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FINAL FOUR
-I gotta say, when you love college basketball on a macro level, you’re actually LESS interested in the Final Four than most other people. The reason?? There’s only four teams, and by that point it’s rare that I have a strong connection to any of them. That probably does this site a huge disservice because when college basketball is on its biggest stage, I’m not nearly as interested as I am in, say, the start of the Patriot League Tournament, or for that matter, the OOC game between Georgia State and Old Dominion to see if one of those teams can get inside the bubble and make the tournament. In any given weekend during the season, there’s close to sixty games that are interesting. This past weekend, there were only two. So, even though it’s college basketball’s biggest stage, for those that love it on a macro level, we ironically kinda feel that it’s already over.
-With that said…..
-DUKE HAS BEEN THE MOST IMPRESSIVE TEAM THIS YEAR. I know Kentucky was unbeaten. I know Duke had bad losses, but Duke’s best wins were better than Kentucky’s. They won at Virginia, they won at Louisville much more easily than Kentucky did, and they had some other impressive road wins as well. On top of that, they’ve blown through the NCAA Tournament and beaten some good teams along the way without really breaking a sweat. It would have been great theater with a great storyline if they were facing Kentucky tonight. I think most would have viewed Duke as the underdog, when in reality they would have been every bit Kentucky’s equal.
-PEOPLE THAT SAY KENTUCKY BLEW IT ARE OVERSIMPLIFYING IT. Kentucky did not blow it. Wisconsin is REALLY good. Not only that, it is the kind of team Kentucky has not matched up well with all year. We’ve pointed this out before, but if you look at the few times Kentucky has sweated (Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Georgia, Columbia for a half, Buffalo for a half, LSU, etc) they all had something in common. Those teams did not try and run with Kentucky. There really is a Paper-Rock-Scissors element to college basketball match-ups. Had Kentucky played Arizona, I think they would have run them off the floor. Notre Dame fits the definition of a very good team that likes to play half court. They just couldn’t hit their outside shots in that game, but they still almost won. Wisconsin fits that definition as well, but they did hit their open looks.
I thought that was a fantastic college basketball game. Both teams were familiar with each other (even though Cal said Kentucky did not watch any film. I’m not sure I believe him. I just think he wanted Wisky to think they didn’t watch film). One team would go on a run, and then the other team would adjust, and it was back and forth for the entire game. It was one of the best played games I’ve seen all year. To say Kentucky simply blew that is really not giving both teams credit for just how well they played.
I know people don’t like Kentucky. I understand that, and appreciate it. But, you can’t just say they blew it. They had a chance to win, which is more that can be said for the 347 div1 teams that did not make the Final Four. It’s okay to feel good about them not winning, but I don’t think anyone has any room to talk about how they “blew it.” No one has ever been 38-0 before, so while 38-1 is not what they wanted, they still had a historic season, and they did a lot to boost the interest in college basketball this year.
CIT
-I thoroughly enjoy watching this tournament every year, and seeing NJIT reach the semifinals and play as well as they did at against Northern Arizona made it more exciting. This tournament gives some legitimacy to teams who are in one bid NCAA Tournament leagues, because it gives them something to play for once it becomes clear that they are not going to be competing for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Congrats to the Evansville Aces, who are a program that is definitely trending up and who have a lot of players back for next season. They were able to pick up some hardware, get the feel of a postseason tournament, and are now able to take a strong finish into the offseason, which should help them out next year.
NIT
-Stanford failed to impress me at any point from about mid-February on, but they really did play well in this tournament, and are also taking home some hardware. Despite them not winning it, I still think Miami FL was the most deserving team that was left out of the NCAA Tournament.
CBI
-I’m not a huge fan of this one because I don’t like the Gazelle Group, and don’t like that it’s a pay for play event. It’s my right to feel that way and I’ll just leave it at that. With that said, it was very exciting to see that much electricity around the UL Monroe fan base as they advanced through that tournament and ultimately ended up hosting the deciding game. Congrats to Loyola IL, who doesn’t have a whole lot of recent history, but who played very well this year and appears to have their program going in the right direction.
OTHER TIDBITS
-This website continues to be a work in progress. Basically, it’s our own playground. We cover the things we want to cover the way we want to cover them. Nothing more, nothing less. I like the conference tournament info and Survival Board, I like the Under the Radar podcasts and that there is a review each week, I like the Bracket Racket podcasts that review the power conferences each week, and I like the bracket projections each week. This offseason the content will slow down some just because there isn’t a whole lot going on, but at least once a month we should have something. One of the things we want to focus on is how we feel the game can be improved, so we will likely be writing and podcasting about that periodically. We will also be covering News and Notes as we feel it is necessary.
-For us, it starts in October. It really does. March does not just fall out of the sky. It is the culmination of everything that happens all season long, and there are some very important basketball games in November. So, if you love the tournament, then you’ll love the regular season because it’s what shapes the tournament. 351 teams are basically fighting for the top 40 spots so they can safely make the field without having to win a conference tournament. That makes the regular season hugely important. Our work starts in October, and I say this every year, but MARCH REALLY DOES START IN NOVEMBER!!!