We’re finally here. All the wins this season, all the practices since July, all the effort has led to this moment. Like it or not, a single elimination crapshoot of a tournament defines college basketball. You can go 34-0, have a bad game, and be done in 40 minutes. You can also barely sneak into the tournament, catch fire behind Kemba Walker, and win a damn national title.
As Juan pointed out in our groupchat last night, this has been a season of runner-ups. Purdue was second in the World University Games back in August. In the Big Ten regular season we finished second by the smallest of margins, as if one thing of about a dozen had gone differently we win at least a share of a second straight Big Ten title (for example: Northwestern completely imploding at home vs.