Sometimes Less is More

Unfortunately, it seems as though the expansion of the NCAA basketball tournament to 96 teams is inevitable. The expansion of the current 65-team tournament, which will likely take place in 2011, is the worst decision that the NCAA men’s college basketball committe could possibly make. This year’s tournament is a perfect example of why March Madness, in its current form, is the greatest playoff system in all of sports. In what other sport, at any level, do you see so many unthinkable upsets? I mean, please improve the bowl system in college football and change it to a playoff, but don’t destroy college basketball. A 96-team tournament would mean that the top 32 teams receive an opening round bye. In other words, Cinderella teams will have to win an extra game in order to reach the Sweet 16. This will do nothing but decrease the number of upsets in the tournament; we can kiss goodbye 14-seeds upsetting 3-seeds on opening day, and say hello to the top 16 seeded teams advancing to the Sweet 16.

Now you might ask why would the men’s basketball committee ruin something so perfect? They claim the two advantages are an increase in revenue and helping coaches gain job security. And sure, the NCAA will make more money during the tournament because of the additional teams, but their regular season gross is going to plummet. Also, regular season ticket sales and TV ratings are going to diminish because no one will want to watch games that have absolutely no significance; any team that plays in the big 6 conferences is going to automatically make the tournament, even teams with losing records

The committee’s intent to improve job security with this expansion is completely counter intuitive. No matter how many teams are allowed in the tournament, there are always going to be teams on the bubble, always teams that don’t get in. What happens if you are one of the coaches at a big school and your team doesn’t make the tournament of 96 teams? You might as well resign on the spot and save some dignity. If the 96-team expansion takes place it will mean an end to March Madness as we know it. The best college playoff in March will soon be the Frozen Four (college hockey)…how upsetting is that? I don’t know about you, but I will no longer look forward to March with the same enthusiasm if this expansion takes place.

-The Southern Gentleman

Spotlight: Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky has cruised through the first two rounds of the tournament and is playing the best basketball they have all year. And with Kansas out of the tournament, the wildcats are clearly the most talented team left in the field. They also have the red carpet laid out for them to reach the final four with potential match ups against a twelfth seeded Cornell and then an eleventh seeded Washington. Not to take anything away from Cornell (whose team has given hope to short, white kids everywhere) or Washington, but neither team has a chance of defending Kentucky’s size, talent, and speed. This trend of superiority will continue in the final four no matter which team Kentucky plays. As long as wildcats continue to shoot the 3-ball and rebound as effectively as they have thus far, then they should be cutting down the nets in Indy.

A lot of analysts think that Kentucky will get tripped up on their road to a national championship because of their free throw shooting woes and lack of experience. Everyone talks about how free throw shooting is extremely important in the tournament because the majority of the games are decided by just a few points. This shouldn’t be a problem if the wildcats continue to steam roll over opponents. Even if it came down to a last second free throw, which is as likely as Lost ever making sense, the wildcats shoot a very respectable 69% from the free throw line.

Others believe that the wildcats will fail to win it all because of their overall lack of experience. Although Kentucky is driven by freshman and other young players, with either very little or no tournament experience, the team is bulging with incredibly skilled players in an otherwise down year for talent. Yall can take any fifth year senior you want… I’ll take this guy:

John Wall will most likely be the number one overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft, and he leads a Kentucky team that features at least three other lottery picks. No other team in the tournament even comes close to the amount of talent Kentucky has. The last coach to lead his team to a national championship in his first year at the school was Tubby Smith in 1998 at none other than the University of Kentucky. And I will put big money down that John Calipari will be the next coach to accomplish that feat this year. However, knowing Calipari’s past, Kentucky will have to vacate these wins in a few years once the NCAA proceeds with the inevitable investigation. And no matter what happens to Kentucky in the tournament, at least they will still have the smoking hot Ashley Judd on their side.



-The Southern Gentleman