March Badness: Why Can't Dallas Have NCAA Final Four Madness?

March Badness: Why Can't Dallas Have NCAA Final Four Madness?

DALLAS - It's time. While Dallas Mavs fans hope for Luka Doncic-led postseason success, first ... I’ll fill out a March Madness bracket. So will you.

And the guy in the cubicle next to you? Yep, him too. Golf buddies. The guy who should be doing your taxes. Even the woman that prefers “survive and advance” on "The Bachelor'' rather than in basketball.

Basically everyone we know, all over the Metroplex, will be consumed by the NCAA tournament over the next three weeks. Just imagine our frenzy if DFW was actually invited to the “big dance.”

For all our hoops hysteria, we haven’t enjoyed a Final Four with a local flavor since essentially the days of peach baskets, canvas high-tops and running hook shots.

There have been 84 Final Fours. Metroplex teams – SMU, TCU, North Texas and UT-Arlington – have made exactly one appearance. One, in 1956.

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SMU’s deepest dive is DFW’s only Final Four cameo. In ’56, the Mustangs beat Texas Tech, Houston and Oklahoma City to make the 25-team field’s last four. That Final Four was played at Northwestern’s gym in front of crowds estimated at 3,500. The Mustangs, 25-4 and Southwest Conference champs, were led by star and Sports Illustrated cover guy Jim Krebs. SMU, however, lost in the semifinal to a San Francisco team powered by a senior known as Bill Russell.

Expand your scope a smidge and this year because Houston has a legit chance to make it to Phoenix April 6.

Moral to the story: Don’t be a homer when filling out your bracket.