Nearly a year ago, the North Carolina Tar Heels (UNC) were on top of the world. The storied program had just won its fifth national championship — its second out of the last five years. Senior forward Tyler Hansbrough had completed his mission of bringing his school a title. It was a storybook ending, and perhaps a sign of things to come for one of the strongest basketball programs in the country.
In the world of Kentucky basketball, though, things were very different at the end of last season.
In a place where basketball is revered with an almost−religious fervor, many fans had already forced the sour memories of the season into the dark confines of their minds. The Kentucky Wildcats had failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 18 years and had not made the Final Four since their last national championship in 1998. For a program that has won seven titles, this failure was a public embarrassment.
Today, the two teams find themselves in very different positions.
The Wildcats are ranked No. 2 overall by the Associated Press (AP) and are viewed as one of the favorites, with March Madness just a few weeks away. Meanwhile, UNC, with an uncharacteristic and unimpressive 3−9 Atlantic Coast Conference record so far this season, will likely not make the NCAA Tournament, barring a miraculous run though the ACC Tournament.
UNC has lost 10 of its last 13 games, including a 71−67 setback to a mediocre Boston College team on Saturday. The rise and fall of the UNC and Kentucky programs demonstrate an interesting trend in college hoops: that teams can go fast from one spectrum — champions — to the other — the conference cellar.
One thing that makes college basketball different from the NBA is how difficult it is to win a championship, let alone to create a dynasty. Unlike professional athletes, college players cannot be on the same team for over four years. Furthermore, the best NCAA players tend to leave early so they can begin playing in the NBA. The core of players that makes up a team changes from year to year.
Herein lies a paradox. A team can win a championship if its best players stay for extra time, like Hansbrough and his supporting cast did at UNC, but if they do, much of the younger talent doesn't get enough playing time to truly improve. On the other hand, if players keep leaving early for the NBA, the team doesn't have enough time to gel and learn to play together.
In order to win in the long term, college programs must find the right balance between developing young talent for four years and having players jump to the NBA. And to do that, a college must hire a coach who can both recruit and develop players needed for a title run.
After another abysmal season under coach Billy Gillispie in 2009, Kentucky set out to find a new coach. The school settled on John Calipari, who has become one of the most recognizable coaches in the nation over the last few years after his success at Memphis. Kentucky immediately saw returns on its investment, as Calipari brought along with him one of the strongest recruiting classes of recent memory.
The 2010 Wildcats are led by freshman point guard John Wall, a dynamic offensive threat — he currently averages 16.8 points and 6.3 assists a game — who is likely to be the No. 1 overall pick in this year's upcoming NBA draft. He is joined by fellow freshmen DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton and Eric Bledsoe, who were all five−star recruits and will likely be joining Wall in the NBA very soon.
As Kentucky sits on top of the rankings and eyes an eighth national championship, coach Roy Williams' Tar Heels are likely preparing for an appearance in the NIT Tournament. So much can change in a year.
Then again, in college basketball, so much can change in a single moment — a team that nobody is focusing on now could be cutting down the nets in March. The only thing one can definitively count on is that there are many peaks and valleys in any team's quest for a championship.
There is no clear favorite going into this year's tournament. Last year, people were picking UNC in September to win it all, and the Heels did not disappoint. But this year's big dance feels wide open.
The Big East is stacked with quality teams, such as AP−ranked No. 4 Syracuse, No. 7 Villanova, No.12 Pittsburgh, No. 11 Georgetown and No. 8 West Virginia. The University of Kansas currently holds the No. 1 ranking, and the Purdue Boilermakers, with their methodical Big−10 style, are flying under the radar at No. 3. UNC's archrival Duke is sitting at No. 5 and is looking to make a deep run after returning many of its key players from last year.
There are certain teams that are consistently associated with greatness in college basketball. UCLA, Kentucky and UNC are examples of squads on a level above all other college programs in the country. However, the days in which it was possible for a team to win seven straight championships, as UCLA did from 1967−1973, are over.
Contemporary college basketball is far more competitive across the board. The unpredictable highs and lows that college basketball programs go through in search of a national title are what make the game compelling year after year. Nobody would have guessed a year ago that Kentucky and UNC would be in their respective positions today.
And no one can predict what surprises the 2011 season will bring. But before we even begin to think about next year, March is almost here, and it is time to let the madness begin.
