Life as a 16 Seed in the NCAA Tourney

March 24, 2015 9:30 AM

16 Things You Learn About the NCAA Tournament While on the Road with a 16 Seed
posted by COD (6 comments total)

You know, I had been wondering exactly what this was like for the 16 seeds given the virtual certainty of defeat. It's very nice that these kids had a great time, and despite the remote hotel seem to have generally been treated nicely.

Shame about how the NCAA made millions off of their appearance and they get not a penny of that.
posted by graymouser at 9:49 AM on March 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

A lot of it goes back to schools for scholarships and other funds. Once upon a life, I tutored athletes, and at least at that school, men's basketball and football really helped to provide school money and athletic money for, well, pretty much everything else (competitive shooting, swimming, golf, and wrestling? Usually not profit centers, alas.) None of those folks had full rides, but their financial aid was definitely boosted by their playing (and college sports can be a serious time sink of a job depending on the sport, so they worked for it). The football and men's basketball players were generally pretty okay with how it all worked.

So, for what it's worth, at one school, etc.
posted by joycehealy at 10:14 AM on March 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

Life as a 16 Seed in the NCAA Tourney
always too short...
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:02 AM on March 24, 2015

We didn't hear where the Badgers actually stayed, but these hotels are booked by the NCAA well in advance. They just plug the team in after they fill the brackets in. The odds are obviously long for a 16 seed versus a 1 seed, but I think most college athletes would want to participate even with the long odds. The alternative is to sit at home.

I guess "only" losing by 14 is sort of like when in my high school career, I held a player who eventually played at Duke to his low game of the season which was 28.
posted by 724A at 11:03 AM on March 24, 2015 [2 favorites]

That was a really enjoyable read.
posted by Aranquis at 12:58 PM on March 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

For the record, the Badgers got the noticeably posher Embassy Suites. Can't imagine their reception was any better though.
posted by Fezboy! at 1:33 PM on March 24, 2015