Madness hit the Double-A Zone this week, as outstanding conversations took place on a number of topics on the NCAA’s official blog.  Let’s take a quick look back at the week that was. 

•         The Michigan state high school boys ice hockey championship ended in a stalemate following eight overtimes. The teams finished their season by hugging and congratulating their opponents. Is a single winner important, or is it okay to have two state champions? 

•         Florida didn’t make the field of 65. As two-time defending champions, should the Gators have received a free pass into the tournament? Blog readers don’t seem to think so – 79 percent say that defending national champions shouldn’t receive an automatic bid to the following year’s tournament.

•         Central Florida football player Ereck Plancher died Tuesday following an off-season conditioning workout. Should echocardiograms be mandated for student-athletes to compete in intercollegiate athletics?

•         When the Division I Board of Directors elected to award a unit of revenue distribution to teams playing in the opening-round game of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, the chancellors and presidents made the tournament twice as lucrative for one No. 16 seed.