We are now exactly two games from utter embarassment. The realistic possiblity exists that George f'n Mason will be crowned the 2005-2006 NCAA Men's Basketball Champion.
This should be seen as a wake-up call to eliminate mid-major conferences from the NCAA tournament. I don't know exactly where the line would be drawn on conference admission to The Dance. People who know a heck of a lot about college hoops would be able to make that decision better than I would. What I do know, however, is that if George Mason wins the whole enchilada it will be a dark day for college basketball.
It's been obvious for some time that the NCAA tournament is about money rather than legitimate athletic competition, so we should have seen this coming. When you design something as a legitimate athletic competition, you require entrants to pass a certain criteria before they are allowed entry to the elite level. When you design something for money, you turn it into a game of chance where any meathead can win $1,000,000 by shouting, "No Deal!" to Howie Mandel.
The "Deal or No Deal" analogy is actually quite relevant here. I, along with millions of others, love that show because it has absolutely no barrier for entry. You don't have to answer a question correctly or show off some archaic academic knowledge. You simply get picked from the crowd and you're in the money.
The NCAA tournament is in a similar state. You can play a schedule where your only two games against power conferences are decisive losses to non-tournament teams and you're in the money.
People are giving credit to George Mason for beating the alleged powerhouses of college basketball. Maybe they deserve it. I don't know. I don't know because I know how meaningless the college basketball regular season is so I barely follow it. So my greatest exposure to George Mason has been watching them beat teams that looked hopelessly mediocre not only in the games they lost in the NCAAs, but also in other NCAA tournament wins.
It is true that judging teams based on a game or two is unfair, but that's the whole point, isn't it? This middling basketball program from Fairfax could be crowned our National Champion by having a lucky six game run. They didn't have to prove their worth against elite competition all year. They were simply able to beat up on the dredges of Division I college hoops and get awarded a place in the money by the NCAA tournament selection committee.
Does anyone on the selection committee (or any other college basketball fan, for that matter) think that George Mason could have even posted a .500 conference record in the Big East? Or the Pac-10? Or the Big 10 Or even the lowly Big 12? Of course not. Had George Mason been forced to play the kind of schedule that teams like USC, Cincinnatti and Florida State played, they would have been an afterthought. Another big conference stepping stone for elite teams like Boston College, Washington and Pittsburgh.
But no, that's not how it goes in college basketball. In college basketball, everyone gets a shot at the million dollar case. Everyone, no matter how average they prove themselves to be during the regular season, is give a shot at the championship if March is the month of their lives.
As often happens, I probably look like the crumudgeon on all of this. Or the elitist, or snob or whatever word shortsighted people want to use to describe it. Everyone in the mainstream media seems to love the George Mason. It's historic (even though nobody will care 100 years from now) and they've shocked the world (even though 99.5% of the population neither knows nor cares). It's a watershed event that proves the unpredictability (and therefore, greatness?) of March Madness.
Bah, humbug, I say. Give me the best athletes and the best coaches who play the best other teams all year. Give me the teams who prove their worth by navigating three grueling months of high profile games and hostile arenas.
Even better, give me a sport like baseball, where only the best play for the championship and teams prove they belong by conquering great teams all season long.
GEORGE MASON +610 (Pinnacle) for the NCAA Championship 100/610
This should be seen as a wake-up call to eliminate mid-major conferences from the NCAA tournament. I don't know exactly where the line would be drawn on conference admission to The Dance. People who know a heck of a lot about college hoops would be able to make that decision better than I would. What I do know, however, is that if George Mason wins the whole enchilada it will be a dark day for college basketball.
It's been obvious for some time that the NCAA tournament is about money rather than legitimate athletic competition, so we should have seen this coming. When you design something as a legitimate athletic competition, you require entrants to pass a certain criteria before they are allowed entry to the elite level. When you design something for money, you turn it into a game of chance where any meathead can win $1,000,000 by shouting, "No Deal!" to Howie Mandel.
The "Deal or No Deal" analogy is actually quite relevant here. I, along with millions of others, love that show because it has absolutely no barrier for entry. You don't have to answer a question correctly or show off some archaic academic knowledge. You simply get picked from the crowd and you're in the money.
The NCAA tournament is in a similar state. You can play a schedule where your only two games against power conferences are decisive losses to non-tournament teams and you're in the money.
People are giving credit to George Mason for beating the alleged powerhouses of college basketball. Maybe they deserve it. I don't know. I don't know because I know how meaningless the college basketball regular season is so I barely follow it. So my greatest exposure to George Mason has been watching them beat teams that looked hopelessly mediocre not only in the games they lost in the NCAAs, but also in other NCAA tournament wins.
It is true that judging teams based on a game or two is unfair, but that's the whole point, isn't it? This middling basketball program from Fairfax could be crowned our National Champion by having a lucky six game run. They didn't have to prove their worth against elite competition all year. They were simply able to beat up on the dredges of Division I college hoops and get awarded a place in the money by the NCAA tournament selection committee.
Does anyone on the selection committee (or any other college basketball fan, for that matter) think that George Mason could have even posted a .500 conference record in the Big East? Or the Pac-10? Or the Big 10 Or even the lowly Big 12? Of course not. Had George Mason been forced to play the kind of schedule that teams like USC, Cincinnatti and Florida State played, they would have been an afterthought. Another big conference stepping stone for elite teams like Boston College, Washington and Pittsburgh.
But no, that's not how it goes in college basketball. In college basketball, everyone gets a shot at the million dollar case. Everyone, no matter how average they prove themselves to be during the regular season, is give a shot at the championship if March is the month of their lives.
As often happens, I probably look like the crumudgeon on all of this. Or the elitist, or snob or whatever word shortsighted people want to use to describe it. Everyone in the mainstream media seems to love the George Mason. It's historic (even though nobody will care 100 years from now) and they've shocked the world (even though 99.5% of the population neither knows nor cares). It's a watershed event that proves the unpredictability (and therefore, greatness?) of March Madness.
Bah, humbug, I say. Give me the best athletes and the best coaches who play the best other teams all year. Give me the teams who prove their worth by navigating three grueling months of high profile games and hostile arenas.
Even better, give me a sport like baseball, where only the best play for the championship and teams prove they belong by conquering great teams all season long.
GEORGE MASON +610 (Pinnacle) for the NCAA Championship 100/610
