Fearless prediction time

By Jeff Orvis

Tradition is a great thing. There are a lot of traditions in the world of sports, but maybe none so anticipated as Selection Sunday leading up to the NCAA Men's basketball championship. This past Sunday seemed like an eternity as I waited for the announcement of the 68 teams that made the tournament field. After church, there were a couple of conference championship games, some NASCAR and even a little golf to fill the time until 5 p.m.

In past years, fans of teams in Iowa had to wait to see if their teams qualified for the tourney. This year, it was a bit easier, since all teams had such special seasons, we knew they would all be included. The only suspense came in trying to guess where, when and who they would play in the first round.

Iowa State will kick off the action of local interest when the Cyclones play the University of Alabama-Birmingham on Thursday at 11:40 a.m. That game will be on TruTV, one of four networks carrying the tournament. The Cyclones play at Louisville, which should enable a lot of their incredible fan base to make the road trip. I am first and foremost a Hawkeye fan, but I have to admit that the best fans in the state, by far are the Iowa State fans. When CBS was broadcasting the Big 12 Tourney finals last week from Kansas City, Brent Musberger had one of the best lines I've heard all season when he observed, “The City of Ames is on its feet in Kansas City!” A friend who travels to Kansas City each year for the tournament observed that Interstate 35 should have been renamed Iowa State 35 on the day after the tournament.

Our other two state teams will be playing in Seattle. Northern Iowa, a darkhorse for a Final Four spot, will face Wyoming on Friday at 12:40 p.m. The game will be on TNT. Then at 6:20 p.m., Iowa faces Davidson, also on TNT. Winners from Thursday games will play their second round games on Saturday and the Friday winners play on Sunday.

In a strange twist, if both Iowa and Iowa State win their first two games, they will face each other next week. Don't ask me to explain this. For some unknown reason, the first round games in the South Region will be played in Charlotte, Portland, Louisville and Seattle. First round games in the East Region will be played in Pittsburgh, Columbus, Charlotte and Seattle.

Although it's fun to download brackets and make guesses on who will be the eventual winner, it has been several years since I've had the courage of entering any bracket pools. When I lived in Independence, I would join a community pool, conducted by the former city clerk. By the end of the first weekend, he would stop by my office and thank me for “my donation,” his not-so-subtle hint that I had made enough wrong choices to be well out of the running for the contest.

So while I no longer make the mistake of wagering, it's still fun to guess who might be playing in early April in Indianapolis. Rather than risk making a wrong pick, or the danger of an early upset, I've decided to predict only the first two rounds of the tourney in this writing.

The selection committee appears to have made some safe choices for the top four seeds in the field, as Kentucky, Wisconsin, Villanova and Duke should easily advance to the second round. Iowa, Iowa State and UNI should also be around for weekend play. But out of the first 32 games, there's usually at least one surprise. Based on no scientific reasoning but simply instinct, I am predicting Valparaiso over fourth seed Maryland and Texas over sixth seed Butler.

If our three local teams make it into the second round, I am hoping and predicting that all three will make it into the Sweet 16. That would mean UNI would probably have to upset Louisville and favored Iowa State would have to get by probable SMU. Iowa's advancement would be the biggest news of the second round, as they would no doubt have to beat second seed Gonzaga, which is entering the tourney with a super 32-2 record.

On Monday, the NCAA Women's Championship bracket was announced, which will mean a busy Friday. Iowa State will face Dayton at 11 a.m., followed by Iowa against American at 1:30 p.m. Both games will be on ESPN 2. With the aforementioned UNI and Iowa men's first round games, that means four games with local importance on Friday.

This is an exciting time of the year for those of us who still believe there is some worth in collegiate athletics. As you search the internet for brackets and schedules, keep in mind that most of them list Eastern Time Zone starting times.

I leave you with one true confession: I am glad I live by myself, because it might be a bit embarrassing to see an almost senior citizen get teary-eyed after the final horn of the championship game, as CBS plays “One Shining Moment” as the network shows a collage of highlights of the tourney.

Enjoy the next three weeks. Then we can quickly turn our attention to the Masters Golf Tourney and the Cubs' bid for a World Series appearance.

Belle Plaine is state tourney bound!

By Jeff Orvis

In a couple of days, the Belle Plaine boys' basketball team will begin a journey never seen in this town before. Being a relative newcomer to this city, I don't know how long we've had a high school here. I'm sure someone will be able to tell me. But in the several genrations there has been a high school in this town, there has never been a state boys basketball qualifier.

When I first heard this, I couldn't believe it. Belle Plaine has a proud athletic tradition. Of course, when folks think about sports and Belle Plaine, for many years it was the wrestling program that took centerstage. Heck, they even started penciling in a day off from school to coincide with the first round of the state wrestling tourney because there were often so many local qualifiers, there would have been a lot of empty classrooms if they had held school that day.

Other sports have had their moments of state glory over the years, including track, volleyball, football, golf, etc. But never a state tournament qualifier in basketball, despite some great players and coaches of the past.

So that makes this year even more special. The Plainsmen enter the tournament as the fourth seed, with an awesome 24-1 record. When they clinched the tourney berth, their reaction made the social media, for its understated celebration. It would have been understandable if the kids had swarmed the court and piled on each other in total jubilation. But while there were plenty of back slaps and high-fives, the team soon trotted off the court to the locker room. It was almost as, to a man, they were saying, “Okay, what's next?”

It would be totally understable if the team walked onto the court at Wells Fargo in Des Moines Monday afternoon, just happy to be there. But because of how they fought to establish this super record, including several exciting come-from-behind performances, it should surprise no one if they play several games in Des Moines.

I've been to the state tournament to cover teams in the past. I was telling someone that I remembered covering the Independence team one year when they advanced to the consolation game on Saturday. I also remembered covering the Independence St. John's team another time. I remembered two years, but in checking state records, I actually covered those teams a total of five times, three for the Mustangs and twice for the Eagles. I have an excuse for forgetting about those other three years. The last tourney I covered was 25 years ago!

My high school, Pleasant Valley, didn't qualify for state while I was there. But the Spartans have been there three times prior to this season, first in 1988, when they finished fourth, then in 2001 and in 2006, when they finished second. PV is back in the tourney field again, facing Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the first round. GO PV!!!

This year's Class 1A field is a strong one. The top seed, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, is 25-0. The second seed, Danville, is also undefeated. In fact, in other years, Danville was such a formidable opponent that it successfully petitioned the state association to allow it to play up a class in the tournament.

Earlham is the first round opponent for the Plainsmen. It enters the week with a 23-2 record and it is also a first-time state tourney qualifier.

I've had the privilege of seeing quite a few state qualifiers over the years of standing at the end of the court with a camera in hand. There's a different feel, a different temperment of state-caliber teams. The feeling spills over to the fan base, where the town buzz over a successful season erupts into a loud roar once the fans descend on Des Moines.

It's an exciting time for Belle Plaine. All of us are proud of what you have accomplished and wish the players, coaches, parents and fans a fun week ahead.

GO PLAINSMEN!!!