Thursday, March 20, 2014

Potential Cinderella: Coastal Carolina


March Madness has arrived, and millions of people filled out their brackets. Of course choosing winners represents an American rite of passage. Office pools usually are the focus offering chances at cash and most importantly bragging rights. Challenging yourself could also bring fun.

Well you most likely know by now how finical mogul/philanthropist Warren Buffett teamed with Quicken Loans to form an inaugural “Billion Dollar Challenge”. All that separates someone from either a lump-sum payment of $500million or 40 offerings of $25million is predicting every game. Sounds easy enough right, but as many mathematicians state your odds stand around 1 in 1quintillian. Chances of cashing in on the Mega Millions or Powerball Jackpots are much better.
One way to at least standout though; chose a major upset.

No top seed has fallen in the first (well, now second round) of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. I want to inform you that each of my three brackets includes 16th Seed Coastal Carolina making history by defeating Virginia Friday night. That would probably sound crazy to many. It definitely doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that this is my Alma matter, right? It does play a slight role in my thinking of course. However, CCU possesses an offensively- gifted Big Three in Elijah Wilson, Josh Cameron, and Warren Gillis.


 Each player averages over 14 points per game. On defense the Chants aggressively attack rebounds while playing at a deliberate pace. While no one would argue that UVA’s ACC Conference trumps Big South competition, the Cavaliers also surprised this season. They are a solid team with no superstar. Though ranking sixth in RPI, UVA could fall if CCU hangs around late.
Sadly two of my brackets have Memphis ending any run in the next round, but Coach Cliff Ellis’ team would probably welcome such an outcome.

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