For basketball fans in the Cayman Islands, March Madness is in full effect.
Aside from the plethora of local competitions going on, the American college ranks are taking part in postseason games. The biggest of which is the National Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Division One Basketball Championship, which started its first round of games this week. The second round gets under way from Thursday and features a number of big schools in action.
Cayman residents figure to be among many onlookers studying the progress of the Florida Gators. The competition’s top overall seed, behind star seniors like Scottie Wilbekin and Patric Young, went 32-2 this season and became the first squad in history to go undefeated through the Southeastern Conference and win the conference title.
A number of teams can make Florida’s road to the Final Four rocky. In the South region, the Gators have to get through the inconsistent Kansas Jayhawks (No. 2 seed) and Syracuse Orange (No. 3 seed) who have star power in Andrew Wiggins (Kansas) and Tyler Ennis (Syracuse). In the East region, there is the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers, No. 2 Villanova Wildcats and No. 4 Michigan State Spartans.
In the West segment, Aaron Gordon and the Arizona Wildcats have top billing after being previously ranked No. 1 in the nation but much of the focus is on No. 9 Oklahoma State Cowboys with star player Marcus Smart.
Arguably the toughest bracket belongs to the Midwest region, with a plethora of teams sporting championship credentials. The top seeded Wichita State Shockers may not have lost a game this season but they have to challenge the likes of No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats with star prodigy Julius Randle and the defending national champs, Russ Smith and the No. 4 Louisville Cardinals. Toss in Jabari Parker and the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils along with Glenn Robinson III and the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines and the elements are there for bracket chaos.
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