Before COVID-19 changed everything in all of our lives, Monday night was supposed to be the grand finale of the 2019-20 college basketball season.
As had been done every single spring since 1939, an NCAA Division I men’s champion would be crowned. As had been the case every final Monday since 1987, the highlights montage “One Shining Moment” would fill Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium at the close of the evening.
Alas, on March 12, the NCAA tournament was canceled, March Sadness replacing March Madness. College basketball at all levels was done for the year, and, if we’re lucky, only this year.
But assuming all this goes away by November, who’s best positioned to possibly cut the down the nets in Indianapolis next April 5? Could the Tennessee Volunteers be in the mix for their first Final Four berth? Could the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga make the 68-team field?
Conversely, could one of the sports’ blue bloods collapse as epically as North Carolina did this past season in finishing 14-19?