Dos Santos: Can your bracket hack it?
Hugo dos Santos, sports columnist
Issue date: 3/21/07 Section: Sports
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One aspect in which college basketball is lacking to the pros is that only in the NBA do we find playoff beards.
They're no longer as prominent as they once were, but there was a time when it seemed as if every team grew one during the playoffs. The beard symbolized the team's unity.
It also made it more difficult for groupie's to identify the baby daddy.
But the playoff beard is now mostly gone and that saddens me. I mean, doesn't it feel like there's more at stake when you're watching a playoff game and the entire team is donning a sordid, unkempt beard? If you ask me, it lends urgency to the game.
The reason why it's not found in the college game, as most of you know, is that it's much more difficult for younger men to grow one. Most would be patchy, and by the time they were fully grown the four-week long NCAA tournament would be long finished.
However, if we could disregard this fact, the college post-season is better than the pros in every other regard.
For one, while the playoff beard only adds the notion of urgency to seven game series that seem like they'll never end, the NCAA tournament does not need to add that notion since the tournament is one and done.
Every year, the winning team wins its last six games in a row. Everyone else gets sent home at one point or another. Period. That's all the urgency necessary - quite simply, win or go home.
With that in mind, I've taken a look at this year's brackets and at the teams that have what it takes to make it deep into the tournament.
Ohio State is an obvious pick. They have the best freshman class in the country, anchored by center Greg Oden. However, that strength is also its weakness. Ohio State is very young and does not match up with other teams' experience. So while it has all the physical tools, talent and athleticism, the question remains: how far can Greg Oden carry Ohio State? If he takes them all the way, he may very well validate the Bill Russell comparisons.
They're no longer as prominent as they once were, but there was a time when it seemed as if every team grew one during the playoffs. The beard symbolized the team's unity.
It also made it more difficult for groupie's to identify the baby daddy.
But the playoff beard is now mostly gone and that saddens me. I mean, doesn't it feel like there's more at stake when you're watching a playoff game and the entire team is donning a sordid, unkempt beard? If you ask me, it lends urgency to the game.
The reason why it's not found in the college game, as most of you know, is that it's much more difficult for younger men to grow one. Most would be patchy, and by the time they were fully grown the four-week long NCAA tournament would be long finished.
However, if we could disregard this fact, the college post-season is better than the pros in every other regard.
For one, while the playoff beard only adds the notion of urgency to seven game series that seem like they'll never end, the NCAA tournament does not need to add that notion since the tournament is one and done.
Every year, the winning team wins its last six games in a row. Everyone else gets sent home at one point or another. Period. That's all the urgency necessary - quite simply, win or go home.
With that in mind, I've taken a look at this year's brackets and at the teams that have what it takes to make it deep into the tournament.
Ohio State is an obvious pick. They have the best freshman class in the country, anchored by center Greg Oden. However, that strength is also its weakness. Ohio State is very young and does not match up with other teams' experience. So while it has all the physical tools, talent and athleticism, the question remains: how far can Greg Oden carry Ohio State? If he takes them all the way, he may very well validate the Bill Russell comparisons.
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