First of all, I am going to state a disclaimer. I am just a random fan – and so I only see the sound bites. There could (and probably is) more to what is going on than I know. But I am going to complain about them anyways. It wouldn’t be the Lunatic contest without a few rants. So, here we go.
It is time for me to pick on Jay Bilas. For those that don’t read his columns on ESPN, he has created the Bilas Index – which he claims as ” the best measure of basketball merit and accomplishment ever contemplated by man. It is flawless and is, without legitimate argument, the finest measure of hoops knowledge ever dropped on this earth.” OK – I am sure he is joking a little – but considering how stubborn he has been in the past, I am not 100% sure that he doesn’t somewhat believe this statement. Bilas has gone on record of saying that he doesn’t believe we should have automatic qualifiers – if we are going to have a 68 team tournament, we should pick the top 68 teams.
While I understand his argument, I am so glad that the NCAA committee realizes how wrong he is, and continues to invite the automatic qualifiers from each conference. If it was up to the Bilas Index, we would not have been able to witness Ohio, Lehigh or Norfolk State pull off their incredible upsets – nor would we have been glued to our sets to see if UNC-Asheville can upset Syracuse. 32 of the last 40 teams to make the Final Four are either regular season champions or conference tournament automatic qualifiers – and all 10 champions fall into this group. Each conference deserves to send their champion to the tournament. Maybe most of the time, the SWAC champion is going to lose their first round game. But they have earned their way into the field, and I would rather see that than some 8-10/9-9 major conference team that is struggling to win multiple games in a row.
But since I criticize Jay – especially since he also didn’t back off his statements from last year that VCU didn’t belong in the tournament, I do have to give him some credit. He did some really nice commentary about the Norfolk State upset – mentioning how the Spartans didn’t play like a 15 seed, and that it wasn’t Missouri playing badly that allowed the upset to happen – Norfolk State flat out beat Missouri. Also, he is 26-6 in the ESPN bracket, which is by far the best of the ESPN analysts (and would be tied for the top of our contest). He understands basketball – just wish he would be so over-the-top and stubborn with some of his points about the selection committee and who makes the tournament.
While I am on the topic of ESPN announcers, apparently they can’t do math. Joe Lunardi has been critical of the committee in the past – saying that he believes that there should be a selection rule that you have to at least have a .500 record in conference to be eligible for the tournament. I am actually supportive of this. If you are 8-10 in your conference and don’t win your way into the dance through the conference tournament, you have shown you don’t have what it takes to win the championship. However, after the brackets were released, both Lunardi and Dana O’Neil mentioned how they were glad that the Selection Committee followed this unwritten rule. Only one problem – Connecticut didn’t have a winning record. Even if you include the conference tournament, they finished 10-11 in conference (which is why it shouldn’t be a surprise they lost by 13 to Iowa State in their first game). At least, O’Neill submitted a retraction and corrected herself. But it surprises me that multiple analysts would have mentioned this when it wasn’t true (and easily researchable – where are ESPN’s editors).
And finally, since Syracuse is playing, I have to give my Jim Boeheim rant. In a recent article in USA Today, Boeheim was called out by the US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who mentioned that “one Hall of Fame basketball coach told USA TODAY (last year) that the proposal to require teams to be on track to graduate half their players was, and I quote now, ‘completely nuts.’” During Thursday’s postgame conference, Boeheim fired back with this quote.
“If two guys sign with an agent and leave, ’cause the agent says, ‘We got to go to Chicago and work out,’ those two guys leave and they’re ineligible because they don’t finish the semester, you lose two points for each guy,’’ Boeheim said. “That means of your 10 players, the other eight can be A students. You know what your APR is? Thirty-six out of 40 points. That school is ineligible for the tournament.’’
He continued for several minutes on this until when the NCAA moderator tried to politely end the press conference due to time, Boeheim responded, “I’m not done.” and continued to take one last shot at Duncan – making a comment about Harvard, where Duncan played.
So, I have a few jabs to send back. First of all, last time I checked, men’s basketball teams have 13 scholarship players – and according to Syracuse’s site, they have 20 players on the roster (must have some walk-ons). So, 2 players going pro like Boeheim claims would not have as major an effect as he says. Second, the APR has rules in place that adjust for players who go pro as long as they leave in good academic standing. Considering Syracuse is an academic institution, I don’t think the NCAA is asking for much here. And finally and most importantly, when your team has been under a cloud of controversy over actions by your assistant coach, your program is being investigated for playing ineligible players who failed your team’s drug policies, and one of your star players has been declared ineligible for the tournament for academic reasons (according to an ESPN report), you have no right to criticize how the US Secretary of Education has incorrect information and declare how committed you are to education. And you certainly don’t have the right to interrupt the NCAA moderator – who is trying to do his job to get the press room ready for the next interview – so you can continue to criticize.
I believe that Boeheim does care about the education of his players – probably more than any of us know. And with all the controversy around the program, it is amazing how the team stays focused and continues to win (they are just about to finish off Kansas State and make the Sweet 16). But this post-game conference is not the time to take that stand. Comment that you are glad you got past UNC-Asheville, you are going to get prepared to take on Kansas State, and move on.
OK – I have ranted enough for now. 🙂