The best vs. the rest

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Raise your hand if you had four No. 1 seeds in your Final Four. I did, actually -- two years ago. But I was promptly ridiculed by my friends for having a cheap bracket, and I haven't done the same thing since. Shows what I know.

Obviously, I was less surprised by Kansas's win over tenth-seeded Davidson than by Memphis's over second-seeded Texas. (I'm still of the mindset that free-throw shooting matters, but the Tigers reminded me that it doesn't matter if the game isn't close.) In the grand scheme of all things basketball, though, Davidson's loss was far more important. Every year's Tournament is a testing ground to see how the rest are holding up to the best in college basketball, whether all this parity we keep hearing about is a reality. In that sense, Stephen Curry's sudden transformation back into mortal man was far more jarring, because what might have become a great Tournament for midmajors turned into a banner Final Four for the elite of Division I.

We had a midmajor in the Elite Eight and had Western Kentucky, whose success came at the expense of another midmajor, Drake, in the Sweet Sixteen. That's better than last year, when Butler was the only midmajor to win two games (I don't count Southern Illinois and UNLV) but not the sea change that enthusiastic promoters of the game want us to believe.

So yes, San Diego and Siena won games. And yes, Davidson almost became the next George Mason. But this March has been by no means a step up for midmajors. Four No. 1's in the Final Four is an insult to the injured. It's hard to be a fan of the little guy right now and celebrate.