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NCAA Tournament

Yes, It's March Madness time. Yet, as with many sports today, the old yearly festival has surpassed its time period. The final is now in April, actually, and the first round doesn't start until the second week in March. Hardly living up to its' namesake.

Nonetheless, March Madness goes on, although with much heavier criticism than ever before. With the expansion to a 68-team field, the chances for bubble teams to make the tourney seemed higher, yet there were more snubs this year than in recent history.

First there are the Bufs. Yea, Buffaloes aren't stagnant all the time, they play good basketball on occasion. It seemed this year as if Colorado might finally produce a quality sports team, with wins over Kansas State and Texas. With many thanks to star sophomore guard Alec Burks, who delivered 20 pts. per game, things were looking up in Boulder......until yesterday. Ok fine, maybe the Bufs did have 13 losses, including losses to San Francisco and Baylor, but with 21 wins and a Big 12 tournament loss to Kansas in the semifinals, Alec Burks' Buffaloes definitely deserved some consideration. Yet, now, all they have to look forward to is a one seed in the NIT....Yay! I think it's safe to lay the tag of SNUBBED on the Bufs this year.

Although there were many other snubs, also, one truly stands out. The Hokies of Virginia Tech were snubbed from the tourney for what seems like the tenth consecutive time, leaving coach Seth Greenberg infuriated. The 21-11 Hokies, lead by Malcolm Delaney, also deserved consideration this year, after reaching the ACC semifinals, before losing to eventual champion Duke. But that was the only time they lost do Duke this season, defeating the then #1 Blue Devils in late February. And with wins over tournament participants Penn St. and Florida St. (2x), there is really no explanation for Tech's exclusion. Once again, we can say to the Hokies, SNUBBED.

But no matter how many teams were snubbed this season, let's be honest, none of them would've won the tournament. We all know Duke is going to win again, because, well, they are the best collegiate basketball team ever. (Go ahead, be angry). When other teams are getting high-school stars to play for one year and leave for the NBA Draft, the Blue Devils have been continuously successful at keeping kids in school. Thus, we have National Champions, hopefully two years running.

So, hate all you want, but neither the Bufs, nor the Hokies would've been National Champions, so just quit complaining.
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