A Tournament Exclusive
An inferior way of finding a champion sure is exciting. March wasn’t just the month for contagious diseases four years ago. Everyone who likes sports gets infected with 48 games over four days serving as the only cure.
But a different process would create even more welcome madness. College basketball would find a truer champion with a smaller field featuring more selective appeal. Find a winner like one of those dating apps that claims to have cooler matches.
The format debate weighs thrills of schools that suddenly spike in DuckDuckGo searches versus finding the season’s best team. Schools you’ve probably heard of deserve the chance to show just how they became prominent in the first place.
Those accepted would never stop boasting about the Ivy League of basketball championships. A truer challenge’s parameters easy to devise. A 16-team field of all-at-large inductees would yield a truly worthy finale. That’s about as many teams with a legitimate claim to being the country’s top entrant, which is a good start for a bracket that’s supposed to determine just that.
Early rounds would become rivalries through mini-series. To avoid shocks inherent to single-elimination competitions, the first two rounds would feature rounds with two out of three on Friday, Saturday, and the day before classes if a tiebreaker’s necessary. A better team is more likely to beat the other if given more minutes. The semifinals could retain single-elimination matchups for the final four, which would preserve drama while recognizing teams that have made it that far have proven they’re prepared.
A lack of surprises wouldn’t just be great for avoiding anxiety. Choice teams tending to prevail would reflect the best programs getting to prove it. Anyone miffed at rejection from a Skull and Bones-style society has motivation to improve their social standing in hopes of an invitation in two semesters.
Surprises are more genuine when they’re not engineered. An exclusive playoff would make upsets more upsetting, at least to arrogant basketball royalty knocked down by commoners. Besides, student-athlete free agency has already leveled the court. Recruit kids with your university’s awesome majors plus a promising extracurricular. You can even make a couple bucks for textbooks these days without needing to receive an envelope behind a booster’s car dealership.
Recruit one-legged firefighters to ensure representation. A skewered take on equality includes entrants from different regions and levels instead of whoever’s fantastic anywhere in the nation. Fans who notice a setup that’s a bit too egalitarian wonder why a conference title entitles the winner to a shot at a national one, especially in the era where membership is chosen by dart.
A suitable backup prize would offer a chance to keep playing. College basketball could feature a concurrent tournament of conference title winners who don’t earn their way in with a solicitation. Not everyone deserves honor roll inclusion. Snobbiness is desirable if you seek the top team instead of a widespread pastiche.
Consolation bracket enlistees would get to compete with others who triumphed in smaller tournaments that look like they’re played in high school gyms with highlights videotaped on JVC camcorders. A free trip to the host city along with the chance at a Conference Supremacy Cup would serve as a fun deserved opportunity.
Postseasons should go nowhere for most collegiate participants. Most bowl games fittingly feature a chance to win a trophy with a sponsor’s name and nothing more. Victors don’t get to move on and shouldn’t.
That other prominent student athletic competition features a unique system where most teams with an even record or better get one more game against an equal foe. Or, at least it did. Expanding the football field will finally provide chances for multiple regular-season losers.
A competition with virtually open admission makes the regular schedule less appealing. Basketball’s usual slate doesn’t receive much attention with the ensuing overshadowing showdown. By contrast, the college game’s playoffs used to be the regular season. But they naturally ruined what worked. Soon, SEC teams will feel free to lose a second time and not fret about being left out. Those who demanded expansion got what they want. Intoxication is a challenge with dilution.
Enjoyment style would change for the better. A four-round affair would lead to higher-quality games rather than freakish matchups that catch better seeds by surprise. Fans would have heard of all the attending schools. It’s easy to forget who went on unlikely runs. Florida Atlantic wonders why you never text.
There’s no fretting about a more elite take on finding the season’s supreme team that’ll never happen. I’m as realistic about the suggestion as I am certain it’d lead to a truer title. The NCAA would rather sweeten crowd noise. They’re more likely to expand to a seventh round than even consider cropping the field in half.
The certainty of keeping the present lineup isn’t an atrocity even if it’ll remain gimmicky. It’s not like the champion is illegitimate. Top teams usually persevere even if some surprising candidates head back to campus after opening weekend. But there’s a definitive way to see who ought to be in dorms and not hotels.
The Rocky Balboas of basketball may pull off wins in early rounds even if they don’t win bouts. The 16th-best team winning it all would still astound. Going through with the games offers a reminder that nothing’s decided. Rosters that presume they’ll advance get back to schoolwork sooner than expected.
An invitational like that national one would serve as a reminder of just what the competition is for, namely to determine the best team. You’ll have to continue accepting stirring victories by slingshot-wielders against unprepared ostensibly superior underachievers as a substitute.
