March Madness in 2023 has been every bit as insane as we ever could have imagined. And if you had money riding on these games, I am confident that your wallet is a little bit lighter right now. Through the end of the first weekend it is clear that everything we thought we knew about college basketball is not true. Because when Purdue loses to FDU, a team that wasn’t even supposed to be invited to the tournament, with an average height of 6 foot 3, we just might be living in the twilight zone. But with 52 of 68 teams already eliminated it is now clear that fans have been lied to, and here is the truth about what is really happening in college basketball.

Lie #1 Small Schools cannot play with the big schools

Almost everyone assumed, with good reason that schools like FDU and Princeton had no chance to win their first round games. But they call it madness for a reason. And both schools literally took down the giants. Teams like Purdue and Arizona that historically get top 50 recruiting classes on any given year, lost games that mattered. And you can think of these upset games like David and Goliath if you want to, but if that’s true, remember David won that battle for a reason. David was an underdog to everyone else, but he actually believed he was going to win. He was smaller, but more agile, and used different weapons than Goliath to bring him down.

Princeton doesn’t get national television coverage. And they didn’t play Arizona’s game, or even Missouri’s game. They played their own game. And that was enough to win, decisively might I add. On any given day a lesser known D1 program is a threat to win, against anybody from any conference. Because they just play a different brand of basketball, with coaches who recruit players who fit that style. Even if top schools didn’t want to recruit those guys. 

Lie # 2 Top recruits can guarantee you success 

Ironically the blue bloods, Duke, Kansas, and Kentucky did not survive the first weekend of the tournament, and they all had top 5 recruiting classes. Because getting the best recruits in the nation doesn’t guarantee you success even close to how it used to. The days of John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe all playing for Kentucky are long gone. Because a decade ago, top recruits were basically locks as lottery picks who were playing in college. But college basketball now is a more level playing field than ever before. The top players in college now, aren’t as good as they once were, Overtime Elite and the G league ignite took care of that. And they still don’t even stay that long. Jayson Tatum was an NBA All star by his third year in the league, the same year he would have been a Senior at Duke. Imagine that guy suiting up for the tournament? But instead, we get guys who will likely being playing in the G League next year starting for the blue bloods, which makes it a lot easier on the little guys. 

Lie # 3 Players outside of D1 cannot play with those who are

Who are those little guys? A bunch of players who were overlooked for some reason. Which says way more about how coaches at big name schools recruit, than it does about their talent level. Because the transfer portal has shook up the game, where right now there are more non d1 players, inside of D1 than ever before. College of Charleston who barely lost their first round game started 3 players who spent most of their careers in NCAA Division 2, and the NAIA. Granted those players were stars at that level, but they shined just as brightly in march madness. And FDU did the same thing. Where 3 of their starters were division 2 transfers from the same team, who helped them beat the National Player of the Year and the #1 seed in Purdue.

The Bottom Line

March Madness is very real drama because we don’t know what is going to happen. But things get even more dramatic when the trailer, flat out doesn’t match the movie. Believe it or not college basketball has 358 division 1 teams. And almost any one of them on any given day can beat another. Arizona and Purdue will never forget it. And now the rest of us know it too.

KNOW THE GAME. WIN THE GAME.

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