March Madness - NCAA (and NIT, if necessary)

[Nivek]

A fitting end to the tournament. Level of play throughout the tourney was atrocious. The finale was in keeping with that trend. I love the effort and the emotion, but the ball just ain't very good. Best thing for the NCAA would be some kind of rule to keep kids in school longer -- 3 years would be ideal. They probably don't need to do a thing, judging by the ratings, however.

Also, I hate the late start for these championship games. My son was dying to see this game, but it tipped off 7 minutes before his school-night bedtime. It's ridiculous.

[dobrojim]

That last game probably didn't help any of the pro aspirations
of the players involved except maybe Lamb. Howard probably
would have made some money with a great showing in this
last game. Mack too perhaps. Then again, I guess the scouts aren't
like us RealGMers letting the last game bias us too heavily.

[Nivek]

Then again, I guess the scouts aren't
like us RealGMers letting the last game bias us too heavily.

Wanna bet?

[Severn Hoos]

Mateen Cleaves and Ed O'Bannon say hi....

[Ruzious]

Everyone's blaming the decline in play quality on underclassmen going pro early, but let's face it - there were some talented teams out there that just got knocked out before they should have. Butler is a far less talented team than teams like UNC, Kansas, Ohio State, Duke, and many others. The problem when a team like Butler makes it that far is - when they don't play up to their ability, they're really bad. And that causes a lot of disappointment for the average college basketball fan (not to mention Butler fans) who's expected the best teams to play.

[Rafael122]

If this were an NBA playoff format, teams like UNC/Duke/Kansas et all would probably win in 5 games. That's why the NCAA Tournament is so appealing, it's one game, sudden death. Anybody can beat anybody. The format allows mid-major teams to go so far, the George Masons, VCU, Cornell, etc.

[fishercob]

If this were an NBA playoff format, teams like UNC/Duke/Kansas et all would probably win in 5 games. That's why the NCAA Tournament is so appealing, it's one game, sudden death. Anybody can beat anybody. The format allows mid-major teams to go so far, the George Masons, VCU, Cornell, etc.

This makes for great TV, but often crappy basketball.

[Rafael122]

If this were an NBA playoff format, teams like UNC/Duke/Kansas et all would probably win in 5 games. That's why the NCAA Tournament is so appealing, it's one game, sudden death. Anybody can beat anybody. The format allows mid-major teams to go so far, the George Masons, VCU, Cornell, etc.

This makes for great TV, but often crappy basketball.

Right, I was just piggy backing off what Ruz said. Kansas, Duke, UNC, those teams are the cream of the crop. Mc-Donald's All Americans galore, future NBA players on each roster, but 1 game, loser goes home, they're vulnerable. I for sure thought the top seeds were going to run roughshod through the tournament, the field was the weakest I've seen in maybe 5 years, but we got Butler/UCONN final, and it stunk (from what I've read).

[fugop]

Here's why I think the tournament played out the way it did:

Butler

Matt Howard, Senior
Shelvin Mack, Junior
Andrew Smith, Sophomore
Shawn Vanzant, Senior
Ronald Nored, Junior

VCU

Jamie Skeen, Senior
Bradford Burgess, Junior
Brandon Rozzell, Senior
Joey Rodriguez, Senior
Ed Nixon, Senior

In short, the parity we've seen in NCAA basketball over the last few years is probably attributable to the NBA's one and done rule. Top tier teams are significantly younger than teams like Butler, George Mason, and VCU. The games reduce to talented boys against relatively mature men.

Before one and done, top talents wouldn't see the NCAA ranks. The 2nd tier talent would go to college, stay a couple of years. then move on. There were fewer teams with turnover like UK faced last year.

1st Round 2001 draft:

8 non-college, 4 Freshman, 8 Sophomore, 4 Junior, 4 Senior

1st Round 2010 draft:

1 non-college, 9 Freshman, 6 Sophomore, 10 Junior, 4 Senior

Not the best example, perhaps, but representative of the fact that the point of inflection for talent has shifted from non-college to Freshman. The 2001 draft saw the illustrious quartet of Kwame, Edyy, Tyson, and Pau go top 4, with Eddie Griffin, Rodney White, Zach Randolph, and Gerald Wallace as the four freshmen.

The 2008 draft saw Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, OJ Mayo, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, and Eric Gordon, all freshmen, comprise 6 of the top 7 picks.