Busting Brackets
Fansided

March Madness: Top takeaways from 2019 NCAA Tournament

By Brian Rauf

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: De'Andre Hunter #12 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates his three point basket basket late in the second half against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: De'Andre Hunter #12 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates his three point basket basket late in the second half against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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BATON ROUGE , LOUISIANA – FEBRUARY 26: Head coach Will Wade of the LSU Tigers calls a play during the second half of a game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Pete Maravich Assembly Center on February 26, 2019 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU won the game 66 – 55. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE , LOUISIANA – FEBRUARY 26: Head coach Will Wade of the LSU Tigers calls a play during the second half of a game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Pete Maravich Assembly Center on February 26, 2019 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU won the game 66 – 55. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /

4) The FBI investigation hasn’t limited team success

Another big mantra coming into the tournament was the shadow the FBI investigation was still casting on the sport. Accusations were being made by a lawyer who was already under arrest and subpoenas were issued, costing LSU their coach, but there didn’t appear to be any on-court effects.

The Tigers, who won the SEC regular-season title, still made it to the Sweet 16 without Will Wade. Could they have gone further with him on the sidelines? Potentially, but it was still their first Sweet 16 since 2006.

Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person was one of the four arrested when news of the investigation broke last year and they had two players suspended for all of last year. With more potentially coming out in the trial this month, they still found their way to the Final Four.

Duke and Oregon, two other schools that have been linked to potential wrongdoing., made the Sweet 16. Kansas and Maryland also won a game.

This investigation won’t be completely wrapped up before the start of next season and there is still plenty that has to be decided. But it hasn’t sunk programs – or even bothered them – the way some thought or feared it might.

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