Kirschman: Teams to cheer for in NCAA Tournament

With the Pitt men’s basketball team getting prematurely knocked out of the NCAA Tournament… With the Pitt men’s basketball team getting prematurely knocked out of the NCAA Tournament last weekend, many Panther fans are avoiding any mention of college basketball. But for those who are going to continue to watch the madness unfold, there are still teams and players worth pulling for.

Which members of the Sweet 16 could Pitt enthusiasts latch onto for the remainder of March? My first choice is BYU — mainly because Jimmer Fredette is awesome. He’s the nation’s leading scorer, his name sounds like it came from the classic basketball movie “Hoosiers” and his 3-point shooting range doesn’t have a limit.

He’s the most entertaining player left in the tournament, and the bigger plus is that he’s not only talented but completely humble and likable as well. It’s a combination that doesn’t come around very often at any level of athletics, so college basketball fans should enjoy Fredette while he’s still around. And they should want him to continue playing for as long as possible.

Pitt fans should also consider pulling for the Big East teams still left in the tournament — Marquette and UConn. Why? Because they’re the only two conference representatives remaining in the bracket, so they’re the only teams capable of saving the Big East’s stellar reputation.

The conference started with a record 11 teams in the tournament, but only two made it to the Sweet 16. That statistic has fans and experts alike accusing the Big East of being overrated. For the sake of salvaging the conference’s image — the conference that Pitt won outright this season — Marquette and UConn need to advance.

If you’re really into Pitt loyalty, Arizona head coach Sean Miller was a star guard at Pitt from 1987-92 and the Pittsburgh native has orchestrated an impressive turnaround with the Wildcats. If you can’t pull for Pitt, you might as well pull for a “Pitt guy.”

Then there are the ever-present underdogs. This year that title belongs to VCU and Richmond. VCU was the subject of an outpouring of anger following the NCAA Tournament selection show. The majority of experts weren’t shy about their opinion that the Rams didn’t deserve a spot in the NCAA bracket, insisting that teams such as Virginia Tech were more deserving.

VCU responded by defeating USC in the newly installed First Four round before taking care of power conference members Georgetown and Purdue — both by a convincing 18 points.

The Rams are perhaps this year’s most unexpected Cinderella story, but they aren’t the only ones.

No. 10 seed Richmond took care of Vanderbilt in the second round, then stopped Morehead State — who shocked Louisville in the round of 32 — to move on to a matchup with Kansas.

An argument could be made to pull for Kansas, as well, as the Jayhawks arguably have one of the most knowledgeable, passionate and actually likable fan bases in the country. But nobody likes to root for the favorite. It’s much more fun to pull for the underdog.

As for Butler, Pitt fans will probably take one of two mindsets: wanting the Bulldogs to lose as soon as possible or wanting the team that knocked the Panthers out to make a deep run.

Whether it makes you feel better to see Butler suffer or to know that Pitt got beat by a team that continued to win, at least the Bulldogs offer another reason to stay invested.

Besides the NCAA deciding to reverse the score of Pitt’s final game, finding another way to stay interested in March is all Panther fans can ask for.