Ricky Price
It’s that crazy time of the year where we all dream of filling out that perfect bracket. And despite the fact that the president no longer fills one out – we all do! So aside from the game play, where Villanova is getting the most love right now from those filling out brackets, there are some intriguing 2017 NCAA Basketball Tournament tidbits to ingest prior to first tip-off.
2017 NCAA Basketball Tournament Tidbits
Wildcats!
Talk about a team name that is used too often. Unbelievably, five teams in this year’s tournament carry the Wildcats name: Arizona, Kansas State, Kentucky, Northwestern and Villanova. That’s crazy. How about a little originality, folks?
Money talks!
When you’re struggling to find Tru TV, remember that Turner and CBS paid a whopping $771 million for the rights to broadcast games anywhere they want.
The NIT
For the disappointed teams and fan bases, cheer up! The National Invitation Tournament is also going on. That’s right – if your team didn’t make the REAL tourney, there’s a consolation tournament going on as well this month. But really, does any self-respecting basketball betting observer or fan care?
The Apparel Champs
Once again, Nike leads the apparel companies by a ton when it comes to deals with teams in the tournament. The iconic firm has deals with 40 squads. Next up is Adidas with 15 such deals, followed by Under Armor with 12 and Russell Athletic with one deal to report. For Nike, they haven’t really gained on the competition as of late. Then again, the competition hasn’t exactly made much headway either.
