So there's only been four days of NCAA tournament action, and your bracket is already toast. Why bother watching the rest of the Big Dance? Here are five reasons why you shouldn't stray from your television set over the next two weekends.
5. Missing pieces
Before the season commenced, Big Ten powers Michigan State and Purdue were both tabbed as potential Final Four candidates thanks to the return of two preseason All-Americans in Kalin Lucas (left) and Robbie Hummel (right). But with Hummel tearing his ACL in late February and Lucas rupturing his Achilles' tendon in the Spartans' second-round win over Maryland last weekend, it will be interesting to see how both Sweet 16 clubs fare without their stars going forward. Purdue will have the difficult task of going up against No. 1 seed Duke, while Michigan State gets a crack at Cinderella story Northern Iowa for a spot in the Elite Eight.
4. How far will Duke go?
America's most loveable and hateable team -- depending on what side you're on -- is back in the Sweet 16 for a second straight year, but it's been six seasons since Coach K and the boys from Durham have reached the Final Four. The last time the Blue Devils advanced that far, it was Connecticut stunning Duke in the national semifinals before going on to win the title over Georgia Tech. Now, with an experienced group of juniors and seniors in a rather weak South region, the Dukies have as good of a chance as any team remaining in the field to reach Indy.
3. The nation's best
The tournament's top overall seed may no longer be in the field, but the two best players in the country are. And that should be enough reason to watch over the next two weeks. With top-seeded Kentucky and No. 2 seed Ohio State both advancing past the first weekend, the possibility of seeing John Wall (left) and National Player of the Year favorite Evan Turner (right) matched up against each other in the national championship game on April 5 could be almost too good to be true.
2. The Cinderella story
The last time a double-digit seed made it to the final weekend of the season, Jim Larranaga and George Mason were knocking off national powers Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut to reach Indianapolis. That's the same site as this year's Final Four, and it's certainly possible that we could be seeing another Cinderella earn a trip to the Circle City by the end of this week. With three double-digit seeds and ninth-seeded Northern Iowa in the Sweet 16, this NCAA tournament is as good as any for more madness to transpire.
Because what else is there to watch?
OK, so it's almost April. The NFL Draft is a month away, the horseracing season and NBA Playoffs are around the corner and the Major League Baseball season starts in a week. But there's no better sporting event in the country than the Big Dance, and the first weekend proved that with a series of upsets in a matter of four days. So with only two more weeks of the college basketball season left, you don't want to be that person who missed out on all the NCAA tournament excitement before turning your attention to whom the St. Louis Rams might be taking at No. 1 on draft day.
