NCAA: A Dynasty and a Buzzer-Beater

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The 2016 NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships were notable in that one team came completely out of nowhere to win it all, and the other renewed its dominance over the sport with a record-setting fourth consecutive title.  Here's what happened:

Connecticut 82, Syracuse 51

A few records were set in Indianapolis Tuesday as the Huskies won their fourth consecutive NCAA women's title.  Not only has no other team won that many in a row, but they have also won 75 straight games.  Coach Geno Auriemma has now won more championships (11) than John Wooden ever did during his tenure as the UCLA men's coach in the 1960s and 70s.  Senior Breanna Stewart closed her college career by scoring 24 points, ten rebounds and six assists against the Orange, earning her the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament for the fourth time.  No other player had done that, either.

Some might ask whether UConn's domination is good for women's basketball when the sport is struggling to be on a par with the men's game in terms of media attention and fan support, and why the best players in the country seem to land on Auriemma's squad as if it were an all-star team.  This shouldn't diminish the impact of what the Huskies women have accomplished, but it should be food for thought.

Villanova 77, North Carolina 74

The Wildcats' win in Houston Monday night was just as surprising as the last time they won the men's title, which was in 1985.  Right after Marcus Paige of the Tar Heels shot a three-pointer to take the lead with five seconds left, Kris Jenkins went down the floor to hit his own three as time ran out to give Villanova the championship.  Ryan Arcidiacoma, who scored 14 points in the final game for the Wildcats, was the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player trophy winner.

If nothing else, Villanova not only rescued a mostly mediocre tournament filled with blowouts and upsets, but they also spared the NCAA from the embarrassment of having to strip North Carolina of its title because of alleged academic improprieties..  The Tar Heels might get sanctioned anyway, but nobody's holding their breath.

Seventeen million folks watched the men's championship game on TBS, the first time it had been seen only on cable.  That's eleven million down from last year's game on CBS, which was more highly-anticipated than this year's was.  Wonder if the number would have been more if there hadn't been "homer" feeds on TNT and truTV?