By the Las Vegas Hilton’s official count, 100 teams have a chance to win the NCAA Tournament.
There’s a last-place team (DePaul), a team with an ampersand in its name (Texas A&M), and another with a hyphen (California-Santa Barbara).
There are three Saints — Joseph, Mary and John — and several football factories, including Penn State, Alabama and Nebraska.
Ole Miss is among the 100 teams the Hilton, the world’s largest sports book, has listed on its odds board, and so is New Mexico.
And while we’re on the subject, Iowa State and Akron are there, too.
So why mention it today? Because of all those teams, some of which are listed at 9,999-1, none calls Colorado home. CU, CSU, Air Force, DU and UNC are nowhere to be found in the minds of the Vegas wiseguys.
March Madness, meet March Sadness.
They give all those have-nots a chance, including DePaul, which didn’t win a game in the Big East regular season, but don’t have the time of day for the teams in Our State.
It’s easy enough to see why. The state of college hoopdom in Colorado has never been lower than it is today. Granted, this isn’t Tobacco Road, but come on. At least we’ve had a few flashes through the years, from Air Force’s mini-resurgence to Chauncey Billups’ tournament run with CU.
Just once, I’d like to imagine the possibilities. Just once, I’d like to pick a Colorado team to pull off an upset in the Tournament, even if it’s in the first round.
Trouble is, you have to get there first.
Follow Jim Armstrong’s sports updates on The Jimmy Page during the week. And read his columns on Tuesdays and Thursdays at .
He can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
