The 2021-21 season for NCAA men’s tournament was officially inaugurated ending almost eight months of interruption. Another plus for this season is the so-called home-court advantage with fans back in the stands. There was considerably more noise in the arenas than in previous years. It’s no news how competitive college basketball is in the US, and maybe that explains the excitement of the crowd being closer to their home teams.
A quick summary of what happened on the opening night would certainly be, on the men’s side, Duke inaugurated the season with an easy win against Kentucky, and Gonzaga started road back to the final four with a 34-point victory against Dixie State. As for the women’s college tournament South Caroline won a faceoff against NC State, and in the inaugural evening alone there were 16 games. It’s safe to say it was a full throttle return to college basketball.
Here in the States the sports press attention turned to plays during Duke and Kentucky’s games for being such a high-level game, the likes of which would have impressed even NBA commentators and fans.
This is basically the essence of college basketball. If a player wants to make it to the NBA, they need to outstand every single game.
TRIBUTES
Recently the NCAA decided that it would be honoring players, coach and in some cases executives, while they are still active and that’s exactly what happened.
Duke basketball paid tribute to Mike Krzyzewski ahead of the first game (this year will be Mike’s last season as the head coach of the men's team. Coach K, as he is known to everyone, was given a plaque filled with all of his accomplishments, wins and championships since he was appointed head coach of the Blue Devils back in 1980.
Another emotional moment, which was broadcast live in a few states, was when Kentucky player Keion Brooks Jr. paid tribute to his late teammate Terrence Clarke who died on April 22, 2021, at the age of 19 in a car accident in Los Angeles.
Overall, we were extremely impressed with the level of the games, and we can’t wait to see what’s ahead.
