Most knew the bewitching hour was fast approaching for the 2013 NCAA Tournament Cinderellas.
It is the way of the tournament.
The trail to the Final Four is littered with sentimental favorites from smaller, almost unknown, schools who shock a first-round opponent and somehow survive a second.
Generally, that’s when the wake-up call hits them in the face like a snow shovel.
The early great stories of this March Madness are now past deadlines and headlines.
No. 13 seed La Salle got manhandled by No. 9 Wichita State, which started this tournament on the wrong side of a No. 8 seed, and the Shockers became the biggest Cinderella with their victory Saturday over Ohio State from the Big Ten.
La Salle played as if it was completely satisfied with just being there and were home, with its head up, in time to watch Wichita State squeak it out over a No. 2 seed, although a big lead was blown while TV caught Shockers Coach Gregg Marshall getting a drink of water.
Wichita State exposed the underachieving Buckeyes, who in pedestrian efforts beat Iowa State and Arizona - schools that haven’t exactly struck fear in the hearts of March Madness dancers the past few years.
Of course, all of those who pull for the underdog were hoping No. 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast, the highest seeded team to ever make the Sweet 16, would shock Florida. But what the nation saw Friday was a surge of adrenaline and emotion that lasted as long as it could.
When reality set in against the Gators, no one on the Florida Gulf Coast team, including its coach, knew what to do. Florida, the pride of the SEC, gets its shot for Final Four glory, something the league needs very badly, against an athletic Michigan team today.
La Salle and Florida Gulf Coast are the norm.
There are Cinderellas every year, but few advance to the Sweet 16 and fewer beyond that. It is a great accomplishment, but when they face the teams who are more experienced and have also survived to advance, it is the higher seed that usually goes home.
Not always, as No. 11 George Mason’s journey to the 2006 Final Four was something to behold, as was No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth’s Final Four trip in 2011.
What none of those teams have done, maybe with the exception of Butler, who played for the national championship in 2010 and 2011, have been able to accomplish is what tinyGonzaga did in 1999.
The Zags, as they have become known, thrilled the basketball world as the No. 10 seed, beating Minnesota 76-63, Stanford, a Final Four team the previous season, 82-74, and Florida 73-72 before facing Connecticut in the regional final, where they lost in the last minute 67-62.
Gonzaga plays in a midmajor conference but after making every NCAA Tournament since 1999, they have become known as a major program and started this tournament with a No. 1 seed but got beat by Wichita State in the third round.
Which brings to mind a feeling that the Zags were overrated and maybe the Shockers were underrated.
The Buckeyes were justanother shock to the Big Ten.
The biggest disappointment for the Big Ten had to be Indiana, ranked No. 1 most of the season and a No. 1 seed. The Hoosiers were thoroughly beaten by Syracuse, but the thing that stood out was Indiana played like it didn’t know Syracuse runs a 2-3 zone defense, which it does every minute of every game.
Now the Final Four will not be a BCS conference affair. Wichita State, from the Missouri Valley Conference, a basketball league, was not really a Cinderella. The Shockers are a Final Four team.
Sports, Pages 25 on 03/31/2013