If it were set to music, the NCAA men's basketball tournament would be a threepiece movement. Each piece has its own unique characteristics, yet is defined by the relationships it has to the others.
From the first and second-round games to the Regionals to the Final Four, every game is a new note that adds to the melody of the Tournament as a whole.
Yet, how do these pieces fit together if they are so different? Here are a list of characteristics that define each round and then how the rounds cross over each other.
These first two rounds, the paring down of 65 teams to 16, are the rounds for the blackshirts. By this, I mean these two rounds are where upsets are most likely to occur as the lower seed in a game, most likely a small-conference school, is always given the road jersey, while the higher seed, generally a large university, plays with home uniforms.
In this year's tourney, a No. 13 seed upset a No. 4 seed, three No. 12 seeds advanced and a No. 11 seed played into the second round. The trend continued in the second round as a No. 12 (Missouri), a No. 11 (Southern Illinois) and a No. 10 (Kent State) won.
Historically, when upsets occur, it happens during these rounds. Remember Hampton defeating Iowa State last year? Upsets are this weekend's defining characteristic.
While upsets are the norm in the early rounds, the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds are for the bigger schools to establish themselves. By now, everyone is used to the pressure and for smaller schools, the pressure is now compounded by playing the nation's elite teams.
This year, nine of the 12 games played were won by teams that wore light jerseys. Only Kent State, Indiana and Missouri were lower-seeds. Of teams that survived both rounds, only LSU in 1986 (No. 11 seed) was a double-digit seed.
By now, the smaller conferences have been eliminated from the tournament and four teams, generally from the six major conferences 'Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big East, Big XII, Pac-10 and Southeastern'remain. The last three teams that were not from these conferences were-Utah in 1998, Massachusetts in 1996 and Cincinnati in 1992.
Yet lower seeds can still win a national championship, as No. 4 seed Arizona defeated three No. 1 seeds in 1997 to win it all. Villanova was a No. 8 seed in 1985 and managed to defeat then-defending champion Georgetown. While these are great stories, the rule for the Final Four is that a team must go there and lose prior to winning the national championship. Michigan State in 1999-'00 is a recent example.
What inexorably links these three seemingly separate rounds together is the one team that survives the tournament. That team avoids the early upset, survives heightening media pressure in the next two rounds and proves itself in the Final Four. The team that can accomplish those three things can be truly called a maestro of basketball.
That team this year is Maryland.
