Somewhere along the line, it became an acceptable synonym to refer to the NCAA postseason basketball tournaments simply by a month and a general mental state; hence, March Madness. A more accurate term for the feeling induced by the constant state of craziness that are the nationwide, single-elimination tournaments can’t be found. How many times in 31 days do sport fans say aloud “Oh, dip! Did I just see what I just saw?” or some variant thereof?
But the NCAA Division I tournaments certainly don’t have a monopoly on basketball excitement. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference postseason, for men and women, hits the Colorado State Fair Events Center in Pueblo beginning Saturday. And already, expectations in the conference have been shaken.
On Wednesday, Colorado Mines pulled off two major upsets. The Orediggers’ women’s team, the last team to qualify for the RMAC tournament and a No. 8 seed, crushed No. 1 Regis 71-57. The Rangers, behind the league’s leading scorer, Diana Lopez, cruised through the regular season and earlier beat Mines by 14 points. No. 2 Fort Lewis is now the team to beat and Mines is the proverbial “scary team nobody wants to face.”
On the men’s side, No. 7 Mines knocked off No. 2 Fort Lewis, 72-71. Fort Lewis (18-9) had expected to qualify for the DII national tournament. Now, stuck at 18 wins – with 20 wins being the magic number – the Skyhawks are suddenly a bubble team. And No. 1 Fort Hays State, the fifth-ranked team nationally in DII, has a clearer road to an RMAC tournament title, although one that goes through No. 4 Metro State in the semifinals.
There are plenty of ins and outs and what-have-yous to go around in the RMAC tournaments, and with seasons on the line, anything can happen. Check out the RMAC semifinals in Pueblo beginning at noon, with the championships televised on Altitude on Sunday.
WEAK IN REVIEW
Rockies owner Charlie Monfort predicted his team will win an NL West title. This year. In the interest of providing fans enough information to make up their own minds, know this: Monfort last season also predicted a division title for the Rox, while the Las Vegas Hilton, owner of the world’s largest sports book, said they’d win 67 games. Their 2005 win total: 67. Just an FYI: The Hilton this season has the Rox over/under at 69, fourth-worst in MLB.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Basically we’d just like to see. And we hope Fernando Vargas can see still, too. “Sugar” Shane Mosley pounded Vargas’ left eye in their junior middleweight bout Saturday, swelling the eye to the size of a racquetball. It prompted a TKO call from the referee in the 10th round. Vargas, to his credit, was never knocked down. But maybe that’s because he couldn’t see the floor well enough to fall.
THE COUCH
On: They call it March Madness because once NCAA basketball hits its postseason, it’s like every minute of every game seems important. One bounce left instead of right and an entire season changes. Prepare for that level of excitement with the last major regular-season game on the docket, when No. 15 North Carolina travels to take on No. 1 Duke on Saturday. Duke left Florida with a disputed loss to Florida State on Wednesday. The Tar Heels, even at No. 15, have played above expectations this season. And the Duke faithful are completely nuts. See how fans watch a college basketball game where it really matters, on ESPN at 7 p.m.
Off: Stay in or go out? Pavement or snow? Downhill, uphill or trails? Too many choices, too little time. Why not cram as much as possible into one big race? The Steamboat Springs Pentathlon does just that, a race with five legs: alpine skiing or snowboarding, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, mountain biking and running. It’s a multidiscipline race through Steamboat, beginning at Howelsen Hill at 11 a.m. Check out steamboatpentathlon.com for more information.
AROUND TOWN
Colorado College travels to Denver tonight for the back end of a crucial late-season home-and-home series. The Tigers and Pioneers, ranked among college hockey’s top teams, are scrambling for a shot at the NCAA Tournament. CC (23-12-1 overall) seems like a lock. But Denver (19-13-2), in second place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and three points ahead of CC, is essentially a bubble team because its overall record ranks it near the bottom of the 16 teams who could qualify for the national tournament. The puck drops tonight at 7:30 at DU’s Magness Arena and shows live on FSN.
