-
1 of 10
-
2 of 10
-
3 of 10
-
4 of 10
-
5 of 10
-
6 of 10
-
7 of 10
-
8 of 10
-
9 of 10
-
10 of 10
The view from up here
Archive
Comments
Story
What a weekend for college basketball. Some brackets were busted. Others were made. For some it was just another day at the office. For others, it might be the start of a wild finish to the college basketball season.
With the annual ESPNU Bracket Buster having come and gone it would seem that there are a lot of assessments to be made now. That is assuming, however, that you actually followed all 50 games between the ‘mid-majors’ this weekend. With the dust finally settled, my only assessment is that there are really too many games, between too many teams that don’t really have a shot at the NCAA tournament.
Granted, Kent State’s win over No. 20 St. Mary’s might be enough to push them into an at-large bid if the Golden Flash don’t win the Mid-American Conference tournament. But otherwise, across the board, there weren’t that many fate altering games.
Take Boise State and Siena for example. The Broncos’ 93-70 loss to the Saints Saturday night doesn’t punch Siena’s ticket into the NCAA tournament and it certainly won’t take BSU out of contention for a spot in the dance.
The Broncos did suffer a minor setback, but they are still in control of their fate in the Western Athletic Conference and should still be considered the front runners for the WAC title.
Siena should have a little more swagger when they return to MAAC play, which could help them break the current four-way tie for first place in the conference. But I still don’t see the Saints, Niagara, Rider or Loyola (MD) gaining an at-large bid when all is said and done.
And it’s not like either team got the exposure they were hoping to get. With a select few Bracket Buster games actually televised on ESPN, the Broncos and Saints were pushed to ESPN360.com.
Six games were played on ESPN2 between Friday and Saturday, while the rest of the televised games were played on ESPNU. That meant that 36 of the other Bracket Buster games were played out of sight and out of mind.
With all of the top 25 teams in action Saturday it is tough to say the little guys deserved top billing. After all, ESPN2’s broadcast of No. 18 Drake’s 71-64 upset of No. 8 Butler was the only Bracket Buster game featuring top 25 teams.
My conclusion, then, is simple. There is simply too much emphasis on a week in the college basketball season that has little long term effect on the NCAA tournament. I don’t think that much harm comes from playing these games, so there isn’t any real reason to drop it from the schedule. I just don’t see the need to pay so much attention to it.
It isn’t like it will matter who won these games two months from now. In fact, I’m still not sure who won most of them now.
JAKE GARCIN
Sports Editor