Earlier this month, I wrote this: Make It a 96-Team Tournament. Sure, it was a bit out of left field....but these past two weeks have made it even more evident to me that we need to do this.
George Mason has advanced to the Final Four....and what's all the more surreal is that you cannot tell me that there is no chance that they couldn't win the whole thing. They can beat Florida. They can beat either LSU or UCLA. They won't be favored to do either...but they haven't been favored to win a game yet in this tournament.
So let's bring more of these guys on board. Why don't we?
It isn't only about George Mason. It's about Wichita State and Bradley....who both made the Sweet 16 from the Missouri Valley Conference. It's about Northwestern State, Bucknell, Montana and Wisconsin-Milwaukee who all won first round games. It's about Southern Illinois, Kent State and the foundation that Gonzaga has made in tournaments past.
It's also about the fight that Albany gave UConn; Davidson gave Ohio State; Murray State gave North Carolina; Southern gave Duke; Pacific gave Boston College; Winthrop gave Tennessee and Monmouth gave Villanova. Sure, they all lost....but it's becoming rare that these teams just bow down and take it like they used to.
I used to believe that there were TWO tournaments. There was the first weekend, where some Cinderellas dance an extra day [NW State] and some others break into the next weekend [Bradley].....but the other tournament is when the Sweet 16 starts and the cream rises to the top and those pesky stories go away. Not anymore. With George Mason crashing the Final Four party.....now EVERY mid-major team will come into every NCAA tournament from here on out believing that they could be the next one to do it.
Now, let's not get too myopic here. This wild tournament comes just one season after the #1 and #2 ranked teams met for the National Championship. I'm not saying that the power conferences are dead. I'm just saying that the power conferences don't have a monopoly on the Final Four anymore.
So, let's open the tournament to more teams! Click the link above and read my reasons why and how'd I like to do it. George Mason was a mid-major at large bid. Many people felt that Hofstra [26-7], who beat GMU in their final two meetings, should've been in the dance as well. They could've made a run here too. So could have Old Dominion [24-9], who is in the NIT's Final Four right now. Maybe Western Kentucky, Akron, Delaware State, FDU, Holy Cross or Sam Houston State coulda made a move in the dance.
Again, they could get run out of the place like Belmont, Kent State or South Alabama did. But, Seton Hall, Michigan State, Kansas, Syracuse, Wisconsin and Marquette didn't look too sharp in the dance either. Of the first round losers.....12 were from "power conferences" and 16 came from the true mid-majors [SD State, Xavier, Air Force and Nevada are kind of between a power conference and mid-major].
The court is the ultimate equalizer. If this tournament showed us anything it is that the number next to your name is meaningless. Play the game. How else could the most talented team and favorite to win this tournament lose to a team that was ousted in the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals to a team that didn't make the tournament field? On paper, it can't happen. On most of our bracket papers, we didn't think it would happen. But, on the court....it did.
The only way to find these things out is to let 'em play.
No comments:
Post a Comment