With March Money Grubbing...er...March Madness approaching, I thought there were a few things that needed to be addressed. Two things that come to mind are the Field of 65 and the One and Done Rule.
First, March Madness. Is there any other collegiate regular season that is any less meaningless than college basketball. Let's stop pretending that the NCAA Basketball Tournament is the best way to determine any champion. Really? That field is more watered down than light American beer. Do we need a play in game? Really? How about the automatic qualifiers? A sub .500 team heats up in their conference tourney and gets a bid. Ridiculous.
Here's how the tournament has expanded since its inception:
- 1939–1950: eight teams
- 1951–1952: 16 teams
- 1953–1974: varied between 22 and 25 teams
- 1975–1978: 32 teams
- 1979: 40 teams
- 1980–1982: 48 teams
- 1983: 52 teams (four play-in games before the tournament)
- 1984: 53 teams (five play-in games before the tournament)
- 1985–2000: 64 teams
- 2001—present: 65 teams (with an "opening round" game to determine whether the 64th or 65th team plays in the first round)
1951 and 1952 are perfect. 16 teams get in. Tourney is over in two weeks, and we can turn our attention to something that really matters...spring football practice.
Look at the demographics here. No #16 seed has ever beaten a #1. Ever. #15 seeds have beaten #2 seeds 4 times in the history of the tourney since it expanded to 64 teams.
Here's another eye opener. Let's go down the seedings and look at the results:
Since the inception of the 64-team tournament in 1985, each seed-pairing has played a total of 100 first-round games.
- The #1 seed has beaten the #16 seed all 100 times (100%).
- The #2 seed has beaten the #15 seed 96 times (96%).
- The #3 seed has beaten the #14 seed 85 times (85%).
- The #4 seed has beaten the #13 seed 79 times (79%).
- The #5 seed has beaten the #12 seed 66 times (66%).
- The #6 seed has beaten the #11 seed 69 times (69%).
- The #7 seed has beaten the #10 seed 61 times (61%).
- The #8 seed has beaten the #9 seed 46 times (46%).
We would get much better results, much better games if we stopped watering down the tourney. I would even go with 32 teams. But 16 would be optimum. We could quite wasting valuable work time filling out senseless brackets, trying to figure out which Cinderella is finally going to beat a #1, and make the regular season mean a little more than just advertising revenue.
Now, onto the most asinine rule in all of sports. When Coach Krzyzewski, one of the most respected coaches in college basketball history says the rule is dumb, then there must be something to it.
It is a slap in the face to the term "student/athlete". They aren't students. The barely have to have an academic pulse to stay eligible for a single season. Guys like Kevin Durrant did not need one year of college to get NBA ready. Look at John Wall this year. Wonder how many classes he's attending, since he is bolting for the NBA after his one year sentence is up.
If these kids are good enough to go from the high school gym to the NBA, then let them. This rule hurts college basketball more than it helps the NBA. It is an insult to the students and the student/athletes alike.
Either drop the rule, or make it a two year deal like they have in football.
The field of 64...er...65 and the One and Done rule should both be done.