March Madness 2013: wilder than usual?

A 75th anniversary, by definition, should be something special. That's what college basketball fans are expecting as the National Collegiate Athletic Association's men's tournament (aka 'March Madness') shifts into high gear with pep bands blaring Thursday. Sixty-eight teams have been invited. Four of those schools will advance to the second round after competing in play-in games Tuesday and Wednesday evenings in Dayton, Ohio. What makes the road to the Final Four in Atlanta on April 6 and 8 so intriguing is that there is so much competitive balance. Even the four top-seeded teams have lost a combined 18 games, which is surely some kind of record. Instead of 10 teams being serious championship contenders, as many as 20 or 30 schools stand a good chance of going all the way. Here are some random facts to help you enjoy what ensues.

1. Top seeds

Frank Franklin II/AP/File
In this file photo, Louisville's Peyton Siva (3) celebrates with teammates after an NCAA college basketball championship game against Syracuse at the Big East Conference tournament in New York last Saturday.

The University of Louisville is the tournament's overall top seed and No. 1 seed in the Midwest region. The Cardinals have a 29-5 record after capturing a portion of the Big East regular season title and winning the conference tournament. The University of Kansas, at 29-5, is the South region's top seed by virtue of sharing the Big 12 conference regular season title and winning the conference tournament championship. In the West region, Gonzaga is the No. 1 seed after compiling a 31-2 mark and winning the West Coast conference tournament. Finally in the East region, Indiana is the number one seed. The Hoosiers, at 27-6, were the Big Ten regular season champions, and ranked No. 1 in the country for several weeks during the college basketball season.

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About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

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If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

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The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

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