On March 14, the NCAA selection committee announced the participating teams for the 03/04 season's March Madness, the seed rankings, and the matchups that fans were most concerned about through a televised event.
Despite a disappointing loss in the ACC tournament, the Devil's Deacon Team unsurprisingly secured a spot in March Madness.
But the moment the matchups were revealed...
Among the Devil's Deacon Team players waiting in the training gym that day, apart from Qin Yue, Paul, and Gray, the rest didn't look too pleased.
It's well-known that NCAA March Madness games are usually geographically divided into East-Regional, South-Regional, West-Regional, and Midwest-Regional, which represent the East, South, West, and Midwest regions.
Generally, when allocating each region's schedule, the NCAA selection committee bases their decisions on the geographical location of schools and seed rankings.
This method not only prevents teams from enduring lengthy travels but also spares their supporters long journeys.
This season, the venues hosting the four regions are Atlanta, East Rutherford, Phoenix, and Saint Louis.
Geographically speaking, Wake Forest should have been placed in the Atlanta or East Rutherford region given no special circumstances.
However, during the NCAA selection committee's scheduling process, to avoid too many teams from the same conference appearing in one region, and to balance the strength between regions, without securing the top ACC seed, the Devil's Deacon Team was unfortunately "exiled" to the Phoenix region thousands of kilometers away from Winston-Salem.
In Qin Yue's past life, in 2024, the North Carolina Tar Heels experienced a similar situation where they, part of the ACC conference, were exiled to Los Angeles, thousands of kilometers away.
What was worse than being exiled was that Wake Forest was the third seed in the Phoenix region this year.
This means that according to the schedule, on their path to advancing to the Elite Eight, they must defeat the team that, in Qin Yue's memory, would become this year's NCAA champion:
——The Connecticut Huskies.
How strong is this Kang University historically?
In fact, even many years later, when people look back at this Kang University squad, they can't help but feel that they were practically an NBA team bullying college basketball.
If Qin Yue remembers correctly, on the current Kang University lineup alone, there are six future NBA players.
Among them are two who can immediately become the main pillars of their respective teams after entering the NBA.
They are Emeka Okafor, currently the top prospect among U.S. college players of the '04 class.
And Ben Gordon, who has never fallen out of the top ten in draft predictions across major media outlets.
Adding to them are the "Browless Hero" Charlie Villanueva, who will follow the two seniors into the NBA, Hilton Armstrong, the 06 lottery pick, Marcus Williams, and Josh Boone, both 06 first-round picks...
It's no exaggeration to say that excluding marketing factors, this group of tough guys from Kang University is even more incredible than the "North Carolina Four" from Qin Yue's memory next year.
Their lineup is balanced, and they boast two NCAA superstars.
Even in the long history of the NCAA, they are a rare super team without any weaknesses.
Thus, when the final matchups were announced, and considering the schedule, it's no wonder the other players on the Devil's Deacon Team showed difficult expressions.
As for Qin Yue, Paul, and Gray...
In truth, when they saw the matchup list, their thoughts were pretty much this:
Since it's March Madness, does it matter who we're playing against?
...
The day after Selection Day ended, before heading to Phoenix, Qin Yue reviewed his recent progress through the Mountaintop system and roughly assessed his current strength.
As March arrived, Qin Yue's barefoot height had grown to 208 cm, and his wingspan increased to 228 cm.
Currently, he maintains his weight around 121 kilograms and has enhanced his strength attribute to 81 through recent strength training.
Additionally, Qin Yue's basic skills have all improved to varying degrees over the past period.
However, overall, for now, he remains an athletic power forward who relies on his physical talent to play.
Qin Yue doesn't feel ashamed by this.
Because the dynamic talent of this body is something he activated bit by bit through sweat and hard work.
In fact, considering how poor the basic skills of this body's original owner were, compelling Qin Yue to start training from scratch, the progress he has made over the past 9 months can only be described as skyrocketing fast.
Yes, you heard it right.
Since crossing over, Qin Yue was unable to transfer his muscle memory from his past life to this life, so you can fully understand it as him reaching this current height in just 9 months.
Indeed, during weight loss, the twelve potential boosts Qin Yue acquired in total raised his basketball talent to a whole new level quietly, but without firm willpower and unwavering love for basketball, how could Qin Yue have taken steps to reach where he is today?
Now, he is a revered NCAA interior star.
Before March Madness begins, in the preview by Sports Illustrated, special columnist Brian Smith commented on Qin Yue, "From November last year to this March, we have witnessed with our own eyes how he has improved.
I don't know if he is ready to make a big splash in March Madness, but I must remind him that he's transformed from a challenger of the past to a defender of the present."
In the upcoming March Madness, he must give his all to defend his throne.
Because the lords from other leagues will continuously challenge him."
After finishing all the ACC league matches with his team this season, Qin Yue has already earned several titles:
03/04 ACC League Rookie of the Year. (Note ①)
03/04 ACC League Defensive Player of the Year.
03/04 ACC League All-First Team member.
03/04 ACC League All-Defensive Team member.
"If only he hadn't wasted that freshman year," Victor said regretfully to Prose the day before the team set off.
Prose smiled at this and said, "But if he hadn't wasted that year, how would he have developed such a strong heart?"
There's no turning back in life.
In Prose's eyes, the current Qin Yue is the best Qin Yue.
...
On the evening of the 15th, they arrived in Phoenix by plane, smoothly checked into the hotel, and once in his room, Qin Yue opened the [Mountain Peak] system again, heading to the badge wall that only he could see.
After a season of hard work, at present, Qin Yue has lit up a total of four badges on this wall: [Paint Area Genius], [I am Sakuragi Hanamichi], [Thunder Half Moon Slash], and [Impenetrable Defense].
As Qin Yue's first successfully triggered hidden task, after modifying his shooting form since last summer, he finally fulfilled the conditions to obtain the [Thunder Half Moon Slash] badge on the last day of the regular season.
For this, after completing the task, Qin Yue realized that, compared to hitting fifty shots with the new shooting form in actual games, mastering the new shooting posture as judged by the system was truly the most challenging hidden milestone.
However, after carefully recalling his shooting scenes from November last year to March this year, Qin Yue was very clear that the [Mountain Peak] system remained as reasonable and fair in this judgment as always.
After all, with Qin Yue's initial catapult-like shooting that seemed possessed by Jokic's spirit...
No matter how you looked at it, it couldn't be related to [Thunder Half Moon Slash] at all.
"[Thunder Half Moon Slash]: When the host completes a certain number of shots on the court, it can slightly reduce the shooting impact caused by a cold hand."
When obtaining the [Thunder Half Moon Slash] badge, Qin Yue actually wanted to mock that this badge should be renamed the "Kobe Bryant" badge.
Because from the effect of this badge, it is practically encouraging oneself to commit crimes during games.
Although Kobe had a famous saying in the NBA, that even if the first ten shots do not go in, a shooter should keep shooting.
But in Qin Yue's view, this theory is completely an excuse Kobe made for himself.
Because given Kobe's breakthrough ability, couldn't he choose to drive and draw fouls after missing the first five shots?
Ha, wanting to miss shots and even find such a refreshingly unique reason for it.
Worthy of you, Kobe!
"[Impenetrable Defense]: When the host executes a pick-and-roll on the court impeccably, there is a certain probability to trigger a 'Perfect Pick-and-Roll' effect.
This effect can slightly increase the offensive attributes of the host and teammates after completing the pick-and-roll."
Just like [Thunder Half Moon Slash], the [Impenetrable Defense] badge, which also requires the system to judge whether the host has completed a successful pick-and-roll on the court, was only collected by Qin Yue at the end of the season.
Although, in Qin Yue's memory, he absolutely completed more than a hundred successful pick-and-rolls this season, considering the fairness of the [Mountain Peak] system, Qin Yue did not choose to question it.
It's just...
After seeing the specific effects of [Impenetrable Defense], Qin Yue found, in stark contrast to the problematic badge [Thunder Half Moon Slash], that...
[Impenetrable Defense] is undoubtedly a team badge.
As long as he executes the pick-and-roll well on the court, upon triggering, it means simultaneously enhancing himself and his teammates.
As a perfect team player, in Qin Yue's eyes, this badge was simply tailor-made for him.
On this day...
After checking all the ammunition in his arsenal like before going to war, Qin Yue soon fell into a deep sleep.
And the next morning...
With the arrival of a new day, this year's March Madness officially kicked off!
...
Note ①: Like the NBA, because Qin Yue had no game records in his freshman year, he can still participate in the selection for Rookie of the Year. (Reference case: Griffin was selected as the NBA Rookie of the Year after his rookie season was scrapped and he succeeded in the second year.)
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