Wide Open

Last week, after Gonzaga was defeated in the NCAA basketball tournament, I heard the charge that the Bulldogs were overrated and should not have been a number one seed. I say, "How can you know?"

I mean, if you have that kind of super knowledge, shouldn't you be making money hand over fist in Las Vegas? You should, and if you are not, I'm guessing you are guessing.

Here's what is going on the tourney and I'm writing this not because I'm a genius, but because I listen to people who know and this is what they are saying. That is: there is not dominant team in college basketball, like last year's Kentucky squad; and, the tournament is more wide-open than it has been in years.

It's not that Gonzaga was overrated. It was that there has to be 4 number one seeds. Compared to Kentucky last year, everybody this year is overrated. But that's not how it works. Four ones, four twos, and so on.

The tournament has been crazy this year and that is just what you would expect in a wide-open year. Sit back and enjoy.

MSU Didn't Belong

The Missouri State Bears did not get ripped off.

The truth is they aren't good enough to get into the tournament. That's not the same as saying they are not better than any team that did make it because I think they are better than a few of them.

But they didn't get in because they didn't beat any strong teams, didn't play any strong teams and lost to some teams that aren't very strong at all.

And when the Golden Ticket was on the line in the MVC tournament title game they lost. They failed to get past Indiana State, a team the Bears were three games better than over the course of the regular season. MSU didn't get it done. It's not the committee's fault. It's not the power conferences fault.

It's the Bears fault.

Wow

We've recently heard hints of the Big 10 Conference's desire to expand beyond it's 11 schools and add a 12th so the conference could put on a football title game between two divisions. There has been much speculation about which school might be in the mix, with Missouri prominent in the rumors.

This kind of talk is not new and I have long thought, as a Mizzou fan, that moving to the Big 10 would be desirable.

Today I read of a plan that is daring, bold and speculative. From Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer -

The Big Ten, with 11 members, is seriously considering expanding, either to 12 or to an even Bigger 14.

Expansion by one member is a plan driven by television markets. It should focus on Connecticut, and I have reason to believe that is exactly what is happening at Big Ten headquarters in Chicago.

The second expansion plan is bigger in numbers and is driven by Midwestern geography. I believe that is being considered in Chicago, too.

Reasons for UConn -

Luring UConn from the Big East would give the Big Ten a very big footprint in the television market bonanza of the Northeast. Media outlets in the nation's media capital, New York, cover the Huskies. UConn is a presence in the Boston market.

Competitively, adding UConn would have the approximate effect in basketball of adding North Carolina. It would be greater, if you factor in UConn's dominant women's team.

Adding UConn is surprising enough. Get a load of this -

The second plan to grow by three members starts with Missouri. If the Big Ten is going to go west, it would not gain that much from the addition of Missouri alone, in terms of markets. Illinois is already a presence in the St. Louis market, and the TV market in Kansas City in not big enough to be a deal-maker.

The Big Ten, however, would get a big push in national profile if, along with Missouri, it added Nebraska, which is almost back to being Nebraska in football, and Kansas, a premier basketball program.

It seems certain the Big 10 is going to make some move but just what we don't know. It will be fun to watch this story unfold.

The Third Best Thing I've Heard This Week

"We have always appreciated the commitment (athletic director) Mike Alden and his staff have had towards Missouri basketball and I am excited to remain here at Missouri," (Coach Mike) Anderson said in a statement. "We are looking forward to the future of this program and can't wait to continue building on the success of this past season."

This is reported by ESPN within the last hour.

I was just telling my wife at dinner tonight that, while not really important in the overall scheme of things, I was fretting about whether or not Coach Anderson would leave Mizzou. Thankfully, he's staying for the foreseeable future.

And the two better things I've heard this week? The sermon my pastor preached Sunday and that I wrote about here and the relief and joy in my wife's voice when she learned I had picked up supper tonight.

Life is good.

Mizzou Basketball

I have not written about Missouri Tiger basketball all season. Perhaps that is why they are doing so well. Or not.

Anyway, they are one of only eight teams left standing in the NCAA national tournament. Hats off to them!

As an aside, I really despise the term 'Elite Eight'. When I first began watching the tournament there was the Sweet 16 and the Final Four. Both of these terms mark the end of a four-day period, ending on Sunday, that sets the field for the next weekend. They are the 5 o'clock whistle that signals a 3-day break for body, mind and heart. However, somewhere along the way, and after CBS got it's exclusive hands on the tournament broadcasts, Elite Eight emerged as the name for the 15 hours or so after the Sweet 16 gets to eight teams and before the games to set the Final Four start. We sleep through most of this stage. It is obviously a contrived name. I blame Jim Nantz.

What I want to know is why they forgot the halfway point between The Field of 64 and the Sweet 16? What about The Thumping 32? Or The Thundering 32? The Titillating 32? The 32 Throwdown!! Remember, you read them here first. And they are contrived. And they are horrible. And awkward.

Where was I? Ah, yes, Mizzou is in the Ethereal Eight and will face Connecticut today. This team scares me, but the truth is, they all do. When you are down to the Electric Eight teams, they are all good. When get to the Eclectic Eight, it's tough! Only the best teams get to the Effervescent Eight!

In all seriousness, though, I think Mizzou can beat anyone left in the tourney. Of course, they could lose anywhere along the way, too. But I don't think the Tigers are a fluke. I don't see them getting much press, and that's OK, but don't go to sleep on this team. They could still have a few games left.

Finally, I was very glad to see that Alabama hired a coach and thereby took a vacancy off the table that may have had some attraction for Mizzou's Mike Anderson. He has done a great job and I think the team will get better as time goes on and it would be a shame to let him get away. I would anticipate a raise forthcoming for Coach Anderson when this season is done.

March Radio Madness

The basketball tournament frenzy is starting to ramp up and the other day I heard a sports radio talking head go on about some of the automatic qualifiers from the smaller (read weaker) conferences. He was of the opinion that he would rather see a ninth place team from a stronger conference than some winner of a small conference, saying he thought the ninth place team would be better and that the game would be more competitive.

The great thing about America is everybody gets to say their opinion.

Put me down as one sports fan who does not care.

What I do care about is that the national champ is in fact in the tournament. What I do care about is that the best handful of teams in the country who have a realistic chance to win the tournament are in the field.

And they always are. I really am not interested in arguing about the other 55 or 56 teams.