From the White House to your house, the NCAA men's college basketball tournament brackets are out, and this year the Commonwealth has a real contender.
For a while, it looked like March Madness might repeat 2011 when a record five teams from the Commonwealth were tapped for the brackets. As it turns out, Virginians will get three teams to cheer. One of them, Hampton University, could be on a quick collision course.
"Hampton is the ultimate underdog."
That's veteran Daily Press sportswriter David Teel, explaining what happens to the Hampton Pirates if they prevail in the mini-round forced upon the four lowest seeds.
"And if they win there, their reward, so to speak, is a first-round game Thursday against undefeated and #1 ranked Kentucky."
So how about VCU, which just set a state record with a fifth consecutive NCAA appearance? The Rams reached the Final Four in 2011, and while they have a grueling flight to the West Coast for their first game, Teel's impressed.
"This team had a better regular season than that 2011 squad did."
Virginia teams chosen for the consolation competition, the National Invitation Tournament, are the University of Richmond, William & Mary, and ODU, the latter having nearly pulled off an NCAA bid.
"I don't think even coach Jeff Jones or his players expected the type of success that they enjoyed this season."
Of course, the top team in Virginia is Virginia. Undefeated for half the season and gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated as a threat to Kentucky, the University of Virginia Cavaliers have suddenly endured setbacks. A finger injury and an appendectomy sidelined standout Justin Anderson, who went scoreless in two recent outings, and the team lost two of its last three games.
"Rediscovering that defensive mojo is an absolute must."
Defensive mojo, or as its technically known, the pack-line defense, has become UVA's trademark. And it's caught the eye of Terry Holland, the man who brought eventual Hall of Famer Ralph Sampson to Charlottesville.
"Absolutely incredible. It's a lot of fun to watch."
Not everyone sees it that way. USA Today branded Cavalier B-ball "boring." But that just spurred the fans, like former TV sportscaster Todd Hawkins.
"I love it. I'm getting just as fanatical as when I was as a kid in middle school, hearkening me back to the good old days of U-Hall when the place was alive and Ralph was the best player in the game."
Hawkins enthuses over the defense.
"The statistics are mind-numbing-- where they have held teams under 50, under 40, under 20 points for a half."
Seeing frantic opponents outside the paint makes Hawkins happy.
"They start running out of time, and you can see the panic start to set in, and they end up just flinging the ball up like a little kid."
While sportswriter Teel just can't picture Kentucky losing, he concedes that teams outside the Atlantic Coast Conference won't have experience breaking down Virginia's defense, and that has Hawkins hopeful.
"I would love to see them play Kentucky to see if that experiment-- that kind of defense first-- can win."
The two are on opposite sides of the bracket, so if they both last that long, it could be an unforgettable final.
