For the first time since 1938, we’re going to have a March without the madness. Well, actually it’ll be a different kind of madness, trading buzzer-beaters for the life changes that come with a global pandemic. A threat like this further trivializes an event like a basketball tournament (because sports were already trivial compared to local, national and world news). As I write this column I am very mindful of what we’re facing as a community, a state, a country and as citizens of a larger world, but I hope you’ll read along for a final walk-through of the bracket that wasn’t. After all, even former Chief Justice Earl Warren would say, “I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures.”

For programs like Kansas, Michigan State, and Duke, the NCAA Tournament is their latest shot at a national title, to pad already great legacies in the sport. But for teams at the bottom of the bracket, the 12-16 seeds, it’s about finally reaching the national stage and getting a shot at the big boys. Boston University hasn’t made the tournament since 2011 and hasn’t won a tournament game since 1959. Hofstra, led by successful former Niagara coach Joe Mihalich, made the tournament for the first time since 2001. They were a likely 14-seed, and could have caught an up-and-down Duke team or a fading Maryland or Seton Hall team napping! Likely 12-seeds Yale, Stephen F. Austin, and Liberty would have received some positive press as they put power-conference 5-seeds like Butler or Auburn on upset alert (12’s often knock off 5’s in the first round). East Tennessee State had a realistic shot at a 10-seed, which would give them a winnable game as they took aim at their first tournament victory since 1992. And even the projected 15’s and 16’s at least would get two hours in the national spotlight, their players living their dreams.

Even the power conferences would’ve had a couple of new faces this year. Would you believe that football power Penn State has only made the basketball tournament nine times? This would have made ten, and they had a shot at tying (or even breaking) their school’s best seed, which was a 5 in 1996 (their last Final Four was in 1954, though they won the NIT in 2018). Their fellow Big 10 rival Rutgers was going to make the tournament for the first time since 1991 and just the seventh time ever. That’s quite a drought.

And then there are Dayton and San Diego State, who we’ve followed a bit in this column. The Aztecs were going to tie their highest seeding ever (2) and had an outside chance at a 1-seed after a fantastic two-loss season. They were every bit a Final Four threat. And the team that took their place on the top line, the Dayton Flyers, had never been higher than a 4-seed previously. The Flyers have a long hoops history, losing to one of UCLA’s dynasty teams in the 1967 finals and making the Elite 8 in 2014. Their only losses, to Kansas and likely 8-seed Colorado, were both in OT, so they had the horses to hang with the best teams. It’s a shame we’ll never know how either team held up in March.

I suspect that we’d have seen a lot of projections saying Kansas vs Gonzaga in the finals. Florida State and Villanova were the 2-seeds that could’ve broken through. Oregon, Michigan State, and of course Duke were among the 3’s and 4’s that may have made some noise with the right draw… or gotten bounced by a Hofstra! We’ll never know.

The business world loses over $10 billion in productivity as people fill out their brackets every March… sadly, the pandemic will dwarf those losses. The NCAA did the right thing in canceling the tournaments. The schools, the players, and yes, the fans, all have bigger things on their minds right now, but it’ll make next year’s tournament that much sweeter for everyone for having gone without it this year. Stay healthy everyone!