March Madness Takes a Hit

This just in, they ruined March Madness. Who’s ‘they?’ If you know me or have been reading the blog, you may jump to logical and valid conclusions such as: “they hired Mike Patrick to do all 67 games,” or “they implemented a double BYE system,” or “Memphis and BC each got a 10 seed, let alone admittance to the tournament,” or “they fired Gus Johnson.” Like I said, all would ruin March Madness, but none have happened. In this case, the culprit was a new foe.

It was the fucking mormons.

What did they do? On Tuesday, F Brandon Davies was suspended from the team for “breaking the honor code.” No one knew what this meant. I immediately and unfairly blamed Davies. I knew that BYU probably had some bullshit rules in place, like no drinking, a curfew, no red meat consumption, or whatever else, but, I thought, whatever it was, was something that Davies should have avoided. Even if the rule was something unreasonable like “no drinking,” he shouldn’t have gone to a party. Like I said, I thought this was reasonable. I wondered what it was. What could get someone kicked off a top three team? Bruce Pearl cheats a couple times a month, and he gets suspended eight games. Calhoun did whatever the hell he does and got suspended for three. What the fuck happened?

Davies was suspended for having sex. Let me correct that, consensual sex. Let me correct that. Consensual sex with his girlfriend.

Come on man.

My head is spinning from this news. I realize that all those other culprits and penalties are usually levied by the NCAA, and this is BYU’s punishment. But still…… we hear weekly of all the things athletes do, and they suffer no consequences. DUIs, bribes, stolen laptops, the Coach’s nanny taking their midterms and finals, and they all get slaps on the wrist. Celebrating your teams best season ever by having sex with your girlfriend? Get the fuck out of Provo!

Even before news broke of what Davies actually did, several ‘experts’ came out to discuss the impact of Davies’ absence. Believe me, the irony is not lost on me. Last week, these same pundits would have been hard pressed to name anybody on BYU not named Fredette. Now, they had every single analysis possible. Andy Katz said one of the dumbest things I ever heard anywhere, not just in the world of sports: “losing Brandon Davies shouldn’t affect BYU’s chances at getting a one seed, unless they lose a few games down the stretch due to his absence.” Translation: “if BYU wins all their games, they’ll get a 1 seed, if they don’t, they wont, and I don’t know which will occur.” Great fucking analysis. Neil Everett all of a sudden is keen to the fact that Fredette “loved to find Davies in the paint.” Jay Williams rated this loss a “10 on the panic meter,” then proceeded to read clichés off of a cue card for forty-five seconds. Another expert (I don’t remember who and don’t feel like looking it up) did one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in print, and compared losing Davies to Loyola Marymount ‘losing’ Hank Gathers in 1990. He mentioned that BYU shouldn’t drop too far, because the selection committee learned their lesson when they dropped LMU to an 11 seed in 1990. A) this isn’t even close to the same thing, and b) the selection committee doesn’t know, or learn, shit.

You may be wondering why I am so upset about this. You’re probably saying, “H, you had a 75-1 bet on BYU winning the national title, right?” Well, yes, I’m not going to argue that. It would have been great to root for a team that I picked to win it all back in November – a team not named Duke or Kansas, and of course, a team that would payout extremely high odds. This wasn’t the only reason though. You, the reader, should be equally upset about the mistreatment you are receiving.

BYU became a fun team to watch. They play an up-tempo game, score a lot of points, shoot the ball well, have Fredette, play good defense, have senior leadership, the whole lot. They were shaping up to be a nice underdog that isn’t an underdog (similar to Boise State in college football). The accomplishment BYU would have achieved by becoming a #1 seed is something that shouldn’t have been overlooked. Since 2000, only three non-BCS teams have been a #1 seed. Cincinnati in 2002 (when they were in C-USA), St. Joes in 2004, and Memphis in 2008. That’s 3 out of 40. The highest a Mountain West team was ranked in the same time span was New Mexico, as a #3 last year. No Mountain West team advanced past the Sweet 16 in the same time span. Clearly BYU could have broken all those trends.

Am I overreacting? As Luke Winn, writer for SI.com tweeted earlier, BYU was 1-4 in their last five games against New Mexico, and of course now 1-5. However, since 2007, BYU had lost only 3 home games (two to New Mexico). You can now make it 4 and 3. They still figure to go into the tournament with the best record they’ve ever had. But, they never had a player suspended this late in the season before. They never reached #3 and then had someone suspended for having sex. When I see Fredette at the press conference following the game, and he has his head hung low, and is talking about how much it hurts to lose Davies, who “was like a brother”, then it hurts. Compare this to North Carolina’s Larry Drew, who quit midseason, only to have UNC play better and better every game. Why? Cause Drew was a selfish asshole that no one liked. Exact opposite for Davies. They are in jeopardy of losing early in the MWC tournament – theyre going to play New Mexico or Colorado State in the second round; the latter has played BYU tough twice, and will be desperate for a win). Even if they do advance, they have to play SDSU, or UNLV on their home floor. Surely, BYU can right the ship, but they obviously need to do it quickly. This weekend against Wyoming would be a start. Still, it just all seems so deflating.

BYU had a chance at a one seed. They had it all going for them. They had player of the year. They had the media’s blessing. They had the underdog/favorite thing going. They had a legitimate shot for bringing the small conference notoriety to the big stage. And in the words of Henry Hill: “and now, its all gone.”

Cue Joe Pesci coming on screen and firing a gun at me.