<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"FacebookPinterest\n\nOkay, so your perfect NCAA Tournament bracket was screwed when Aaron Craft couldn't grit his way to a gamewinner and Oklahoma forgot how to shoot. That's okay: There's still plenty of reason to watch the NCAA tournament even without the promise of Warren Buffett's billion dollars sitting in the back of your mind. This weekend, here's what you should be excited for.\n\n\n\n Harvard vs. Michigan State\n\n The obscure Massachusetts school with fewer than 7,000 undergraduate students hadn't found much success in the NCAA tournament before coach Tommy Amaker turned the program around. They've upset a higher seed in the first round for two years in a row, and with the success of Amaker-taught alumnus Jeremy Lin in the NBA it won't be so easy to assume the Crimson are a talent wasteland, getting by on scrap and grit. On Saturday night, they'll play title favorite Michigan State; if you're looking for a band of underprivileged underdogs to take down the preppy kids from the camp across the lake, this is your basketball Meatballs.\n\n Shabazz Napier\n\n After a year away from the tournament for substandard academic performance, UConn is back\u2014and with it, a player who might be the second coming of Kemba Walker. Napier was all over the place in UConn's overtime win over St. Joseph's, driving to the hoop for circus shots and threaded-needle assists to teammates. If the Huskies hope to upset second-seeded Villanova, they'll need a big game from Napier. For the sake of short, aggressive guards across the country taking\u2014and making\u2014ridiculous shots that bigger players wouldn't dare go near, you should root for him.\n\n Russ Smith\n\n Does the Based God provide good luck charms, or does he only do curses? If Louisville wants to become the first repeat champ since Florida, they'll need mercurial guard Russ Smith\u2014to my knowledge, the only basketball player who favorably compares himself to weirdo rapper Lil B\u2014to remain his confident best. The Cardinals are most dangerous when Smith\u2014a streaky shooter who loves gambling for steals\u2014is feeling himself. He helped them avoid a near upset against Manhattan by making some big shots in the final moments, and considering this is his last year, karma should be on his side.\n\n Syracuse vs. Dayton\n\n The Orange started their season 25-0 before losing 5 of their last 7\u2014then opened up the NCAA tournament by blowing out Western Michigan, once more looking like the team that had threatened to join Wichita State as the only undefeated squad in the nation. In Dayton, they'll find a plucky opponent who just popped off in-state rival Ohio State and are currently mainlining haterade like there's no tomorrow. Either a championship contender will round into form or a legitimate Cinderella will continue its run\u2014a win-win scenario for a weekend game.\n\n Go Mercer!\n\n Alright, so it doesn't always happen that whoever beats Duke is suddenly imbued with the energy of a million suns, empowering them to rush through the rest of the tournament with no worries. When Lehigh upset the second-seeded Blue Devils in 2012, they lost in the next round. But Mercer, having just taken down Duke\u2014a team with a potential #1 pick in Jabari Parker\u2014will surely be riding high on themselves for at least another game; at the very least, they've earned the goodwill of the entire nation by taking down those smarmy Dookies. May they take it all."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.gq.com/story/so-duke-lost-and-your-billions-busted-five-reasons-to-keep-watching-march-madness>