Conference Champ Carnage Aside, the Big Dance Awaits

Back in July 1961, the Atlantic Coast Conference went ruthless.

And that's not even counting the spiteful Grosso controversy that led South Carolina to secede from the league.

The ACC had introduced an end-of season hoops tourney in 1954, but '61 is when it decided that the regular season was simply a four-month warm-up and seeding exercise for determining its recognized champion.

So whoever got hot over the course of four days earned the ACC's invitation to the NCAA's field of 25.

 

It really isn't, but who needs fair when you want every team to have a carrot dangling in front of them?

Among other things, it was great for ticket sales.

TV hadn't really become a thing yet, but when it did and the March Madness field kept expanding, other conferences decided to add a tourney, too.

 

All of which was well and fine for the big brands with big followings produing big revenues.

The odds of their regular season titlist blowing it in a conference tournament and denied an invitation to the Dance were still in their favor.

So when Gonzaga got frozen out by St Mary's, it was no big deal in the larger scheme of things. Same with their fellow top-ranked squad, Virginia:

 

Same went for LSU in the SEC:

 

Co-champs Texas Tech and Kansas State bit it in the Big XII.

Houston took a hard-fought fall in the AAC:

 

And Washington completed its stumbling to the finish line by getting bitch-slapped by the last team they want to get bitch-slapped by:

 

 

In essence, yes.

However, for the other regular season winners that gave it the ol' college try since last November, running outta gas at the end was fatal. So say aloha to these fine teams ...

• Atlantic 10 … VCU
• Big South … Radford
• Colonial … Hofstra
• MEAC … Norfolk State
• Missouri Valley … Drake
• Northeast … St Francis (Pa)
• Southland … Sam Houston State
• Summit … South Dakota State

 

In that case, it definitely wasn't anyone from the NCAA head office. It was probably UNC-Greensboro.

Anyway, that unfortunate crew will now say aloha to the NIT.

Meanwhile, here's the March Madness bracket:

 

What's a mad month of hoops without an additional bracket contest?

Just know this one's for players:

It resets after each round, so there are lotsa shots at winning.

Rock it.