Marching to madness
posted by LW, Tuesday, February 02, 2010
The above photo is a fairly close approximation of what our brackets would look like if the NCAA has its way and increases the NCAA Tournament field to 265 teams.
That's a bit of an exaggeration. According to this report in the Sports Business Journal, the NCAA has interest in increasing the field from 65 to 96 teams.
What a silly, stupid idea. Leave it to the NCAA to take a good thing -- make that a fantastic thing -- and risk screwing it up.
Maybe the tournament ends up just fine with 96 teams.
But maybe not.
If there's a significant risk that the tournament's appeal is diminished with a new format -- and I strongly believe there is -- then the NCAA needs to scrap any plans for incorporating that new format.
The current format is perfect, like a family recipe for spaghetti sauce that's been passed down from generation to generation. Like the atmosphere at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium. Like tradition at Clemson of rubbing Howard's Rock and running down the hill.
Why mess with it?
Naturally, plenty of coaches are in favor of it. Most of them face pressure to make the NCAA Tournament, and making the NCAA Tournament isn't easy.
Expanding the field to 96 teams makes it easier for them to say they were successful.
But it also significantly dilutes the accomplishment. Kind of like making one of the innumerable bowls in college football.
Tommy Bowden often mentioned the streak of however many years in a row his teams were bowl eligible, but was it really a significant achievement?
When Clemson finally made the NCAA Tournament two years ago after a decade-long hiatus, it meant something. And it meant something when they made it again last year.
What, exactly, will it mean when a 6-10 ACC team is squaring off with a 6-10 SEC team in the first round of the NCAAs?
And what, exactly, will compel us to pay attention to the ACC Tournament or other conference tournaments? The ACC's extravaganza is an institution whose importance and grandeur has already been diminished by the conference's expansion to 12 teams, and a 96-team NCAA Tournament would eliminate much of the suspense and drama that remains.
In this USA Today article, Big Ten commish Jim Delany says the NCAA isn't being transparent in its exploration of these radical changes.
"I think nobody would disagree that the 65-team, three-week event … has worked," says Delany, a former chairman of the NCAA committee that runs the men's tournament. "You have David vs. Goliath. You have all sorts of internal story lines year in and year out. It's compelling. It's one of the great sports properties in the world.
"I have no problem with looking at expansion, whether it's small or big. I only say that issue is one that must be managed openly and transparently, (and) I have concerns that it's not."
Stewart Mandel was on hand to witness Georgetown's laceration of Duke, and he says the Devils are afflicted with the same old problems.
They're still not that athletic. They're still limited up front. And, despite what that No. 8 ranking before their name would indicate, they're still not ready for a run to Indianapolis. Not after the Hoyas (16-4) -- five days removed from their own humbling blowout at Syracuse -- controlled Saturday's showdown from nearly the opening tip, outrunning, outshooting and generally outclassing their touted visitors in an 89-77 rout.
"They just did everything better than us," a forlorn Jon Scheyer lamented afterward. "They shot the ball better, made better passes, moved better on offense. Give them a lot of credit."
In front of a sold-out, revved-up crowd of 20,039 -- including two particularly notable courtside spectators, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden (they shared a bag of popcorn) -- the Hoyas shot a staggering 71.7 percent from the field, their highest mark in 30 years. Guards Chris Wright (8-of-9 for 21 points) and Austin Freeman (8-of-11 for 20 points) continually sliced the lane for uncontested layups and forward Greg Monroe (7-of-11 for 21 points) treated Blue Devils counterpart Kyle Singler like his own personal plaything.
Pretty much sums it up, no?
If Duke is the best team in the ACC -- and there is ample reason to believe that is the case -- then what does this say for the conference's chances of having a representative in the Final Four?
And if the Devils' "big three" of Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith look gassed at times in late January, what are they going to look like in March?
Barry Jacobs of the ACC Sports Journal wonders whether the current muddle is a sign of strength or weakness.
And here's the Journal's weekly power rankings, which have Georgia Tech at the top ahead of Duke.
The Jackets and Devils will settle it on the floor Thursday night in Durham.
Not sure I agree with placing North Carolina No. 10 behind Boston College. The Heels aren't good, but are they that bad?
In Chapel Hill, Roy talks about being at his wit's end.
More on the Devils' plight in the Post and Courier.
In The State/Greenville News, a piece on Jerai Grant.
Kid has come a long, long way. He might be exhibit A for this staff's ability to develop players.
Now if they can just get BoBo Baciu looking like he belongs on the floor.
Virginia Tech update: J.T. Thompson is finally giving the Hokies some much-needed production.
David Climer of the Nashville Tennesseean says the latest social networking devices have recruiting aficionados all atwitter.
Welcome to the brave new world of recruiting. It wasn't all that long ago that some enterprising souls like Max Emfinger and others made big money with subscription newsletters and magazines. The next generation of recruiting insight came via pay-per-call telephone lines with regularly updated recordings.
Then the Internet changed everything. One study suggests that about 25 percent of the Internet is dedicated to pornography. Sometimes I think the other 75 percent is about recruiting.
These days, we have instantaneous updates on the latest developments, one micro-blog at a time. What's next? Mental telepathy? Vulcan mind-meld?
Jon Solomon of The Birmingham News explores the expenses of recruiting.
Alabama reported to the NCAA spending $237,774 on football recruiting in 2005-06, accounting for 32 percent of the athletics department's recruiting expenses that year. Few SEC football teams listed lesser amounts that year than Alabama.
That was about to change as Alabama football, amid consecutive No. 1 classes under Nick Saban that helped produce last season's national title, entered a different financial level. By 2008-09, Alabama reported $750,045 in football recruiting expenses, meaning the sport spent 49 percent of the athletics department's recruiting dollars.
According to this report, looks like Cal is about to rake in a major haul from Greensboro.
A source said Monday that defensive end Gabe King of Eugene, Ore., will sign with Cal on Wednesday. King, rated as the 30th overall prospect in the country by rivals.com, will announce the decision at a news conference along with a handful of other top national recruits in North Carolina on Wednesday.
That news conference also will include Keenan Allen of Greensboro, N.C., regarded as the top safety in the country by scout.com. Allen took an official visit to Cal last weekend and is believed to be deciding among the Bears, Clemson and Alabama. Allen originally committed to Alabama but decided to explore other options.
Dabo Swinney tells Travis Sawchik of The Post and Courier that his staff doesn't rely on star ratings in its evaluations. It's a good philosophy, because plenty of staffs have experienced the perils of Internet recruiting. Florida State under Bobby Bowden comes to mind.
"What I challenge the staff on all the time is let's go through our evaluation process and not even worry about who else is recruiting or this and that," Swinney said. "Let's have something we believe in and if the kid meets the criteria he meets it. … If he doesn't have any offers, let's not be afraid to make the offer."
On the other hand, you don't want to go overboard with supposed diamonds in the rough no one else is interested in. For every Tyler Grisham, there's a Jeff Ogren or Drew Traylor or Andrew Diomande.
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
The above photo is a fairly close approximation of what our brackets would look like if the NCAA has its way and increases the NCAA Tournament field to 265 teams.
That's a bit of an exaggeration. According to this report in the Sports Business Journal, the NCAA has interest in increasing the field from 65 to 96 teams.
What a silly, stupid idea. Leave it to the NCAA to take a good thing -- make that a fantastic thing -- and risk screwing it up.
Maybe the tournament ends up just fine with 96 teams.
But maybe not.
If there's a significant risk that the tournament's appeal is diminished with a new format -- and I strongly believe there is -- then the NCAA needs to scrap any plans for incorporating that new format.
The current format is perfect, like a family recipe for spaghetti sauce that's been passed down from generation to generation. Like the atmosphere at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium. Like tradition at Clemson of rubbing Howard's Rock and running down the hill.
Why mess with it?
Naturally, plenty of coaches are in favor of it. Most of them face pressure to make the NCAA Tournament, and making the NCAA Tournament isn't easy.
Expanding the field to 96 teams makes it easier for them to say they were successful.
But it also significantly dilutes the accomplishment. Kind of like making one of the innumerable bowls in college football.
Tommy Bowden often mentioned the streak of however many years in a row his teams were bowl eligible, but was it really a significant achievement?
When Clemson finally made the NCAA Tournament two years ago after a decade-long hiatus, it meant something. And it meant something when they made it again last year.
What, exactly, will it mean when a 6-10 ACC team is squaring off with a 6-10 SEC team in the first round of the NCAAs?
And what, exactly, will compel us to pay attention to the ACC Tournament or other conference tournaments? The ACC's extravaganza is an institution whose importance and grandeur has already been diminished by the conference's expansion to 12 teams, and a 96-team NCAA Tournament would eliminate much of the suspense and drama that remains.
In this USA Today article, Big Ten commish Jim Delany says the NCAA isn't being transparent in its exploration of these radical changes.
"I think nobody would disagree that the 65-team, three-week event … has worked," says Delany, a former chairman of the NCAA committee that runs the men's tournament. "You have David vs. Goliath. You have all sorts of internal story lines year in and year out. It's compelling. It's one of the great sports properties in the world.
"I have no problem with looking at expansion, whether it's small or big. I only say that issue is one that must be managed openly and transparently, (and) I have concerns that it's not."
Stewart Mandel was on hand to witness Georgetown's laceration of Duke, and he says the Devils are afflicted with the same old problems.
They're still not that athletic. They're still limited up front. And, despite what that No. 8 ranking before their name would indicate, they're still not ready for a run to Indianapolis. Not after the Hoyas (16-4) -- five days removed from their own humbling blowout at Syracuse -- controlled Saturday's showdown from nearly the opening tip, outrunning, outshooting and generally outclassing their touted visitors in an 89-77 rout.
"They just did everything better than us," a forlorn Jon Scheyer lamented afterward. "They shot the ball better, made better passes, moved better on offense. Give them a lot of credit."
In front of a sold-out, revved-up crowd of 20,039 -- including two particularly notable courtside spectators, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden (they shared a bag of popcorn) -- the Hoyas shot a staggering 71.7 percent from the field, their highest mark in 30 years. Guards Chris Wright (8-of-9 for 21 points) and Austin Freeman (8-of-11 for 20 points) continually sliced the lane for uncontested layups and forward Greg Monroe (7-of-11 for 21 points) treated Blue Devils counterpart Kyle Singler like his own personal plaything.
Pretty much sums it up, no?
If Duke is the best team in the ACC -- and there is ample reason to believe that is the case -- then what does this say for the conference's chances of having a representative in the Final Four?
And if the Devils' "big three" of Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith look gassed at times in late January, what are they going to look like in March?
Barry Jacobs of the ACC Sports Journal wonders whether the current muddle is a sign of strength or weakness.
And here's the Journal's weekly power rankings, which have Georgia Tech at the top ahead of Duke.
The Jackets and Devils will settle it on the floor Thursday night in Durham.
Not sure I agree with placing North Carolina No. 10 behind Boston College. The Heels aren't good, but are they that bad?
In Chapel Hill, Roy talks about being at his wit's end.
More on the Devils' plight in the Post and Courier.
In The State/Greenville News, a piece on Jerai Grant.
Kid has come a long, long way. He might be exhibit A for this staff's ability to develop players.
Now if they can just get BoBo Baciu looking like he belongs on the floor.
Virginia Tech update: J.T. Thompson is finally giving the Hokies some much-needed production.
David Climer of the Nashville Tennesseean says the latest social networking devices have recruiting aficionados all atwitter.
Welcome to the brave new world of recruiting. It wasn't all that long ago that some enterprising souls like Max Emfinger and others made big money with subscription newsletters and magazines. The next generation of recruiting insight came via pay-per-call telephone lines with regularly updated recordings.
Then the Internet changed everything. One study suggests that about 25 percent of the Internet is dedicated to pornography. Sometimes I think the other 75 percent is about recruiting.
These days, we have instantaneous updates on the latest developments, one micro-blog at a time. What's next? Mental telepathy? Vulcan mind-meld?
Jon Solomon of The Birmingham News explores the expenses of recruiting.
Alabama reported to the NCAA spending $237,774 on football recruiting in 2005-06, accounting for 32 percent of the athletics department's recruiting expenses that year. Few SEC football teams listed lesser amounts that year than Alabama.
That was about to change as Alabama football, amid consecutive No. 1 classes under Nick Saban that helped produce last season's national title, entered a different financial level. By 2008-09, Alabama reported $750,045 in football recruiting expenses, meaning the sport spent 49 percent of the athletics department's recruiting dollars.
According to this report, looks like Cal is about to rake in a major haul from Greensboro.
A source said Monday that defensive end Gabe King of Eugene, Ore., will sign with Cal on Wednesday. King, rated as the 30th overall prospect in the country by rivals.com, will announce the decision at a news conference along with a handful of other top national recruits in North Carolina on Wednesday.
That news conference also will include Keenan Allen of Greensboro, N.C., regarded as the top safety in the country by scout.com. Allen took an official visit to Cal last weekend and is believed to be deciding among the Bears, Clemson and Alabama. Allen originally committed to Alabama but decided to explore other options.
Dabo Swinney tells Travis Sawchik of The Post and Courier that his staff doesn't rely on star ratings in its evaluations. It's a good philosophy, because plenty of staffs have experienced the perils of Internet recruiting. Florida State under Bobby Bowden comes to mind.
"What I challenge the staff on all the time is let's go through our evaluation process and not even worry about who else is recruiting or this and that," Swinney said. "Let's have something we believe in and if the kid meets the criteria he meets it. … If he doesn't have any offers, let's not be afraid to make the offer."
On the other hand, you don't want to go overboard with supposed diamonds in the rough no one else is interested in. For every Tyler Grisham, there's a Jeff Ogren or Drew Traylor or Andrew Diomande.
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.