No, Really... What's the Final Four?

Butler, Michigan State, West Virginia, Duke...

 Look who's back to waste our time again.

Well, it's certainly not expected...  If you picked WVU, the only Final Four team I got right, nice pick. If you nailed Duke, good work. Sure Duke is a one seed, but Duke has underperformed its seed the past five seasons, usually by more than one round. So well done. If you penciled in Butler?!?! You either went there, got absurdly lucky, are racist or generally believed that Butler was the best team in a region that contained the likes of Syracuse, Kansas State, Pitt and Xavier. Whichever reason it was, I'm not feeling you. You got very lucky. If you picked Michigan State, you probably like the color green. You most likely don't actually watch college basketball and simply fill out a bracket to "be a part of something." Look in the mirror. Do you like what you see? If I was in the bathroom with you, crouching out of site behind the shower curtain, looking at your reflection in the mirror, I would not.

It's not flashy... It simply lacks star factor. How many Final Four players are projected NBA draft picks? Two, both on West Virginia (17. Devin Ebanks and 20. Da'Sean Butler) We knew Michigan State wasn't going to contribute any, shouldn't expect much from Butler, but none from Duke? How the mighty have fallen. Last year's Final Four saw seven players drafted: #3. Hasheem Thabeet - UConn, #13. Tyler Hansbrough - UNC, #18. Ty Lawson - UNC, #28. Wayne Ellington - UNC, #33. Dante Cunningham - Nova, #46. Danny Green - UNC and #52. AJ Price - UConn. Notice anything? See Michigan State anywhere? No, I think not. This year Kentucky alone has four potential top twelve picks: #1. John Wall, #5. DeMarcus Cousins, #8. Patrick Patterson, #12. Eric Bledsoe. To bad they...weren't good enough?

It seems like what we have here is a case of good, old-fashioned, team basketball, and  what better state to host it than Indiana?

 Indiana is team basketball.

Take a closer look at the four teams still remaining. Butler, Duke, WVU and (cough) Michigan State, between them two freshman get any kind of meaningful minutes. Both from Duke; Andre Dawkins and Mason Plumlee average 14 and 12 minutes per game respectively and score 8 points combined -- They aren't exactly Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley. At the other end of the spectrum, sixteen upperclassman play significant minutes and each team has an upperclassman rock as their leader, Matt Howard - Butler, Da'Sean Butler - WVU, Raymar Morgan - Michigan State, Jon Scheyer - Duke. Shockingly, the only team that doesn't start at least three upperclassman...Butler. They start two, but their top seven scorers in 2010? Their very same top seven scorers in 2009, so they know each other pretty well. 

 Are Freshman Led Champions a Thing of the Past?

When the NBA passed a rule stating that all players must turn 19 during the calendar year of their draft, basketball fans got excited. I got excited. No more of this straight to the NBA bull. At least one year of college ball...and college education for all. What if Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Kwame Brown... What if Kobe Bryant and Lebron James had gone to college? Would they have lead whatever school they attended to the Championship? I'm not sure about Kobe, he wasn't quite as mature as Lebron as a senior in High School, he had a pretty tame rookie season with the Lakers averaging 7.6 points, 1.9 boards and 1.3 assists, but Lebron? I don't know. I kind of think he would have. He would have been a force, that's for sure. He got the nickname “The King” in high school, that’s almost messed up! Lebron’s rookie season in the NBA he averaged 20.9, 5.5 and 5.9. That's like a foal popping out of its mother, hoping right to it's feet and finishing third in the Kentucky Derby! It doesn’t happen! Not right out of high school.

With the best high school talent now attending college, it appeared to be the era of the freshman one-and-done, not only one year and off to the NBA, one championship and off to the NBA, but that's far from what we’ve seen. In 2009 UNC was all upperclassman, in 2008 Kansas was upperclassman strong, and in 2006 and 2007 Florida won with sophomores (a heady bunch) and then juniors. Look at the freshman phenoms we've been fortunate enough to watch play college ball. In 2007, a freshman laden Ohio State team lead by Greg Oden, Michael Connelly and Daequan Cook lost in the finals to an awesome Florida squad. Impressive as it was, they would have lost in the second round if Xavier could make a freaking foul shot. How did other highly touted freshman fair? Kevin Durant - Lost in second round, Michael Beasely - Lost in second round, OJ Mayo - Lost in first round, Tyree Evans - Lost in Sweet Sixteen, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins - Lost in Elite Eight, Derrick Rose - Lost in Finals. Derrick Rose would have won a championship if Mario Chalmers hadn't hit one of the greatest shots of all time, but then again, that Memphis team had Chris Douglas-Roberts, Joey Dorsey, Antonio Anderson and Robert Dozier, all upperclassmen. Rose was arguably the best player of the bunch, but he far from carried the entire load. We all remember when Carmelo Anthony and Gerry MacNamara led Syracuse to the 2003 national championship as freshman, but looking back, that seems to be the exception, not the rule.

 Yeah, he did that Derek Rose. Maybe it was all the physics classes.

If you think this year’s Final Four is devoid of top tier talent, lacking of rivalry, missing that wow factor... You're right. Maybe it is. But maybe top tier talent should stay around for a few years if they want to win a title. Maybe other kids want to win titles too. Maybe you want it more every year you try and fail. Maybe playing as a team is what college basketball is about and maybe, just maybe, if Michigan State wasn't involved this would be as good as Final Fours get. Maybe you should watch and see for yourself.

Could Northern Iowa...

"Northern Iowa can win the NCAA tournament." - Me.

I said it right after they beat Kansas. Yes, after they beat them. No, I did not predict that #9. Northern Iowa would knock off Kansas, the #1 seed of #1 seeds. I did not pick it in my bracket. I did not bid on Northern Iowa in any of my six auction drafts. You want to know why I didn't? Not because I didn't think Northern Iowa was good, Tom Izzo as my witness I did, I thought they were real good, good enough to win more than a few games...but Northern Iowa drew the seed of death. That's right. The #8 or #9 seed in the region with the prohibitive favorite -- The seed of death. It's bad enough to get an #8 or #9 in a different region (I would much rather be a 7, 10, 11, 12 or even 13), playing a #1 in the second round is a great way to not do anything special in the tournament. It's a great way to not be remembered.

So if you picked Northern Iowa to knock off Kansas in the second round, congratulations, you made a HORRIBLE PICK! Sometimes the worse team wins, that doesn't mean it was the right pick. Northern Iowa might have been the 7th best team in the NCAA tournament this year -- behind Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse (pre injury), Duke, WVU, Kansas St. and Baylor (not in this order)-- but they played Kansas in the second round and although it may have appeared that they were the better team, they would lose that game 8 out of 10 times. That said...

"Northern Iowa can win the NCAA tournament." - Me. I just said it again.

Hindsight is 20-20, but if Northern Iowa had been the right #10 seed, I would have put them in the elite eight. I would have had them beating any #7, either #2. Villanova or #2 Ohio St. (the games would not have been close) and #3 Georgetown, #3 New Mexico or #3 Pitt, then I would have had them losing to any of the #1 seeds because even if it doesn't happen, it was the right pick. You probably hate me by now, but... BUT... In the NCAA tournament, shit happens, it always has and it always will. That is what makes it so great. But upsets rarely help the team who actually makes the upset. In English, teams who pull great upsets usually get knocked off in the next round. Who do upsets help then? Besides Michigan St. every @#$^%&* year, upsets help the next two or three best teams in each region. Do to match ups they probably couldn't have pulled the same upset the lesser team did, but now the bracket has opened up, now they can make a run.

What are you yelling about, Tom? You're the luckiest man on the planet!

This in a sense is what has happen for Ohio St., Tennessee, and naturally Michigan State. They now have a chance to get further than they should and you can see it in their eyes. What is rare about this case is that the team that pulled off the improbable upset, Northern Iowa, is the best team left in the bracket. Miss-seeded, Northern Iowa should win this region. THEY SHOULD WIN IT! Then what? They would play Butler or Kansas St. in the Final Four. If it happens to be Butler, not taking anything away from a very game Bulter team, Northern Iowa should win and thus should make it to the finals. If it's Kansas St... I wouldn't pick Northern Iowa, but as we know, anything can happen.

Could Northern Iowa knock off Kansas and Kentucky in the same tournament?

What would it look like in the finals? Kentucky, WVU, Duke/Purdue or Baylor. Again, I wouldn't pick them, but who knows. Will they win it all? Probably not. Almost certainly not. THEY ARE DOWN 42-43 to Michigan State late in the second half as I write this. But based on skill, team work, heart and the sheer weight of Ali Farokhmanesh’s balls... they should get to the Final Four, and after that... Who knows?

December Madness Anyone?

It’s been another outstanding season of college football. But how could it not be? This is college football we’re talking about. College football is arguably…no, not arguably, the most exciting sporting season each and every year. The only event that gets me more jacked up(and we’re talking crushing Red Bulls and steroids jacked up) is March Madness and well, if your mind works anything like mine, or President Obama’s, or you’re from Texas, or you just wouldn’t mind seeing a couple more meaningful college football games each year, then you’re ready to see them become a little bit more similar.

Let me start by saying this. I think the BCS got it right this year, sorry Texas. I think that Florida and Oklahoma were the two best teams in the country. Yes, Texas beat Oklahoma by ten, but they also lost to Texas Tech who got spanked Oklahoma 65- 21. I could bore you with stats like Oklahoma played six ranked opponents to Texas’s four, or that Oklahoma beat these ranked opponents by an average of twenty-four points while Texas only beat theirs by an average of eight. But I don’t want to do that. They’re both great teams.

Let me repeat myself. I think the two best teams are playing in the National Championship game this year, but I don’t want to think it. I want to know it. When the 2003 NCAA Basketball Tournament tipped off I thought that Kirk Hinrich, Nick Collison and the rest of the Kansas J-Hawks were the best team in the country, but they weren’t. I know this because Carmelo “Get on my Hairless Freshman Back” Anthony, Gerry “We Wouldn’t Have Won Five Games Without” McNamara (try to correct me here and see what Jim Boeheim has to say) and Hakim “The Block” Warrick led Syracuse to the NCAA championship. I watched that game, Syracuse won.

So let me get right into it. I’ll start by laying down the rules of DB’s Awesome Playoff System. Sixteen teams. Let that sink in for a second, not two, not four, not even eight, sixteen teams. I already have my doubters, I know, but keep reading because like Mario Chalmers with two point one seconds left in last year NCAA Basketball Championship game, I’m about to make you a believer.

There are eleven Division 1 FBS Conferences, don’t make me name them. The winner of EACH of these conferences gets an automatic bid. Did that jock in the next cubical just snort? Did he say “Whoa, are you crazy? Some of those conferences suck.?” Punch him in the face, we’ll get to his gripe later. We still have five more slots. They go to the next five best teams in the country as ranked by the BCS… what? Yes, ranked by the BCS. We may complain about who gets into the championship game sometimes, and is it perfect, not by any means, but the team with a gripe is usually ranked third or fourth, not seventh or eighth. That’s right Penn State, you didn’t deserve to be in the National Championship game. You lost to IOWA!

Now that we have our sixteen teams, how do we rank them? This seems like an easy question, from one to sixteen based on the BCS or the AP or another ranking you like. Then one plays sixteen and so on, but for me, it’s not that easy. I see things through a different light… my dad says it’s turned off. Anyway, if you ask your grandpa what his favorite round of March Madness is, he’ll probably say the finals, the Championship. He doesn’t have time for the first few rounds, he’s going to die soon, he wants to know who the winner is already. If you ask your typical bracket submitter, they might say day one. The most upsets and nonstop action, what’s not to like? And they’d be right, there’s nothing not to like… except for in 2003 when Drew Nicholas hit an absolutely BONKERS three with no time left to lead Maryland over a spirited UNC-Wilmington squad and ending the career of one of my favorite players of all time who I will refer to only as "the Blizzard" (And Goldsberry I remember you went 8 for 8 from three as a Freshman. I cried from five on). BUT if you ask a real diehard, a real psycho, the kind of guy who loses it if you talk while his teams taking a first half free throw. He’ll tell you that the second round it the best. This is the round for the Kent State’s, the Butler’s, the Wicsonson Millwaukee’s, the George Mason’s, the Gonzaga’s (when it was cool to root for them), the UAB’s to really do something special. Turns out that wasn’t a fluke in the first round. We’re good! This is the round where Darnell Archie, Dan Dickau and Stephon Curry became your favorite basketball players and it didn’t matter that they would never be great or even good or in some cases even make it in the NBA because for some people… it’s not about that. It’s about much much more then that. So getting back to football. I have spent many a sleepless night debating whether randomly choosing the first round match ups would work better. This means that the winner of the Sun Belt doesn’t have to play the best team in the country in the first round every year, that Boise St might meet Utah in the first round and we would be guaranteed to have an upset minded team in the second round, set on locking down a spot in the “don’t delete” part of our memories. But randomness also means that Florida and Oklahoma could meet in the first round. And Ugh! We all know that can’t happen. We’re trying to get the TWO BEST TEAMS into the final game. So in the end I digress. It has to be done by ranking, sorry Troy.

So now we have sixteen teams in our playoff. There are a total of… fifteen games, eight, then four, then two, then one, for the counting impaired, and what do you know on Jan. 8th we have an UNDISPUTED NATIONAL CHAMPION!

I know that this has been an extremely basic explanation of the system. That was for a reason. So I do not repeat myself as I attempt do dispel all of the doubters out there who think that this system is garbage.

I will be doing that… now. In a question and answer format.

Well Dressed Man in the Back: What about the bowls? There are thirty-four bowls this year, your playoff system only has fifteen games. Isn’t that a lot of revenue lost?

Me: It shouldn’t be about the money… but it is, and luckily, I realize that. This playoff system will generate MORE…MUCH MORE money then the current bowl system and I honestly don’t think it will be that close. Let me break it down and walk you through it like I’m a seeing eye dog and you’re my blind master(No offense to the bind… but luckily, I doubt they’re reading this). Nobody cares about the EagleBank bowl unless you went to Wake Forest or Navy (the teams playing), work for eagle bank, or have a serious gambling problem. But people watch it because when football is on, people will watch it. The playoff system takes nothing away from these other bowl games. They meant nothing before, they still mean nothing. The same people will watch them, the same people won’t. Now let’s look at the Fiesta Bowl Alabama v. Utah WOW! I love football, but unfortunately I think I’m going to be cleaning out my stove at 8pm on January 2nd. This match up does nothing for me, and quite frankly it means as much as the EagleBank bowl to me. Neither team excites me and the winner… finishes a few notches higher in the polls? Who cares! Now make this a first round match up in the playoffs. I’m canceling my wedding to watch this game. I’m breaking my son’s leg so I don’t have to drive him to soccer practice. I need to know who is moving on to the second round, need to see how good these teams really are, and now rooting for Utah just became a hell of a lot more fun because they have a chance to, dare I say, go to the ball.

Well what about the sponsors? Easy. The big four, Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose rotate every year. One gets the Championship game, two get the semi-finals and one gets the quarter-final game of their choosing, and don’t give me lip that the sponsor getting the quarterfinal game will be unhappy. First of all it’s a rotation, and second, that game will be a current BCS quality match up AND will mean a lot more then the non championship BCS bowls do now. Then you take the other eleven games and let the other bowl sponsors rotate into those slots or lock eleven more sponsors in, I’m not pushy. You think they’re happy? You think those games are making more money then the bowls they used to have? I think so. Hell, I know so. Then, you still play the other bowl games. Why not?! As I said before it is a scientific fact that people will watch football when it’s on. Yes, they aren’t as exciting as the playoff games, but they aren’t any less important then they are now.

Doctor: What about injuries, it seems like teams will be playing a lot of extra games. We don’t want any more injuries.

Me: Good point… if it was true, but it’s not. At least not the way I see it being done. This year several teams played thirteen regular season games, add their bowl, that’s fourteen. Now there is also a little known rule that if you play at Hawaii, that doesn’t count towards your teams allowed 12 regular season games. That means under current NCAA rules a team could play fourteen games in a season. I understand that we don’t want teams playing three or four more games a year, but what’s two teams playing one extra game? I’ll tell you what it is, it’s an undisputed National Champion. My playoff system works with only two teams having to play fifteen games. Here’s how: We take out two non-conference games and we get rid of conference championship games. That’s three less games for each team that played the max. You think anyone from BC is going to cry over not playing Rhode Island and Kent State? You think Penn State will be crushed that Temple and Coastal Carolina won’t be on the schedule? I don’t. Cause they’ll get to play better games this way. Here’s why…

There seems to be a huge problem here. What about those teams that don’t make the playoffs? They play two less games…? Wrong! Here’s the brilliant part. It’s better for these teams too. These teams are matched up by record with other teams across the country to find the best possible match ups. Were you ever in High School? On a football team that didn’t make the state playoffs? I was, four times and we were matched up with another team that had the same ability as ours, to facilitate a good game. Being that my team was always 0-9, it gave is a chance to win a game. I cherished that game. For the fans, not only does it provide some pretty outstanding match ups to watch, it also allows us to see our beloved schools play new teams and form new rivalries. Then, these teams can still go to bowl games and as I have said before and stand firmly behind, these other bowl games lose no luster because there is a playoff.

Angry Mother: What about my son’s studies? Does that not matter anymore? Does no one care about my son’s education?!

Me: Calm down… psycho! Your son’s studies are of the utmost importance and the playoff system does not take away from them. The first two rounds of the playoff can be played the first two weeks of December then the student athletes can have two plus weeks off and the final two rounds can be played the first two weeks of January… lets say on the 1st and the 8th meaning the season would end on the same day as it does this year. That sound good, mom?

Leprechaun: What about the Independents?

Me: Notre Dame has been sneaking its way into BCS games for decades. Join a conference or be one of the next five best teams!

Man in the USC hat: Why should every conference get a team in? Shouldn’t we just let in the best sixteen teams from around the country in?

Me: I’m sorry, I didn’t realize this was a private party. Let me look in my memory and real off some results for you. In 2008 alone, Boise St. beat Oregon 37-32, Fresno St. beat UCLA 36-31, Utah beat Oregon St. 31-28 a week after Oregon St. beat USC. TCU beat Stanford 31-14, New Mexico beat Arizona 36-28, Ball St. beat Indiana 42-20, UNLV beat Arizona St. 23-20… do you want me to go on? Because I can East Carolina beat Virginia Tech 27-22 and West Virginia 24-3 and there are plenty more. Are you forgetting the single best moments of your life when Boise St. shocked Oklahoma 43-42 in a BCS bowl game? Or when Appalachian St. beat Michigan 34-32 to start of the 2007 season with a bang? Yeah, that’s a Division 1-AA team, and that was before Michigan stunk… well, it might have started it, but nobody knew yet.

Don’t you get it? Boise St. v Florida, I need to watch that game. East Carolina v. Oklahoma, who do I call to get tickets? Texas v Utah, I’m skipping church because I need to be on my couch if Utah pulls the upset off. I need to call my friends before they call me. These games are a HUGE part of the tournaments excitement. Sure, we’ll most likely get the big time schools moving on past the first round, we’ll get those big time games we want. But I PROMISE, that these smaller conference school will play hard, will play to win, and will give us a few upsets that we will never forget.

So let’s give it a test run. What would we be in for this year if I had my way, and how do I think it would play out..

1. Oklahoma v. 16. Troy - 1. Oklahoma wins.
8. Penn State v. 9. Boise State - 9. Boise State wins.
5. USC v. 12. Cincinnati - 5. USC wins.
4. Alabama v. 13. Va Tech - 4. Alabama wins.
3. Texas v. 14. E. Carolina - 3. Texas wins.
6. Utah v. 11. TCU - 11. TCU wins.
7. Texas Tech v. 10. Ohio State - 7. Texas Tech wins.
2. Florida v. 15. Buffalo - 2. Florida wins.

Round two:
1. Oklahoma v. 9. Boise St. - 1. Oklahoma wins.
5. USC v. 4. Alabama - 5. USC wins.
3. Texas v. 11. TCU - 3. Texas wins.
2. Florida v. 7. Texas Tech - 2. Florida wins.

Round three:
1. Oklahoma v. 5. USC - Oklahoma wins.
2. Florida v. 3. Texas - Florida wins.

Finals:
1. Oklahoma v. Florida - 2. Florida wins. We’ll see if I’m right in a few weeks.

See any match ups you’d like? Maybe a rematch between Oklahoma and Boise St. in the second round tickles your fancy? How about a final four of Oklahoma, USC, Texas and Florida!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? I see fifteen match ups I would watch. This would change lives. It might cure cancer, end civil wars, revive the stock market, but we’ll never know if we don’t give it a chance. I’m in… are you?