SWEET SICK-TEEN

Well the first round is in the books and the upsets are more common as most of us have come to know but the questionable action of coaches takes more of the center stage in this three ring circus. I did consult with my coach friends and still hold to the beliefs that playing not to lose is the kiss of death.

I won't even bother with the Northern Iowa Texas A&M game because it would cause me more nausea than the game I found to be the epitome of playing not to lose versus playing to win. To me it is the equivalent of football teams going into the prevent defense which usually prevents teams from winning as well.

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I can never understand why, when you're in a rhythm and you have the other team on their heels, you feel the need to change? SFA had Notre Dame on their heels and confused as to how this small unranked school could challenge them repeatedly and have the game in hand. They simply played ball; their kind of ball. And then for some I'm going to outsmart myself reason the coach puts them in the dreaded eat up the clock aka stall ball offense and they don't score again. Notre Dame gets off the mat as if this is a WWF event and wins at the buzzer.

As a sports fan you wonder why coaches and their egos don't simply realize, if something is working don't stop. If it's not working change. It really is that simple because it's a game and while I know the other coach is thinking the same thing, apparently it hasn't prevented you from having success.

Having bypassed filling out a bracket this year saved me so much frustration that I'm actually enjoying the games minus these kind of coaching brain farts. But if you're a fan of coaches you can celebrate the fact that the SFA coach got hired by a major college program, Oklahoma State shortly thereafter. Seems to say we believe you can improve our program and hopefully you learned to play to win next time.

Oh well the ACC has spoken and we'll see how they do this coming weekend versus the rest of the Sweet 16. It's always a great tournament when unexpected teams advance and sans the Coach K 4 seed gift Duke received I've enjoyed the tournament for the most part.

I hope your bracket still has a pulse; by now mine would have been on life support at best but then again those who claim to know always have the worst brackets if they're telling the truth. Hard to believe a pundit who has 20 brackets saying he predicted the majority of the games correctly. I predict you're delusional. That's the way I see it sitting in The Box Seat. I'm Wayne Box Miller

I'M NOT MAD

This will be the first year in forever I haven't filled out a bracket for March Madness and it feels good to know I have no horse in the race and neither do you. This will be one of the most wide open tournaments we'll see in a long time because parity and lack of "jersey fear" from years past.

While Kansas who consistently disappoints and North Carolina whose coach promotes tradition over strategy are the favorites, so many other teams have the formula to cut the nets at the end. From the second seeds to the 12th seeds don't be shocked if they advance. You can certainly be surprised but know that when Michigan and Vanderbilt from power conferences are playing in the "Play-in game" you can see how wide open things are.

I hope Xavier makes a deep run; not because I'm from Cincinnati but because it's good for all mid-majors to know they can assemble a cast of champions without a one and done player. Several other teams fit that category as well so seeing them advance like George Mason did a few years ago actually makes the tournament even more memorable.

The game has changed and the players have different ideas on what college means to them. I don't blame them because too much money is made off March Madness, conference tournaments and TV to know you get none of it. Please don't lecture me about the scholarship because the computer science major is on scholarship too and can work and make money without penalty.

I will also enjoy watching a no name player elevate his stock and a senior with decent numbers show he's a prime time player; all the while having scouts and pro teams search for unfound data to justify their performances and come up empty. All it takes is one helluva' tournament run and you become a possibility for the next level. I'm okay with that as I share exhibit A, Steph Curry. It can happen, has happen and will happen again so just enjoy.

If you have a bracket and it ends up in the trash can after the first weekend you'll more than likely be in the majority. There will be surprises and if you want to call them upsets you can, but rest assured some teams will be back on campus sooner than they imagined wondering aloud what happened.

Let me save you the trouble of searching for answers; what happened is college basketball is parity at its best. It's senior guards agains one and dones. It's big name coaches matching wits against coaches with nothing to lose. And it's the name on the front of the jersey playing against those who were happy to have one.

A hot hand, a bad game; foul trouble or a short bench can decimate the dreams of the contenders. Reality and fear and wipe out the dreams of the pretenders. Either way it's going to be fun because I don't care who wins; and I'm going green by not filling out a bracket so thank you very much.

That's the way I see it sitting in The Box Seat; I'm Wayne Box Miller.