Here's all you need to know about the unpredictability thus far of the 2021 NCAA men's basketball tournament: Of the 14.7 million entries in ESPN's annual Tournament Challenge contest, only 108 brackets remained perfect Friday after the first 16 games of the tourney, and that number was fewer than 20 when Saturday's afternoon round was complete.
And for all of you still moping around over Tennessee's contribution to such chaos - the fifth-seeded Volunteers' stunning 70-56 loss to No. 12 seed Oregon State in the Midwest Region on Friday was the least chosen among those predicting a 12-5 upset (only 21.5% picked the Beavers) - at least the Big Orange busted a lot of brackets early.
In fact, all you need to know about how little anyone has a bead on this event - and for transparency's sake, as well as proving I have no business ever betting a single dollar on any sporting event, I had the Vols going to the Final Four - the 12th seed most predicted to advance was Georgetown over Colorado, and all the Buffaloes did was hang a 96-73 loss on Patrick Ewing's gang Saturday. So much for Hoya Paranoia.
Then again, was that any worse than that wretched effort the North Carolina Tar Heels turned in Friday night against Wisconsin, falling 85-62?
No, this was never close to a vintage Carolina team, though it did sweep Duke and entered as the eighth seed to the Badgers' ninth. Moreover, Wisconsin had lost four of five entering the game, though those losses were to ranked Big 10 foes Iowa, Illinois and Purdue, and all by five or fewer points.
Instead, as Roy Williams lamented after losing an NCAA first-round game in 30 such matchups over his 14-year stay at Kansas and the past 16 seasons at his alma mater: "I thought (Wisconsin) played very well and Roy Williams didn't coach very well."
There may be some who would make that same argument against Rick Barnes after his Vols - once ranked as high as No. 6 nationally and winners of 10 of their first 11 this season - again flamed out long before the Final Four, which the school has never reached.
Yes, they missed their Energizer Bunny, John Fulkerson, who was lost for at least the first weekend due to a vicious, indefensible elbow from Florida's Omar Payne in the Southeastern Conference tourney.
(Side note: The SEC may not have officially suspended Payne, as many believed it should have, but Gators coach Mike White did suspend him for what turned out to be an overtime win over Virginia Tech in the opening round, which said a lot about White - who is new Tennessee athletic director Danny White's brother - having his priorities in the right place. Or as the Florida coach said after the win: "Definitely a teaching moment. It's difficult that he can't play, obviously, but it was the right thing to do.")
(Second side note: Despite the inexcusable elbow by Payne, who was ejected from the game against Tennessee, the SEC apparently saw no need to discipline him. Maybe there was no precedent for such a move. Maybe there should be one in the future.)
But back to Barnes. For all his elevation of the program since taking over prior to the start of the 2015-16 season - and his accomplishments have been immense, including guiding the Vols to a No. 1 national ranking during January and February in 2019 - such excellence hasn't translated much to the postseason. The Vols lost in the NCAA's round of 32 in 2018, fell in the Sweet 16 in 2019, probably would have missed the tourney a year ago had it been played and were embarrassed in this year's opening round.
Coaches don't make shots, but it has often seemed as if the Vols have had the talent to advance at least one round further than they have.
What must be hoped for moving forward is that no other fan base reacts as a small, small number of Ohio State fans did after the second-seeded Buckeyes were bounced by 15th-seeded Oral Roberts. One fan reportedly threatened Ohio State star E.J. Liddell's life. Another wrote to the sophomore: "You are such a (blankety-blank) disgrace. Don't ever show your face at Ohio State. We hate you. I hope you die I really do."
And this after Liddell led the Buckeyes with 23 points and 14 rebounds.
While Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann may not have coached his best game ever against the Golden Eagles, his statement on the situation, which reportedly now has law enforcement involved, could not have been more pointed or perfect: "These comments, while not from or representative of Ohio State fans, are vile, dangerous and reflect the worst of humanity."
Yet in many ways, the sacrifices made by so many - from players, coaches, training and medical staffs, to the NCAA, to all those venue workers in and around the Indianapolis area - to stage this event represent some of the best of humanity.
And while one could certainly argue that even attempting to stage the first NCAA tourney in two years amid an ongoing pandemic is a sign of priorities out of whack, it's also an opportunity - however secondary to boosting the NCAA's currently fragile bottom line, which is the biggest reason why March Madness is happening right now - to provide the public a much-needed temporary return to something approaching normalcy.
The Masters, with or without limited fans at Augusta National, will do the same in three weeks on the golf course.
Just don't expect anyone anywhere to still have a perfect bracket by then.
Mark WiedmerContact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @TFPWeeds.