All bracket considerations aside (I know that’s not exactly practical, but stay with me), certain teams in the NCAA tournament deserve your loyalty the next three weeks a bit more than others. Here are four teams we’re totally digging and four we can do without.
INTO THEM
Stephen F. Austin
The university’s nickname is the Lumberjacks, and its mascot wields a badass-looking ax. How many mascots can say that?
Oklahoma
Any chance you get to see Sooners guard Buddy Hield, who’s second in Division I with 25.0 points per game, is an opportunity you should not miss. The way he sinks clutch shots makes him the closest thing to Steph Curry in the tournament.
Wisconsin
As much as many Chicagoans despise Aaron Rodgers, it’s hard not to respect him for telling Twitter haters to stuff it when they criticized him for rooting on the Badgers throughout last year’s tournament. Girlfriend Olivia Munn abides no social media fools, either, and looks terrifyingly awesome as Psylocke in the “X-Men: Apocalypse” trailers. With any luck they’ll be following the Badgers again this year.
Fresno State
Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, a Fresno State product, picked his alma mater to go all the way to the final. It’d be great to see the 14th-seeded Bulldogs win just for having guts to announce this, especially since he’s got 15th-seeded Cal State Bakersfield in the final too.
OVER THEM
Duke
The Blue Devils’ model of consistency (21 straight NCAA tournaments) is to be admired. However, they just won their fifth title last year, so give someone else a turn. Plus, Grayson Allen tripping other players is something no fan should encourage in any way.
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Kentucky
Love us some Tyler Ulis, a Chicago-area native who’s only 5-foot-9 but can take over any game. On the other hand, you have Wildcats coach John Calipari, whose weird rant on ESPN on Sunday led to the coaches who followed him on the air talking about how weird it was. Nobody wins.
Virginia
Yeeeeahhhh, defense is great and all (the Cavaliers are No. 3 in the nation in points allowed). It’s just not exciting to watch, especially when Virginia keeps ruining brackets by losing to Michigan State (which could happen again this year). And sorry, Virginia, but Cavaliers is nickname-non-grata around these parts until LeBron James leaves Cleveland.
Kansas
According to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, Jayhawks coach Bill Self lists his favorite musician as Luther Vandross, who sings “One Shining Moment.” Which sounds like the lamest, most brown-nosing answer ever, even if the tournament-closing montage is a definite highlight.
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