In our grandfathers’ sports world, teams earned glory over the long haul.
Before 1969, major-league baseball determined each league’s World Series representative by the regular-season standings alone. The league championship series didn’t exist. Most of baseball’s 20 teams were mathematically eliminated by Labor Day.
Before 1974, the final coaches poll in college football was taken before the bowl games. Those were considered exhibitions — rewards for a good season. (This is why bowl games are still a month after the regular season, one of the silliest scheduling quirks in sports.)
Before 1975, only conference champions qualified for the NCAA tournament in college basketball. After No. 3 Maryland (John Lucas and Len Elmore) missed the field in ’74, the tournament expanded to include at-large bids.
Before 2004, NASCAR didn’t have a postseason points race. Neither did golf.
In our sports world today, the long haul means little. It’s all about peaking at the right time. Shorter attention spans + more competition for our interest (and dollar) have inspired sporting executives to deemphasize the regular season in favor of a dramatic grand finale.
Tonight in Dallas, Kentucky and UConn will become the highest combined seeds to play for a national championship (prior to this, it was 2011, third-seeded Connecticut v. eighth-seeded Butler).
It’s not like the ‘Cats and Huskies are there by fluke. They’ve beaten the No. 1 overall seed (Florida), three of last year’s Final Four teams (Wichita State, Michigan and Louisville), ESPN analysts’ consensus pick for a national champion (Michigan State), No. 2 seed Villanova and 3 seed Iowa State. They’ve earned it.
But it’s hard not to look back on the regular season and shake your head at how meaningless it was. UConn lost its last AAC game by 31 points. Kentucky lost its last SEC game by 21. **
** There’s talk that UK was underseeded by the selection committee, but its second-best win all year (aside from Louisville) was over Tennessee, which barely made the tournament. If one of these teams was underseeded, it was UConn. In my mock bracket before Selection Sunday, I had the Huskies on the 5 line.
I don’t have a problem with UConn v. Kentucky in the national title game. What I do have a problem with is how many fans assess a college basketball season based solely on the NCAA tournament.
Florida won 30 games in a row. It beat Kentucky three times. The Gators should be remembered as the superior team. They won’t be.
Wichita State was undefeated entering Round of 32. (The Shockers still haven’t lost a regular-season game since they played in Omaha 13 months ago). They should be remembered as an elite team. They won’t be.
Kansas just won its 10th straight Big 12 title. Yet if Mario Chalmers hadn’t hit the game-tying 3 in 2008, Bill Self would surely be feeling the heat in Lawrence.
There is something to be said for playing (and coaching) well in the NCAA tournament. But as college basketball talent has declined the past 20 years, casual fans have stopped paying attention in January and February and the sport has become ALL about the NCAA tournament.
I love the Big Dance. It’s the best event in sports and I wouldn’t change it one bit (other than returning to 64 teams). What I would change is fans’ priorities.
Baylor did not have a better season than Creighton. Cuonzo Martin didn’t do a better coaching job than Lon Kruger (any A.D. who hires a coach based on an NCAA tournament run is asking for trouble). Aaron Harrison did not have a better season than Sean Kilpatrick (heck, I wonder how many people watching tonight even know who Kilpatrick is).
The fascinating next frontier in the regular season vs. postseason tug-of-war is college football. This is where I flip sides. Give me an eight-team playoff (emphasizing conference champions) and I’ll give you a system that maximizes postseason drama and rewards regular-season greatness.
College basketball only hits one of those targets.
***
>> Better senior season, Ndamukong Suh or Doug McDermott?
You know, for as little postseason success as we’ve seen around here lately in football and men’s basketball, you’d have a hard time finding two individual seasons more impressive than Suh and McDermott.
Whose was better? Suh is winning about 70 percent of the vote. Some of that is undoubtedly because Nebraska has a larger fan base here. But I’d argue it also underscores the previous point — Suh shined on a huge stage (the Big 12 championship game against unbeaten Texas) while McDermott struggled in Creighton’s NCAA tournament loss.
Timing is critical.
>> A breakthrough weekend for Husker baseball? Maybe, just maybe.
Fans have been waiting for Darin Erstad’s team to get on a roll. Waiting for 2 1/2 years now. So much of baseball is mental and three consecutive walk-offs might finally be the spark.
But Jon Nyatawa had a great note today: Since 2011, the Huskers are a combined 8-11 the week after a three-game sweep.
>> Where do Aaron Harrison’s NCAA tournament feats rank among the greatest of all-time?
>> And then there’s Deadspin’s “Dumb Shining Moment.” Fantastic.
>> Rutgers AD Julie Hermann (former Husker!) did something foolish — again. That athletic department is a mess.
>> Dan Wetzel on NCAA dysfunction, specifically, whether all sports should be considered equal, is worth a read. So is Joe Posnanski’s reaction to Wetzel’s work.
>> Here’s an oldie but a goodie (I just stumbled on it). Ben Montgomery on football violence. Powerful read.
>> Race in sports is hard to ignore, especially if you know a little bit about history. That’s why Saturday’s national semifinal between Kentucky and Wisconsin was remarkable. In 1966, the all-white Wildcats played all-black Texas Western at the Final Four. Forty-eight years later, UK routinely had five black players on the court. And Wisconsin, the northern school, routinely played five whites.
I’m sure there were folks pulling for the Badgers because they were white (even if they didn’t recognize it). I’m sure there were folks pulling for the ‘Cats because they were black (even if they didn’t recognize it). But it’s a sign of progress that Saturday’s scene wasn’t newsworthy. Notable, but not newsworthy.
>> I loved this video clip from 1992 showing Charles Barkley’s analyst debut. Immediately he had chemistry with Ernie Johnson. I also love the flashback to this moment in basketball history, when the Dream Team was getting ready for Barcelona and Michael Jordan wasn’t yet the undisputed king of the NBA.
>> Gimme Kentucky tonight. If Coach Cal’s freshmen can pull it off, it’ll go down as one of the three most dramatic NCAA tournament runs in history. The top two? North Carolina State 1983 and Kansas ’88.
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