No Question Now

I sometimes get asked why I like college basketball so much. While watching and studying sports is certainly a hobby, no sport means as much to me as college basketball. And, yes, I watch far more than just the tournament! I’m one of those dorks who studies RPIs and conference rankings all year long.

This year proved why college basketball is the greatest sport with the greatest event in the sports world–the tournament–with last night’s game being a perfect ending.

Yes, I am a Duke fan. I am not afraid to admit it. I don’t always pick them to win (I had them losing in the semifinals in my bracket), but they are the team I always pull for. I also have always been a fan of the “little guy.” Butler was a perfect representative of that “outsider” that so many love to cheer for in the tournament, and the type of team I have pulled for throughout my life.

Why Duke and why outsiders?

It goes back to my early memories of basketball. The first tournament I remember watching closely and following was 1990. I had seen games before that, but didn’t know enough to realize what I was watching. In 1990, I was all over the sport. Two things happened that year that cementing my interests.

• Duke lost the national title game, badly. UNLV rolled through the tournament and through the Blue Devils like a freight train. Duke lost 103-73, in a game that still stands as the worst loss in the history of the title game. Something in my heart just felt for them. Of course, the next year, they upset UNLV in the national semifinals and went on to win the title. My heart was in Durham and would remain there. I like other “big” teams (most notably Kentucky, dad), but Duke will always be at the top.
• Bo Kimble shot a left-handed free throw. Earlier in the year, Hank Gathers, the star of stars on tiny Loyola Marymount’s team, passed away. LMU went on to make the NCAAs and make an amazing run to the Elite 8, where they also lost to UNLV (ironically, also by 30). Bo Kimble’s left-handed free throws in honor of his friend and teammate won me as a fan of the “team that could.” Ever since, schools from those “other” conferences have had a place in my heart. (By the way, the next year I had 15-seed Richmond beating 2-seed Syracuse on my bracket. Yep, it happened, and further cemented my love of the little guy.)

This year’s tournament was the best ever played, even before Duke won the title. Northern Iowa’s upset of Kansas. Syracuse’s total dominance of Gonzaga. Duke and Baylor’s amazing game. Murray State’s buzzer-beater against Vanderbilt. BYU and Florida needing 10 extra minutes to decide a winner. Robert Morris pushing Villanova to the brink. Cornell’s run to the Sweet 16. Michigan State and Maryland’s epic tilt.

But it’s even more than the one team or the one storyline. It’s the simple fact that everyone has a chance! While some teams (Arkansas-Pine Bluff, for example) are extreme long shots, they still have a shot to win the national title.

I have some fun-loving “arguments” with folks about the BCS in college football. I love college football, but it’s hard to fully get behind a sport where everyone does not have a chance! If three teams go undefeated (or 5, like last season), sorry, not everyone can play for the title. It just isn’t going to happen. And don’t give me the “they don’t play anyone” argument. What if, for example, Ohio State, Florida, and USC are all undefeated. One just doesn’t have a chance. Sorry, it just doesn’t work.

Then we get the joy of the hoops tournament! While the football and basketball seasons aren’t the same, the tournament gives all those who have won their conference a chance. In football, do you really think the Sun Belt Conference champion has a shot? The answer is “no.” Then why are they in Division I-A? It just doesn’t make sense.

The NCAA tournament is the greatest spectacle in all sports, because there are hopes and dreams that are lived out with every shot. Those dreams are of a national title, not a Texas Bowl bid. I don’t like the idea of expanding the tournament, but simply that all 31 conferences have a shot makes it the best thing in the world of sports.

And after this year’s tournament, there is no question about that.

Enjoy the 2010 recap: “One Shining Moment,” and congratulations to Coach K and Duke on title number 4.