Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo raised plenty of eyebrows across the country on Wednesday when he suggested that the NCAA should seriously look into whether mid- and low-major conferences should continue to receive automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Only one night later, the annual argument against that notion happened once again as the 14th-seeded Oakland Golden Grizzlies, the pride of Rochester, Mich., and the 2024 Horizon League champions, stunned one of college basketball’s all-time blue-blood programs, the third-seeded Kentucky Wildcats, 80-76.
It was the second time in the past three years that Kentucky was shocked by a mid-major school to start the NCAA Tournament (losing as a two-seed in overtime to 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s in the 2022 NCAA tournament). Prior to those two defeats, the Wildcats had won their first game in the NCAA tournament 21 consecutive times as a No. 3 seed or better.
Out of all of the notable moments in the 2022 NCAA tournament, what was the single dream-like memory that captivated the country? It was Saint Peter’s improbable and magical run (after beating Kentucky) and going all the way to the Elite Eight.
And while most of the nation yawned through Izzo’s team getting an impressive 18-point win as a nine-seed over eighth-seeded Mississippi State in the West Region on Thursday afternoon, in a meeting between two power-conference, at-large invitees — the types of tournament entries Izzo would like to see more of at the expense of low- and mid-major auto-qualifiers in the future — it wasn’t until hours later, when Oakland, led by sharpshooting senior guard Jack Gohlke, that this year’s NCAA Tournament truly felt like it got going and that America’s imagination was captured like it is every year when a team like Saint Peter’s or Oakland pulls off the unimaginable.
Certainly, those moments are far more enjoyable and memorable for most college basketball fans than the NCAA Tournament committee taking another power conference team that — contrary to what Izzo may believe — doesn’t belong in the field, like 10th-seeded Virginia receiving an undeserved at-large bid out of the ACC only to score 14 first-half points and lose by 25 points to Colorado State out of the Mountain West in the First Four on Tuesday night.
Even if Izzo would argue that mid-majors being part of the NCAA Tournament is fine as long as those teams receive deserved at-large bids only, what Oakland did was still far more…
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