COLUMN: Anti-cheering

     Hate is such a strong word.

     When it comes to sports, we toss that word around as casually as we say, “I know, right?”

     It’s not uncommon, when hanging around a group of people discussing the tournament, that you’ll hear sentiments like these:

     “Oregon? I hate Oregon!”

     “Man, I can’t stand Baylor!”

     I’m as bad as any of them. Every time the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament rolls around, it stuns me how often I find myself rooting against teams, rather than for them.

     In this year’s field, I found no fewer than five teams that I hoped wouldn’t make the Final Four, of which four are still alive.

     It’s not just that I enjoy a good upset, although that’s certainly part of it. More, I think it’s partly because these teams are good every year, and partly because of perceived wrongs involving their coaches.

     Kentucky: John Calipari left two programs about a half-step ahead of NCAA investigations, and somehow manages, each year, to recruit one-and-done superstars.

     North Carolina: It still seems wrong that Roy Williams bailed on Kansas all those years ago.

     Kansas: It still seems wrong that Bill Self bailed on Illinois all those years ago.

     UCLA: It seems really wrong that Steve Alford, just days after signing a big contract extension, bailed on New Mexico a few years ago. As I’ve said before, I backed Alford during his Iowa years, and it has become more than clear that I misjudged him.

     Duke: Unfair recruiting advantage, with “Coach K” getting national endorsement contracts. South Carolina’s second round win over Duke Sunday evening has been, without question, my favorite outcome of this year’s tournament so far.

     There’s always hope that the good guys – Minnesota, Iowa State or Iowa – will be the ones that rise up against these powers, but that never seems to happen. This year, Minnesota proved to be non-competitive in its first round game against Middle Tennessee State, while Iowa State had a satisfying first round win but then let one get away in the second round. Iowa was in the NIT.

     It seems likely, looking my list of hope-they-lose teams, that two or more of them will be in the Final Four. But even if one of them takes the title, there is hope.

     Years down the road, such a school might come across that well-known, time-worn NCAA wild card: having to “vacate” a title because of a recruiting or other violation.

     NCAA basketball: It’s not over until it’s over, and even then it’s not over.

     Meanwhile, when the tournament resumes on Thursday, there are 12 teams I wouldn’t mind emerging and traveling to Phoenix for the Final Four.

     And four teams I hope don’t make it.