Canzano: Let the madness begin
A few things amid the start of the tournaments.
A few quick things on the official opening day of March Madness:
• REDEMPTION FOR RITCHIE: If you missed my column earlier this week on Liberty University men’s basketball head coach Ritchie McKay, give it a look. McKay’s team — a No. 12 seed in the men’s bracket — plays No. 5 Oregon in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Seattle.
McKay was celebrated as the head coach at Portland State at the age of 29. Lots of people at PSU still think fondly of him. But there were some bad feelings left in the wake of McKay’s second job (Oregon State). He left Corvallis after posting back-to-back ninth-place finishes in the Pac-10.
McKay, now 59, appears to have had some personal growth since then. He talked candidly about how self-centered and misguided he was as a young coach.
“I was a little young, and had too much ego,” McKay told me.
After posting the column, I received several notes from readers who had negative interactions with McKay during his two-year stint in Corvallis. One of them came from a long-time coach who had a brush with McKay at Oregon State, and later, at Virginia, where McKay was working as an assistant.
Wrote the coach: “Your article about Ritchie was so spot on. Worked at the OSU camp when he was there. Maybe the biggest prick I’ve been around. Fast forward to 2013 or so, I went back to Virginia one summer to watch them practice before they headed to Europe and he was super humble and gracious. Good to see people can reflect and change.”
• ANNUAL BRACKET MADNESS CONTEST: My annual men’s and women’s NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge is officially open. Join my special men’s NCAA Tournament Group and/or my women’s NCAA Tournament Group. Fill out your best NCAA Tournament bracket and see if you can beat me.
The rules:
No entry fee.
One bracket per person in each group.
All are welcome to play.
Prizes to the top three finishers.
• UPSETS HAPPEN IN MARCH: I wouldn’t be shocked to see No. 12 UC San Diego (vs. Michigan) and No. 13 Yale (vs. Texas A&M) win and meet each other in a second-round NCAA Tournament game. Both teams are capable of upsets.
• SPEAKING OF UPSETS: Oregon State is the No. 14 seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament. The Beavers play at No. 3 North Carolina on Saturday. It’s a tough place to play, but Tar Heels can’t be thrilled about opening the tournament against a Final Four coach who has size in the front court and a great guard (AJ Marotte). OSU ripped through the WCC tournament with that combination.
• DUCKS BACK IN THE DANCE: Kelly Graves and the Oregon women — a No. 10 seed — play No. 7 Vanderbilt on Friday. The fate of the Ducks is in the hands of Deja Kelly and Peyton Scott. It’s March, folks. Time for star players to do big things.
Shea Ralph, Vandy’s coach, said: “They’ve had a good year, their coach is great, and they’ve got talented players.”
• WHERE ARE THE CONTENDERS IN THE WEST?: I’m also wondering about the Pacific Time Zone and the men’s bracket. Teams such as (4) Arizona, (5) Oregon, (7) UCLA, (7) Saint Mary’s, and (8) Gonzaga are all capable of winning a game or maybe two in the men’s tournament. But is there an Elite Eight team among them? Keep an eye on that. I think geography and the lack of great basketball teams in the West will be a storyline as the tournament unfolds.
• ON THE ROAD AGAIN: I’ll be in Seattle with the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team on Friday night. I’m eager to see Oregon vs. Arizona in their potential second-round NCAA Tournament matchup on Sunday.
Part Two of my new-world Pac-12 tour continues next week with an early week stop in Spokane and a visit to Gonzaga University. Drop me a note if you have a suggestion for my trip to campus. Part One of the Pac-12 tour took me to Boise State, where the Broncos are making no small plans.
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• WHAT DO WE DO WITH DUKE?: Stanford radio analyst John Platz provided my radio show listeners with a terrific scouting report on the top ACC teams, with a special emphasis on Duke. The podcast is worth your time if you’re a junkie looking for insight into the tournament.
Platt on Duke’s Cooper Flag: “He’s like Larry Bird, except he’s more physical, he’s quicker. He’s probably the second-best defensive player in the ACC and arguably the first-best. He’s lanky and wants to play defense. He shoots threes, he runs the floor like a gazelle.”
His comments made me wonder why the Trail Blazers didn’t do a better job of tanking this season. Flagg is the consensus No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft.
• PAC-12 EXPANSION TALK: I took a deep dive into the Pac-12’s next expansion bite on Wednesday. I’m not closing the door on UNLV as a candidate. The Runnin’ Rebels make sense from a geographic standpoint. But I’m told the Pac-12 is weighing several factors. Among them are media market size, brand, geography, and the institution’s will to invest in athletics.
• BEFORE THE MADNESS: A new episode of “Canzano & Wilner” is out on YouTube. Jon Wilner and I explored the deep corners of the March Madness bracket and the Pac-12’s ongoing media rights negotiations. Also, we discussed whether there are too many postseason basketball tournaments.
“I was a little young, and had too much ego,” - been there, Coach
Go Zags!