3 Stories: Tourney Clichés, Michigan's Mad March, Unfortunate NCAA Myth

With the NCAA tournament continuing this weekend, March Madness is the focus of this week's edition of "3 Stories You Should Know."

Rachel Bachman of the Wall Street Journal and Mike Pesca, host of the daily Slate podcast The Gist, joined Bill Littlefield.

1. Silly NCAA Tournament 'Traditions'

From broadcasting clichés to coachspeak to fouling strategy, Mike Pesca thinks it's time to reconsider some of things college basketball fans take for granted.

I'm speaking of clichés — NCAA tournament-specific clichés. One of them is the notion of "survive and advance," which isn't a bad notion, per se. But there's no reason that this took hold to the extent that every time there is a close game, some announcer has to intone, "You know, the theme is to survive and advance." All you're doing is giving synonyms for win in a single elimination tournament. "Proceed. Draw nearer. Move forward." This is not adding to the vast wealth of human knowledge.

Second cliché is — and this is not so much a phrase as a conception: "You know, you can't look at the tournament. It is a six-game tournament. You really should break it down into three mini-tournaments — three weekends of tournaments." And this is mistaken for some great insight. ... I think all they're saying is that when they pack their socks, they only pack for at most four days worth of trip.

2. Wolverines' Near Tragedy Fuels Tourney Run 

The Michigan Wolverines had a scare two weeks ago when their plane skidded off the runway en route to the Big Ten tournament. The team suffered no injuries — and went on to win the Big Ten tournament and reach the Sweet 16. Rachel Bachman wonders if a recent study can explain the team's success.

A recent study at the University of Arizona found that basketball players who were asked questions about their own impending deaths scored more points than players in a control group who were asked only about basketball. Researchers say that the performance boost comes from a subconscious effort to boost your own self-esteem which protects you from a fear of death.

3. "The Gentrification Of College Hoops"

According to a recent article in The Undefeated, the percentage of NCAA athletes who are first-generation college students is declining. Bill Littlefield summarizes some of the possible explanations.

Div. I colleges have been accepting fewer and fewer athletes who are the first person in their family to go to college. Higher academic standards dissuade coaches from signing players coming from said families because they're afraid they might not be able to keep them eligible. UConn men's basketball team, for example, missed the whole postseason because of academic problems. Second reason: coaches these days tend to recruit kids who play organized sports from an early age, and those sports cost a lot of money. And a lot of families with nobody who's ever gone to college don't have a lot of money. ... This problem is obviously one part of a much larger issue, which is the hideously unfair distribution of income.

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