odd free throw routine during the Madness), Kentucky transfer SG Charles Mathews and G Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman. The bulk of the scoring and rebounding is done through Jr. F Mo Wagner who can bang in the paint ala Ryan “Turpentine” Paulsen yet he can play away from the hoop making him a great NBA prospect. Michigan is indeed peaking at the right time, but there are questions of depth and of their long rest from the Big Ten Tourney being played a week early giving Michigan close to a 2 week break. Will this break help Michigan or stagnate their momentum?

#4 GONZAGA BULLDOGS

Come on Tourney Committee. I’ll never understand how the Zags get a 4-seed while they are 6^th in the last AP Poll and ranked 8^th in the kenpom.com rankings!!! Coach Mark Few always has the Zags super organized offering one of the best team defenses in the nation. That is there is no one true lockdown defender but rather great game planning in deflating their opponent’s leading scorers from all 5 guys on the court. There is considerable size in 6-11 Soph. F Killian “Tilly Tilly” Tillie, 6-9 Sr. Johnathan Williams and 6-8 Soph. Rui Hachimura. Their length, speed and mobility gives other front courts fits, especially when Tillie Tillie goes 13-14 from three point land in the WCC Tourney. The determining factor for Zags to make another Final 4 run rests solely on the play of PG Josh Perkins. When he’s on, he pushes the pace in transition and hits dagger jumpers. When he’s off he is very unnoticeable. Perkins is a gamer and he will be primed for a solid Madness. Also don’t sleep on Gonzaga’s bench and especially don’t sleep on Mark Few’s experience from last year’s National Final run. There are few coaches that prepare their teams as well as Few. Want a darkhorse Final 4 pick? Look no further than the Zags.

#5 OHIO STATE BUCKEYES

Ohio State was looked upon to have a Big Ten basement-dwelling rebuilding year under new coach, Chris Holtmann who came from Butler relieving long time coach, Thad Matta who had 9 players leave the program; Most of whom were players in the last 2 froshie classes. Hence, the prognostication of a long year of character building losses. What occurred were character building wins in the Big Ten as the remaining players were highly ranked Sr class players in RS Jr. F Keita Bates-Diop and Sr. F Jae’Sean Tate. Diop had many experts calling for National Player of the Year votes. That’s a little much, but Diop did it all in peppering all aspects of the stat sheet while being a wily leader for the Buckeyes, especially for Freshman F Kaleb Wesson. The backcourt is a bunch of rag tag grinders in Juco transfer, CJ Jackson and former walk-on Grad transfer Andrew Dakich. Man, how can anybody not love the season that OSU had?!? They showed grit all season highlighted by a very tight win at Purdue. OSU must improve their average shooting from downtown and the guards must continue to over achieve or else they will get dominated like they did in their non-conference schedule with a 27 point loss to Gonzaga in the PK80 tourney. 

#6 HOUSTON COUGARS

Houston is a very sexy pick to go further in the Madness with the high scoring and assist man and All-Man Bun player, Rob Gray Sr. He shares the passing duties with fellow G Galen Robinson Jr. There isn’t much else in the front court other than Indiana transfer in Sr. Devin Davis. Head Coach Calvin Sampson has Houston playing an entertaining efficient 3-pt shooting game. They have depth off the bench, but will likely shorten the bench allowing Rob Gray Jr. to carry them to what they’re hoping is a trip to the second weekend of the Madness.

#7 TEXAS A&M AGGIES

Texas has a disappointing season period. They started off the season with a season opening convincing win vs. Huggy Bear and the West Virginia Mountaineers, but have since floundered. Grad Transfer PG Duane Wilson was lost for the season after trying to play on a partially torn ACL. His knee buckled too many times leading him to not play. Also 3 regular players were suspended at various points of the season for violating team rules so the tip of the iceberg on the surface may have had plenty of dissension underneath the surface. It didn’t help that the 0-5 SEC start for A&M had 4 of those 5 games vs. Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky. 3 of these 4 opponents were road games too. Ouchy! But the Aggies didn’t rebound well with a bad road record all season long. There just seems no mofo coming outta College Station, which is odd with this lineup comprised primarily full of Top 100 talent and a 29^th place overall ranking on kenpom.com.

#8 MISSOURI TIGERS

Mizzou has had one of the biggest turnarounds of any team in the nation with the influx of new talent as well as a new coach in Cuonzo Martin. Martin had somewhat disappointing stints in Cal and Tennessee due to mediocre results with highly ranked recruiting classes in most of those years at those 2 schools. This was helped rastically when #1 rated recruit, 6-10 Michael Porter Jr. signed from his original commitment of Washington. But Oops, Porter was limited to only 2 minutes of playing time due to a disc herniation injury. He came back for their lone SEC Tourney game losing to Georgia showing some obvious court rust. A huge contributor was fellow froshie in Michael’s brother, Jontay Porter. This typical coin-flipper 8 seed vs. 9 seed match up will hinder on the effectiveness of the returning Michael Porter Jr and how well he can mesh with the other players.

#9 FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES

There are metrics that can validate the at-large bid for Florida State. These metrics are predicated on the strong ranking of the ACC. The ‘Noles had a great 12-2 start to their season only to finish 9-9 in the ACC with an atrocious 2-7 road record. FSU returned an average lineup this year with the loss of 2 NBA draft picks from the year before. This average lineup was infused with the signing of McD All-American MJ Walker who was slated to be an instant contributor, but he came off the bench all season long with very average stats. Missouri has the most upside on this matchup.

#10 PROVIDENCE FRIARS

The Friars return the bulk of their line up that were rebuilding last year after the loss of 2 NBA draftees 2 years ago. This line is led by Sr. F Rodney Bullock and Sr. PG Kyron Cartwright. Head Coach Ed Cooley, play the long game in developing his recruits giving the regular but cyclical success of the program. Providence seems more together than the somewhat disarrayed Texas A&M Aggies. To get the win, they will need to shoot the 3 better than their pedestrian 3-pt shooting percentages. Providence is the lowest ranked at-large team in kenpom.com, so they have that going against them.

#11 SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS

This is a sexy pick with the recent run the Aztecs have made in the Mountain West. They have a new coach in Brian Butcher who was an assistant coach under Steve Fisher for over 2 decades at SDSU and Michigan going as far back as the Fab Five days. Big name guys have left the SDSU program, but C Malik Pope is still with the Aztecs.

#12 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS

This is the 3^rd straight March Madness for the Jackrabbits. So the vets on this team has experience in the show led by RS Jr. Mike Daum and his 23.8 ppg, 10.4 rpg and gawdy 42% 3PT%!!!! Then they travelled to Kansas to get pummeled by 34 and then a couple weeks later travelled to Wichita State to only lose by 10 points. In their non conference schedule is also a win vs. tourney team, Buffalo. It’s like they’ve been preparing for a Madness moment all season and for 3 years. This team is a sexy 12-seed upset pick and rightfully so.

#13 UNC GREENSBORO SPARTANS

UNC Greensboro came into this season seen as an upper enchelon mid-major team and proved it with their SoCon Conference championship after their NIT berth last year. All I’ve heard about these guys is their solid nationally ranked defense. Gonzaga’s is better.

#14 MONTANA GRIZZLIES

RS Jr G Ahmaad Rorie is the main scorer for the Grizzlies, but like the Vancouver Grizzlies of yesteryear, there isn’t much of a shot for these Montana Grizzlies. The Big Sky conference has historically been a bottom feeder conference. This year it’s in the middle of the pack with a kenpom.com ranking of 17^th best conference out of 32, but still.

#15 LIPSCOMB BISONS

Know nothing of these guys other than they beat dunk city in Florida Gulf Coast in the Atlantic Sun Conference tourney for the programs first ever March Madness berth. Congratulations, you play UNC who is their 456^th Madness.

#16 TEXAS SOUTHERN TIGERS

I must make a correction. I said that UMBC was the lowest ranked team in the nation at 189^th in kenpom.com. Nope, that distinction belongs to Texas Southern at 243^rd ranked. They are so far behind UMBC that I assumed nothing was behind UMBC’s ranking on the computer screen. Former Indiana Head Coach, Mike Davis is still at the helm at Texas Southern as he brings them back to the Dance for the 5^th straight season. They also had a murderers row of opponents in their non-conference going 0-13 to start the year ALL on the road at the likes of Gonzaga, Wazoo, Ohio State, Syracuse, Kansas, Clemson, Oakland, Oregon, Oregon, Baylor, TCU and BYU!!! Wow!!! 6 of those teams are in this years Madness. They have the #1 strength of schedule by far, but still won the lowest conference. Their experience playing on the road may help them possible cover the spread vs. Xavier, but that’s it. Could this be the resume of the first ever 16-seed beating a 1 seed??? Naahhhh. Could it????.....

SOUTH REGION BREAKDOWN

Tony Bennett, the best coach to NOT get to the Final 4, and he's sick of it!!!

#1 VIRGINIA CAVALIERS

They are the overall #1 seed in the Madness after being unranked in the pre-season Top 25. Tony Bennett can flat out coach and unfortunately has the tag as one of the best coaches to NOT get to the Final 4 yet. Can this year be the year? Well the Cavaliers defense is bar none the best in the country. They do so with the vaunted packline D that limits the number of possessions. Virginia is extremely efficient on both sides of the ball, but the main limitation is that low amount of possessions that limits opposing teams to scores also gives Virginia a lower margin for error for them to score. They deserve to be the outright #1 seed in this years tourney. They’ve been the only consistent team in Div 1 all season. Soph. Guard, Kyle Guy is the main scorer, he can jack treys, but Sr. Wing Donta Hall is the do-it-all best player on Virginia and the straw that stirs the Cavs drink.

#2 CINCINNATI BEARCATS

Coach Mick Cronin has built a sleeper power house at the ‘Nati. They are super deep with 6^th man Cane Broome being an All-Name Player as well as solid scoring guard. The forwards of Sr. Gary Clark, Jr. Jacob Evans and Sr. Kyle Washington are arguably the best frontcourt in the nation. Their D is suffocating and they really take advantage of transition with great passing indicative of their high assist totals compared to their opponents. The Bearcats are the sexy pick to go deep as well as win the whole thing this year. They are coming into the Madness as one of the hottest teams in the nation dominating a surprisingly good but top heavy American Athletic Conference. Yet their non-conference schedule was bare with losses to Xavier and Florida.

#3 TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS

A surprising team this year in the surprising SEC as the Volunteers were chosen to be 11^th to 13^th place in the 14 team conference, finishing tied for 1^st in the regular season and losing in the SEC tournament final vs. Kentucky. Tennessee has solid talent but like Kentucky and the other top SEC teams, their games are full of scoring streaks and scoring droughts. Credit to Rick Barnes to rebuilding this program, which is led by do it all Soph. F Grant Williams. He’s everywhere on the court!

#4 ARIZONA WILDCATS

They get this year’s J. Edgar Hoover Award for top team within the much ballyhooed FBI investigation. Sean Miller may be out by next year and this roster will all declare for the draft to avoid any consequences of the investigation, so you best believe Arizona will be going full “Eff You” mode and ball out sticking it to the NCAA by going deep into the Madness. The scoop on Arizona is that DeAndre Ayton is a man-child! He is the bonafide top choice to be the #1 pick overall in this springs NBA Draft. He has the body of a 7-1 greek god and can rebound over Godzilla and Charles Barkley, but he is raw and I doubt he can take over a game like his potential dictates due to the very weak and inconsistent back court with average PG in Sr. Parker Jackson-Cartwright and super talented but up and down Jr. SG, Allonzo Trier. Ayton gets most of his touches from missed shots rather than passing from the backcourt. 6-5 Soph Rawle Alkins will be giving us thunderous dunks, stay tuned for that in your Madness Weather Reports!

#5 KENTUCKY WILDCATS

Another McDonald All-American froshie class for All Snake-Oil Salesman Coach Calipari. But they’re young. They play average defense at best. They can’t shoot consistently. But they are still McD All-American talented. The scoop on Kentucky is this, during their SEC Conference Tourney win vs. Tennessee, Kentucky was up by 17 over Tennessee with 4:31 left in the 1^st half, and only 3 minutes into the 2^nd half they were down by 3 after giving up a 25-5 run to Tennessee. Kentucky still won the game. The 2017-18 Kentucky Wildcats ladies and gentlemen!

#6. MIAMI HURRICANES

They were chosen to be in a Top 1 or 2 team in the ACC and floundered. They are without NBA-prospect in Bruce Brown who has missed last 11 games due to a broken foot. He won’t play in the 1^st round but will dress. Even before his injury the Canes had a disappointing schedule. Last year’s leading scorer for Miami, Sr. Ja’Quan Newton has been a shadow of his former self with half the production across the board that he had last year. Can the Canes rebound in the Madness? Signs point to no. (Which means they likely make it to the Sweet 16! That’s the Madness folks!!!)

#7 NEVADA WOLFPACK

These guys have been a dark horse pick all season, however they hit quite the snag when they lost their PG in Jr. Lindsey Drew to a torn Achilles. That hurts a lot as the solid frontcourt with the Martin twins need the proper ball distribution that Drew gave them. Nevada packed their non-conference sked with great wins on the road, but hasn’t really faced tough competition in the average Mountain West Conference.

#8 CREIGHTON BLUE JAYS

This is a great match up in that Creighton plays #9 Kansas State, which is the former school of 20.3 ppg leading scorer Marcus Foster. Revenge game fo’ sho’!!!! Creighton is a typical 8/9 seeded team that has grinded all year in the upper enchelon of the the top Big East conference. The won and lost games they were supposed to, but they had a recent OT win vs. Villanova that locked their at-large bid.

#9 KANSAS STATE WILDCATS

Coach Bruce Weber was on the coaching hot seat last year but has now had a second straight solid season that has taken him off the hot seat. K-State also grinded in the top ranked Big 12 conference. Soph. Wing Xavier Snead is silky smooth and athletic. Watch out for him!

#10 TEXAS LONGHORNS

Some say they shouldn’t have gotten in, but I can see them getting the at-large bid, as was mentioned with K-State in that the Big 12 conference was by far the best conference in the nation with even last place Iowa State having a solid resume for an at-large bid. Texas lost G Andrew Jones to a leukemia diagnosis so best of luck to him and a huge loss for the Longhorns. Texas offers nutty match up for Nevada whim but his loss in the backcourt stings. With the return of super froshie Mo Bamba and his 7-7 wingspan from a minor injury, he will be giving the Navada front court fits! Oh and don’t forget the Shaka factor for Texas! Like Jim Day, Shaka’s gotta plan!!! Shaka’s gotta plan!!!

#11 LOYOLA-CHICAGO RAMBLERS

I don’t know any players on this team, but their nationally ranked defense is for real. In the MVC Tourney Final, their defense was absolutely suffocating!!! Plastic bag over the face suffocating!!! They are a very high trendy double digit upset pick over the disappointing Miami Hurricanes.

#12 DAVIDSON WILDCATS

Davidson returns many players from last year, which gives an immediate advantage over the super young, but super talented Kentucky Wildcats. Davidson has a solid frontcourt and Head Coach, Bob McKillop has been at Davidson for close to 30 years. He has some Steph Curry mojo in him. They are indeed a sexy 12th seed upset pick, but Insanity Report Degenerate Coordinator, D$ and I are hoping Kentucky holds serve….by 6 points at least.

#13 BUFFALO BULLS

Don’t sleep on these MAC Champions. They have some players remaining from the Madness run they made with Bobby Hurley 3 years ago. They are said to be a very up-tempo team that can give Arizona fits. This will be an entertaining game! Look out for Jr. PG CJ Massinburg, he’ll give Arizona’s Jackson Parker-Cartwright  hand full on both sides of the ball.

#14 WRIGHT STATE RAIDERS

The Horizon League champs are chalk full of transfers filling in for big contributing players that transferred to other bigger programs. I have no clue on these guys other than the Horizon League is a conference that has been ran sacked from other bigger conference taking their teams and what’s left is a Wright State league champion chalk full of transfers.

#15 GEORGIA STATE PANTHERS

Many people remember head coach Ron Hunter being swept off his walking boot scooter when his son RJ Hunter hit a great game winning shot vs. Baylor 3 years ago. RJ Hunter was an absolute stud. He’s not on this years Panthers squad. They’re in tough vs. The ‘Nati!

#16 UMBC RETRIEVERS

Credit to Head Coach Ryan Odom turning things around for UMBC making them a conference champion but UMBC is the lowest ranked team in the tournament on Kenpom.com by far….like by 23 spots under the next lowest team at #190. Hey Retrievers, go fetch this poop kicking you will get from Virginia!!!

Madness Lurks....On and Off The Court

It's here!

March Madness! What many people refer to as "Christmas in March"! Nah ahh, from now on it's just MARCH MADNESS and it's Christmas that will herein be referred to as "March Madness in December"!!!!

What a season of NCAA Basketball on and off the court. Alas, it can't go unmentioned with the off the court shenanigans of the NCAA. Here's the cole notes:

There was the North Carolina academic scandal where the UNC basketball team and pretty much the whole athletic department got off scott free as the UNC lawyers 'lawyered' the NCAA and the NCAA allowed UNC to 'lawyer' them. 

Then there's the FBI investigation where 4 NCAA assistant coaches were arrested for various violations involving fraud and bribery that also implicated representatives of shoe companies, agency, financial firms and AAU teams. What this exposed through the initial findings and charges was that there is an underground market where NCAA players are getting paid. This is another discussion that will be had throughout the tournament, but I will conclude this aspect of the discussion that upon recent reports of the findings of the FBI investigation that may take many more months, but likely years to come to trial, that one main suggestion of the FBI is that the findings may be too much for the NCAA and it's present system of rules. 

That is that there may be way too many violations that in order to get past this that the NCAA should just make what they say is illegal and make it legal. The FBI has said that although they are investigating federal crimes of bribery and fraud, that the other findings that may be NCAA violations are not crimes. 

There are many perceptions of the NCAA that are now becoming a reality that can now go beyond being water cooler discussions. The reality is that this perceived reality is what the NCAA has managed for decades. 

The first reality for the NCAA is that not only is 'amateurism' dead, is that this may very well prove that 'amateurism' never existed. Another misconception is that NCAA players don't get paid. Although there may not be any paychecks doled out to any top tier recruit, there are some that are indeed getting PAID! This FBI investigation is showing that there is a market for the services of NCAA Div 1 male basketball players. 

This market being exposed exposes the #1 perception of the NCAA: that the NCAA is making billions of dollars while the players that are the reason for this revenue get paid nothing. Well there is the full-ride scholarships that a Div 1 athlete can receive. That is alot to offer a student, but it is still pennies to the dollar that is the billion dollar revenue stream of the NCAA. Now there is this underground market of payments to top recruits that is being exposed. Although this may be alot of money, it is still pennies to the dollars that the NCAA makes in TV deals, corporate sponsorship etc. 

Again, much more of this will be discussed in more detail, but the conclusion of this initial take is that the most underrated perception of the NCAA is that of the corporate perception on the NCAA and the corporate structure of the NCAA. That is like the financial bailouts in the US back in 2008 showed, is the the NCAA perceives that like may other top corporations that it is too big to fail. 

They are correct in one aspect of that corporate notion. That throughout the many controversies off the court, we are just days away from the Madness.....days away from the absolute best sporting event known to human kind.....days away from the most hyped event in all of sports that delivers on the hype year in and year out!!!!

March Madness captivates the sporting landscape in North America and this entity, yes, is too big to fail!! 

It's too crazy due to the insane upsets....due to the mere fact that a tiny school in the 'have-not' category such as a South Dakota State or New Mexico State has the OPPORTUNITY to beat a powerhouse like a Kentucky, Duke, UNC or Kansas team.....the "have's". The complete spectrum of the underdog and favorite is spanned every March Madness!

Yes, it is too big to fail, and the biggest fear of the the crack Insanity Report Staff on the 33rd Floor in conference room B of the Insanity Towers is that the NCAA will hang its corporate hat on the corporate notion that business can be run as usual through any formal charge from any formal authority as it garners itself too big to fail. 

The results of this federal investigation may show too much. NCAA, get with the times here! There are so many opportunities to face the music of the reality of college sports to not only thrive but surpass future revenues....in partnership with your product, that is the players. 

Again, this fear will be discussed in more detail, but how bout some Madness folks!?!?!

Stay tuned for the bracket breakdowns but lets look at the variables needed for success in the Madness:

1. Guard play: even since the days of the original Commish days of Kevin Outhet and before his reign, guard play is NEEDED to go deep into the Madness. Albeit traditional point guard play or the new style of slashing scoring guard, a team needs a top notch backcourt to hit San Antonio this year.

2. Veterans: the one and done lottery picks stack many rosters, but the veteran play of North Carolina and Gonzaga carried them through their bracket gauntlets last year to the final. There are years like the 2012 Unibrow Kentucky Wildcats that a freshmen class can win it all, but this year is not a year for that. (ohhhh that is a challenge at ya Duke!) Veteran presence is a must. 

3. Big Shots made: does your team have the marbles to WANT to take the big shots! Like Kris Jenkins did for Villanova in 2016 or Tyus Jones of Duke back in 2015 and even Marcus Paige did for UNC in their 2016 loss to Villanova, the winning team will need a big shot made in one of their 6 wins.

4. Consistency: this is desired, but not needed because zero teams this year displayed consistency!!! So roll that dice and make your picks!

OK folks, there are some house cleaning details such as the 3rd Annual Pete Vieweg Money Division as well as the proposed 1st Annual Duchess Park Baller Division!!! Stay tuned!

Enjoy these last 48 hours of quote-unquote productive work, as come this Thursday, North America productivity will be at a stand still.

The Thursday and Friday of the first round of March Madness must be a stat holiday!! 

Who's with me?!?!?!

Yours in Madness,
Commissioner Adolph 

Madness in the Truest Sense

The right team won on Monday....even with obvious incompetent reffing (Photo credit: fansided.com)

It’s 2 days after the conclusion of another insane wild roller coaster March Madness, and these 2 days were needed to digest the North Carolina v. Gonzaga final.

The game had 2 great elite teams, in what normally would be considered a blue blood program in North Carolina playing the ultimate mid-major Cinderella team in Gonzaga. I’ll stop you right there and declare Gonzaga a national powerhouse program.

Anyhoo, the game had pure Madness. There were 2 ‘national powerhouse’ teams that struggled and grinded the whole game despite performances that weren’t top performances.

Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski struggled mightily missing many 2-footers from the post. UNC’s Jr. PG Joel Berry was jacking erratic treys. The Zags All-American PG Nigel Williams-Boss was missing many drives through the lane.

Joel Berry came into the game with 2 sprained ankles, while Nigel Williams-Goss had to deal with the last few minutes hobbling on a sprained ankle that caused an obvious limp, but there was zero ways he was going to come out of the game.

Both teams had runs on offense to take slight leads and also stuffed the other team to struggle offensively due to suffocating defending.

But what the game also had was referee madness! All subsequent reports as well as conversations with Insanity Report participants was that the game “HAD NO FLOW”!  This was all due to the incompetent reffing that went on the entire game, but especially in the 2^nd half.

Before I go any further, I will go on record saying that no bad ref or bad ref call has ever won or lost a game for any team. This may seem like a bold statement to many as one may think back to many controversial calls in games past But as crucial a call may be late in the game doesn’t negate the hundreds of decisions both teams make during the game that affect their outcome more than one or two controversial calls. Moreover, despite a controversial call that may very well be a wrong call, the supposed victimizing team still has a chance to make a stop or a hoop, whatever is needed to negate that call. The control is always with both teams.

BUT…….

The refs made horrible call after horrible call led by the fouls on Gonzaga’s freshman big man, Zach Collins that allowed him to play only 14 minutes and be fouled out late in the game. Collins was by far the most productive player for the Bulldogs on Monday night. Three of his five fouls were absolute phantom calls led by his apparent offensive foul in the 2^nd half when he was trying to post up in the paint. The replay showed absolutely zero grounds for a foul, and the ref might as well have voiced to the scorers’ table, “Fouls on #32 blue for posting up!”

I have no idea what that foul was for. So the refs affected Gonzaga’s best player to play limited minutes and miss the crucial final minutes of this barn burner of a national championship.

There was viral photo on social media showing a jump ball where UNC regained possession where UNC Kennedy Meeks’ hand was out of bounds as he was also touching the ball. But later, Gonzaga shot an apparent air ball out of bounds, where the ball was awarded back to Gonzaga as the refs said the ball was partially blocked by UNC. Replay showed that the UNC player didn’t touch the ball.

The horrible reffing went both ways. This can be refer to the common adage that at least the refs sucked both ways.

But their obvious incompetency affected the FLOW of the game as both teams were playing defense on egg shells. They couldn’t afford to foul so they played rarely played zone defenses to try to avoid foul calls.

Once again, the right team won though. UNC made shots such as Isaiah Hicks absolute clutch And-1 in the last minute, and UNC stopped Gonzaga on crucial plays led by Nigel Williams-Goss blocked shot to try to tie the game in the last 30 seconds.

So whats the big deal?

The big deal is that the refs horrible and absolutely incompetent calls led to the absolute anxiety for both Gonzaga and UNC fans. I feel robbed of madness from this officiating incompetency. Of what could have been from both teams if there wasn’t the unnecessary foul trouble on Collins and Meeks.

Both teams struggled mightily from the shear magnitude of a National Championship game, and yet both grinded until the bitter end with Joel Berry’s 21 points on 19 shots and Karnowski’s clutch free throws late in the game and Williams-Goss’ late hoops in the last 2 minutes.

There were many clutch performances and the game as a whole was as exciting as it could be despite the lack of flow. The right team won.

BUT…

This shouldn’t exonerate the refs their own horrible performance.

But this is the Madness. It’s a Madness where the human element is celebrated of the players and coaches where season long journeys and 4-year journeys are culminated into great March Madness moments due to the intangibles gained from said journeys.

These human elements include buzzer beaters, great comebacks, great choke jobs of all that involved and this includes the referees.

So we got what we always want out of March Madness.

We got a roller coaster 3 weeks of great basketball, and it may be painful to some to admit, this roller coaster does….involve….the refs.

We got our Madness. We got our Insanity. Our straight jackets were torn once again.

All that is left is sadness that it’s over and the immediate anticipation of Midnight Madness in November!

Here’s to the greatest time of the year! Congratulations UNC. Congrats Zags and congrats to all graduating players!

Yours in Madness,

Commissioner Adolph