If you missed NCAA basketball on Saturday and Sunday, shame on you. CBS carried the biggest games of the weekend (Duke at University of North Carolina, Illinois at Ohio State, Syracuse at University of Connecticut), so you have no excuse.
This weekend in college basketball was earth-shattering (in the sports world, that is). Top-ranked Illinois lost its perfect season in a season finale drop to Ohio State on a three-pointer with six seconds left. No. 2 North Carolina scored 11 straight points to beat No. 6 Duke by two in Chapel Hill. No. 3 Kentucky blew a four-point lead with 1:11 remaining to lose to Florida 53-52 in what's hopefully a preview of the SEC tournament. No. 4 Wake Forest snuck by North Carolina State on a late runner by Chris Paul. No. 7 Kansas got destroyed by Missouri. And that's just the top seeds.
Currently, college basketball is undoubtedly the most exciting sport among national sports. If you're a sports fan, you should be watching college basketball right now. This sport easily tops the NBA in excitement and likeability. I'm convinced that if March Madness coincided with the MLB playoffs, people would watch the tourney (assuming the Red Sox aren't playing the Yankees). This nation has a disease (and the only cure is not more cowbell). March Madness fever is taking over again.
What makes college basketball so much better than the NBA and the other storylines in national sports right now?
College basketball has more parity this season than in many years past, which will mean a great tournament. Take the Big East, for example. The best teams in the Big East are Boston College, UConn, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse. But even next weekend, when we know who has won the Big East Championship, it will still be undecided who the "best" team in the conference is.
Boston College beat UConn and Syracuse, but lost badly to Pittsburgh. UConn beat Syracuse twice and split its two games with Pittsburgh, as well as losing to BC. Pittsburgh beat Syracuse twice, and yet Syracuse was ranked ahead of both UConn and Pittsburgh before last weekend because Pittsburgh has two losses to West Virginia as well as losses to Villanova, St. John's and Georgetown and UConn has losses to Notre Dame and UMass. Syracuse beat Villanova, West Virginia, St. John's, Georgetown and Notre Dame. Feeling a little lost?
The Big 12 has the same problem between Oklahoma State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M. The SEC is a little garbled between Kentucky, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi State. And the ACC? Let's not even go there.
Then there's the overwhelming amount of exciting players. Even without Carmelo Anthony, Ben Gordon or Dwight Howard, the NCAA still showcases some of the top talent in basketball. North Carolina has the flashy Rashad McCants and the powerful Sean May. Wake Forest's Chris Paul is one of the best point guards in all of basketball, NBA or NCAA. Duke's J.J. Redick can shoot the lights out, even though he missed to beat UNC on a last-second three on Sunday. Syracuse's Hakim Warrick can explode to the basket and dominate in the paint. At 6'7", Francisco Garcia of Louisville is a threat as both a sharp-shooting forward and savvy point guard. And the point guard trio of Dee Brown, Luther Head, and Deron Williams could lead Illinois to their first Final Four since 1989.
Additionally, college basketball is a nice breath of fresh air from the free-agent talks in the NFL and the steroid scandal in Major League Baseball. While the majority of the media is focusing on how much Samari Rolle and Derrick Mason can snag from the highest bidder or debating the size of Barry Bonds' head (it's wicked big), these kids are playing their hearts out to win a championship.
NCAA basketball is about a love for the game. Many of these athletes could easily have followed in the paths of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Lebron James, jumping right to the NBA to become multimillionaires. But they chose to pursue an education at college while learning the game from respected coaches like Mike Kryzewski, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim, Lute Olson, and Jim Calhoun.
Finally, there's the NCAA tournament, the most exciting three weeks in sports. In March, I end up declaring a three week holiday from ... everything. I get so caught up in tournament frenzy that on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, when there are no games, I will even resort to watching (gulp) NIT games.
Sixty-five teams. Sixty-four games. Only one can end the season with a victory. Unlike the NBA, it really is "win or go home." There's nothing like it in sports, anywhere (except maybe the Accenture Match Play Championship in golf).
Just last season, for example, seventh-seeded Xavier made the Elite Eight (which I picked in my bracket) and battled Duke, only to lose by three. Eighth-seeded Alabama upset both Stanford and Syracuse to join Xavier in Regionals, where they lost to UConn, the eventual NCAA champs. Tourney time is the only time of year when you care about teams like Creighton, Southern Illinois, Manhattan, and Pacific.
So if you really are a true sports fan, you'll spend your next few weekends planted in front of the television. You won't want to go out. Just watch the most exciting showcase in sports: college basketball.
