tya1 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:42 pm
Interesting note from the tournament. Television ratings were much higher for the semi-finals (29%) with Loyola playing than the last time the semis were on TBS (a couple of years ago.)
Ratings were also high in previous years when teams like Wichita State, VCU, George Mason, and Davidson, etc made deep runs in the tournament. Maybe fans like having an underdog mid major team to root for instead of another match between P5 also-rans.
It absolutely has something to do with being a life-long Furman fan, but every single year I hope for chaos in the NCAA Tourney because I get sooooo tired of seeing Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, UNC, etc. in the Final Four. I suppose you have to have some traditional powers like Duke in basketball or Alabama in football to make someone like Loyola exciting to pull for, but it sure does get old seeing the same teams in every year.