The NCAA Tournament brackets came out Sunday night, with the field of 64 (with Siena defeating Alcorn State Wednesday) ready to Duke it out for the National Championship.
Little known, and mostly forgotten, is the National Invitational Tournament, which put out its tournament schedule last weekend as well. The NIT is where the decent major conference teams go when they don't go to the Big Dance, and where little teams that might have been go when the NCAA brass decides to overlook them once again.
Consider this: Boston College gets into the NCAA Tournament by virtue of a 20-win season as a member of the Big East. But they won't make it out of the first round because they can't match-up with the big boys. Hell, they can barely play with the little guys.
My question is this: why not give an at-large bid to team that hasn't proven itself a loser, like a Butler or a Bowling Green?
Stick with me here. It makes no sense to allow a team that has proven it can't beat the best in the country to make the field of 65. It makes more sense to let in a deserving team with a good record that hasn't had their shot at the powerhouses of the NCAA - because the "big name" teams refuse to play them (I smell fear).
I realize this is not the conventional way of picking the teams, but it seems more logical.
But no, now we have a situation where teams like Boston College and Missouri are in the tournament with no real shot at taking it all the way to Atlanta.
The worst part is the two teams that won their conference tournaments, Siena and Alcorn State, had to play each other just to get into the final spot of 64 teams and then to play Maryland. Isn't life grand?
Doesn't it make more sense to pit BC against Missouri for that play-in game? In my mind they shouldn't even be in the tournament. They should be hosting first-round action of the NIT.
And don't get the idea that teams don't like the NIT and would prefer to just go home if they don't get into the NCAA Tournament. The NIT gets plenty of television exposure and can still be used as a strong point when talking to recruits.
I would rather see two teams from mid-major conferences go to the mat against each other for the right to make the final field of 64 teams, even if it means playing a Maryland, a Duke, or a Kansas. You think any of the mid-majors would pass that up? I don't.
My suggestion for this year would be Bowling Green vs. Butler - who are meeting in the first round of the NIT. Butler is a solid team that I think is capable of beating just about anybody, and when you've got a guard like Bowling Green's Keith McLeod, anything can happen.
It's unfortunate that the NCAA Selection Committee is a bunch of corrupt, bought-out weasels who seem content to make the same selection mistakes year in and year out.
I would think that it is just as impressive, if not slightly more impressive, to say you won the NIT than to say you got slaughtered in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Maybe there should be a limit on the number of teams that are allowed to compete from each conference. No more than the top five from each league should deserve to go. If you can't finish in the top five in your conference, no matter how good you think you are (or tell other people you are) you don't deserve to make the tournament.
People have been screaming for change for years. . Hey, NCAA Selection Committee, it is time for you to give it to them! You have to take a look at the big picture here. Every year people are screaming for your heads on a stake, and coaches complain about how much the system sucks.
Don't you think it's time for a change?
