In this state, the usual hopes for Marquette and Wisconsinhave added intensity. Both teams are in the East regional, and if they wintwice they'll travel next week to Syracuse.And if each won again there... well, the next step truly would be MarchMadness.
Frank: Mark your calendar, buddy! Saturday, March 27, in Syracuse. The biggest college hoops game everfor our state!
Artie: Are we getting a little ahead of ourselves?
Frank: Sure, and why not? On that day, Marquetteand Wisconsinwill play for a spot in the Final Four!
Artie: Provided they both celebrate Sweet Sixteen with a win next Thursday.
Frank: It's a tall order, considering that MU got buried by Georgetown in the Big East semifinals and theBadgers were "one and done" in the Big Ten tourney.
Artie: But both teams certainly are capable of winning three straight. UWearned a No. 4 seeding and MU a 6—not bad for teams that Sports Illustrated left out of the NCAA field in its seasonpreview.
Frank: First things first. This week in San Jose, Calif., MU hasto beat Washington, then presumably No. 3 New Mexico.
Artie: The Pacific 10 was a little weak, but Washington's a good team, with some size anda great guard in Isaiah Thomas. New Mexico was in the Top 10 in the final polls. They canrun with MU and may have a little more size.
Frank: Meanwhile in Jacksonville, Fla., the Badgers face Wofford in the first round and, weexpect, either Templeor Cornell.
Artie: Don't sell Wofford short. They were a football cupcake for UW lastseason, but on the court they went 26-8 and won the Southern Conference, bothregular-season and tournament.
Frank: So the Badgers aren't a lock.
Artie: And against either No. 5 Temple or Cornell, the Badgers would face ateam like themselves—smart and disciplined. Temple,from the tough Atlantic 10 Conference, has two good guards and Cornell has theson of former Indianastar Randy Wittman.
Frank: So we might see Marquette and New Mexico play in the80s one day and UW might slug it out in the 50s the next.
Artie: Plausible scenarios, and winnable for our teams. In the Sweet Sixteen,UW most likely would face No. 1 Kentucky and Marquette might meet a familiar foe, No. 2West Virginia.
Frank: And after that…
Artie: Let's take our time and enjoy the best four-day weekend in Americansports!
ForWhat It’s Worth
Frank: As published blatherers, we're duty-bound to predict the SweetSixteen. In the East, I see Wisconsingetting there but not MU. So I'll say the Badgers, Kentucky,New Mexicoand Clemson.
Artie: I agree on Wisconsin, Kentucky and New Mexico,but my fourth is West Virginia.
Frank: In the South, I'm going with Duke, Villanova, Notre Dame and feistyNo. 13 Siena.
Artie: I say Duke, Texas A&M, Baylor and feisty No. 7 Richmond.
Frank: In the Midwest, I've got Kansas, Michigan State, OhioState and Georgetown.
Artie: I agree on Kansas, Georgetownand the Buckeyes, but I also like Maryland.
Frank: In the West, I have Florida State, Vanderbilt, Kansas State and Xavier.
Artie: For me, it's Gonzaga, UTEP, KansasState and Pittsburgh.
WhenBigger Isn’t Better
Frank: So if the 65-team tournament is fantastic, how about a 96-teamextravaganza?
Artie: Don't say it. The less people talk about it, maybe the less likelyit'll happen.
Frank: But you're such a big fan. Isn't the NCAA thinking of expanding thefield to make you happy?
Artie: Wrong. The motive is the same as with any change in big-time footballor basketball: money.
Frank: They have the goose that lays the golden egg, and now they want acarton's worth, huh? I heard Tony Kornheiser quote a TV sports executive assaying before an interview, "The answer to all your questions ismoney." Gee, that just might be true.
Artie: The 96-team talk comes from the fact that this summer the NCAA can optout of the last three years of its contract with CBS, then shop around.
Frank: If they did spout some noble-sounding reasons for expanding, whatwould they be?
Artie: Every year there are up to seven, eight teams who deserve to be in thefield but get squeezed out because there are only 34 at-large bids. But there'sno way that thirty-two teams aregetting jobbed.
Frank: Adding enough teams for three or four "play-in" gamesinstead of one, that's fine. But increasing the field by 50% would add a lot ofmediocrity.
Artie: None other than Dick Vitale agrees. He nearly went apoplectic Sundaysaying what a bad idea it is.
Frank: Wow, for once I'm with Dickie V. Division I teams play throughpreseason tournaments, conference schedules and made-for-TV conferencetournaments. After all that, shouldn't there be consequences for teams thatdidn't lead the way?
Artie: Apparently not. It's like middle-school soccer; everyone has to get atrophy. Coaches would love a 96-team field because it would help them atcontract renewal time.
Frank: Even if their teams were, like, .500 or worse in the conference andlost a dozen games or more overall?
Artie: Why not? What are the conference tournaments for? To give also-ransone last shot at a title they don't deserve, ain’a?
Frank: Players sure wouldn't squawk at a 96-team field.
Artie: That's the feel-good rationale—"It's such a wonderful experience,we should give it to more of our student-athletes."
Frank: How about giving them the experience of going to class more? The NCAAdoesn't worry about that as the conference tournaments and Big Dance eat up alot of March.
Artie: If the NCAA went to 96, the Big East would get maybe 12 teams in, andthe Big Ten would have maybe eight out of its 11. Why would there be anyimportance to the conference season?
Frank: There's not much now. A conference's automatic NCAA bid should go tothe team that proves itself over a 16- or 18-game schedule, not the team thatperhaps gets lucky and wins the conference tourney.
Artie: You're talking fairness; the NCAA and TV networks are fluent only incash-speak.
Frank: Seems like the conference tourneys are pretty pointless right nowanyway—except for the small leagues that'll get only one bid overall. The topteams all know they're going to the Big Dance no matter what.
Artie: I don't say the players don't give 100%, but subconsciously they knowthey have a cushion. Plus, the byes can skew who gets hot and cold. All of thatwould get worse with a 96-team NCAA producing so many more "safe"bids.
Frank: I heard Villanova coach Jay Wright defend expansion by invoking NCAAfootball. He noted that there are almost 350 Division I basketball programs,almost three times the number of top-level football programs, and that morethan half the football schools play in bowl games. He called those games"rewards" for fine seasons. But 44 of the 68 bowl teams this pastseason had four, five or even six losses. That's rewarding mediocrity.
Artie: The NCAA is catching up with pro sports in devaluating the regularseason. The NFL and baseball added wild-card playoff spots long ago, and theNHL and NBA cram at least half their teams into the postseason.
Frank: There's no doubt that wild-card schemes achieve their goals—keep moreteams in contention, therefore more fans interested, and therefore more cashflowing. I once heard a pundit declare that the idea of a devalued regularseason was therefore "disproved." I'd put it another way: The regularseason is devalued; it's just thatnobody cares.
Artie: Especially anyone who stands to make some dough.
