11 seeds VCU and NC State show bball mettle of an area

In these early stages of the NCAA basketball tournament, neighboring Southern state capitals are the upset winners. The usual adjective before winners in sports jargon would have been "surprise", but that was certainly not the attitude of people in Richmond and Raleigh. #11 seeds VCU and NC State advance against tough opponents. In fact, VCU's victim, Wichita State was viewed by some on those post game tv shows as a possible breakthrough team to the final four - egg on at least one broadcaster's face now.

Not that the fans(or teams) were overconfident. Fans are always nervous and often sandbag about their team's chances. In both towns, however, the hopes had to be high. I'm not in either place but know the area well. VCU had their famous and unlikely run to the final four last year and has by all accounts one of the best young coaches in the country. NC State has a new coach and seems to be peaking at just the right time. Their tough defense and rebounding fought off everything that UNC and the referees could throw at them before a last second loss in the ACC tournament.

So from New York to my home areas of Virginia and North Carolina, keep it up teams, do what's possible, and make your fans sweat. Then win.