March Madness

Let’s go Harvard! They’ve got the lead after the first half in this first round of the NCAA Tournament (photo credit: Chensiyuan).

President Obama didn’t predict many upsets in his bracket. But he did predict that Harvard would upset Cincinnati in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It’s currently halftime and Harvard University holds a 36-29 lead in the #12 vs. #5 matchup. The underdog may just have its day. For those who haven’t been following Ivy League basketball — or college basketball — in recent years, Tommy Amaker, the former coach of the University of Michigan men’s basketball team, has established Harvard as a force to be reckoned with in college hoops.

We have an inkling that Tommy Amaker will be walking down the sidelines of Harvard for years to come because there is absolutely no sense in him leaving the program that he built into the success that it is today. The winner of the Ivy League gets an automatic bid to March Madness. He can have a chance to bring his team to the NCAA Tourney every year. That is until Coach K retires at Duke. Yes, you read that correctly. It is our projection that Tommy Amaker — and not Wojo, Quinn Snyder, Bobby Hurley, or Johnny Dawkins — is the heir apparent to Coach K for the Duke University men’s basketball team.

As we watch the game, we sure can’t help but root on Amaker and his Harvard team as they look to pull off the upset in one of the most important games of their lives. Let’s go Harvard! And how do you think a win will impact Harvard’s admissions statistics next year? We’re curious to hear your thoughts but we can tell you this — it’ll definitely lead to more applications. It always does. Just take a look at Duke’s admissions statistics relative to how far they advance in March Madness every year.