Looking at the thread in Sports Talk entitled "The Worst Final Four Ever", it made me wonder.....

Is the parity in College basketball good or bad for the game?

It is obvious that the sport is getting what some call "watered down" talent wise because of players heading straight for the pro's, which in turn levels the playing field and gives teams such as George Mason a real chance to make a run in the tourney.

George Mason's run is remarkable anyway you look at it, and I personally think it is great for the game, but more and more you see lower seeded teams not only make a first round upset, but make legitimate runs in the tourney (George Mason, Bradley, Wichita State, etc., all made at least the sweet 16)

Is college basketball better being like Women's basketball, where you have only a handfull of teams (UCONN, PURDUE, UNC, CAROLINA, TENNESEE, ETC.) that have a realistic shot at winning the Championship, with very few "Big Upsets"....

Or better off like the apparent trend in Men's basketball where every team has a shot to win, and every game, no matter the matchup, is a toss-up?



P.S. I think this is one of the BEST Final Four's Ever, so you know where I stand on this issue.

3/28/2006 1:31:51 PM

its good if you are a fan of an underdog

but if you are a fan of a team that should be winning some games it can be very frustrating

3/28/2006 1:34:04 PM

I don't think this is a permanent change in the level of parity of D1 basketball...

This year is just remarkable because so many teams are weaker than usual. I don't think the landscape will look like this next year.

3/28/2006 1:35:59 PM

This final four sucks because there are no giants to people to pull either for or against.


Its great that GM has the opportunity to make the run....but its NOT good when EVERY big name gets knocked out.


I probably dont want to see a final 4 between the best teams in the country....i wouldnt know who to pull against the most. Ideally I think you need a few upsets, then a few of the other great teams to make the final 4. Its great when one gets beat, but not when they all do.

imo

3/28/2006 1:37:35 PM

I think the answer lies somewhere between how the casual fan will receive these recent turn of events and in effort help the ratings by viewing this Final Four as opposed to last yet and what real sports fans expect to see, the people who the teams more closely purchased the apparel and help to keep the sport on top.

I don’t know where the casual fan stands as far as wanting to watch this Cinderella story develop but it seems, like me, the sports fans enjoy it. But this is only one side of the coin for figuring out if parity is good or bad.

The next thing that determines how parity will affect college basketball are the athletes current or future, especially in terms of recruiting and how this will affect the great athletes to continue to go the good schools or start looking seriously at the mid-majors. I think there is misconception that only the great athletes attend the great schools. Or that in order to get make it big, you got to play for the UCONN’s, the Duke’s or the UCLA’s that are out there which isn’t true.

I think it will take some time to truly how this affects college basketball. We won’t see the answer after this weekend or even within the end of next year. However, I seem to think this should be good, but there isn’t enough evidence out there for a clear answer yet.

3/28/2006 1:43:57 PM

Every year, we talk about how anything can happen in March.

But it doesn't.

Look back at the last 15 years, and the winner has always been a top-4 seed (and, IIRC, only one 4; all the rest were 1-3). The '80s had some crazy years--three Cinderella winners over a five-year span in State, Nova, and Kansas.

Even this year, the trend has held for three of the Final 4. A 1-seed getting knocked out isn't itself a big deal; it's just fairly unique that all of them got knocked out this year.

But look at the recruiting classes coming in next year, and who's at the top? Ohio State, Duke, UNC...not quite a boon for the mid-majors. The top recruits will continue to go to the big-name schools with the big-name coaches. I really don't think GMU having one run is going to change that. Even if they do win the title this year, I think it'll go down as a one-time thing, not a program-building event.

The reason basketball has seemed so crazy this year is because the teams that we expect to be strong just aren't. Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Arizona, Michigan State...these are big names, but they're all very weak right now. If you looked past the names to who was playing good basketball all year, the winners in this tournament aren't that big of a shock. LSU was the best in the SEC, UCLA was the best in the Pac-10....even Florida--I didn't expect to see them go deep, but Nova just didn't have the size to make a consistent run this year.

3/28/2006 1:51:48 PM

This is a good thread with knowledgeable replies.



You dont see this too often on T-Dub.

watch it get locked.

3/28/2006 2:03:35 PM

if they win, how long are people going to cheer for george mason?

like 4 games into next season
until they lose to teams like hofstra

and everyone will say "i pulled for these guys?"

at least with big name teams you can create long time fans

george mason is the equivalent of fucking Avril Lavigne
she had one big hit, resonated with enough people for a while, and will be a punchline for the rest of her life

3/28/2006 2:24:34 PM

due to the most recent post before mine.....I stand corrected.

Quote :

"This is a good thread with some knowledgeable replies."

sorry Woodfoot.... but Aviril Lavigne?

Damn, thats some analogy, LOL.

3/28/2006 2:27:48 PM

Quote :

"The reason basketball has seemed so crazy this year is because the teams that we expect to be strong just aren't. Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Arizona, Michigan State...these are big names, but they're all very weak right now."

This hit the nail on the head. I think it is just a one year deal and next year the powers will be back. Kansas is my pick right now to win it all next year if they all stay and don't go pro.

3/28/2006 2:28:10 PM

^I'll wait and see on that one. I'm not sold on Self's ability so far.

3/28/2006 2:29:24 PM

Quote :

"This final four sucks because there are no giants to people to pull either for or against"

see, to me...that is why this final four is so much more appealing to fans
its a great story that is unfolding and I had rather see these four teams than duke unc uconn or kentucky

most of these teams were not even being considered championship calibre teams

3/28/2006 2:40:33 PM

Well I think that is what separates the casual fan from the real sports fan. While I usually pull against Maryland, Dook, UNC and UConn ( I have realized that UConn is the one school outside the ACC I hate this past weekend), thier absense hasn't made me loose any interest in the Final Four, especially since the one team truly pull for isn't in it. For a casual fan I am not so sure. I think people are more interested when they can identify a team so that they can be a part of that moment. GMU can still generate that type of interest if marketed right, but the bigger names pretty much sell themselves.

It's all about the story that is drawn before the game to grasp the casual fan's interest.

[Edited on March 28, 2006 at 3:17 PM. Reason : .]

3/28/2006 2:54:32 PM

Quote :

"UNC, CAROLINA,"

did you mean Duke for 1 of those?

3/28/2006 3:02:52 PM

for me, it's not hard to enjoy the smaller schools knocking off big names or the underdogs coming through because maybe they aren't really that bad of a matchup for the "better" team.

as long as it creates excitement, I don't see how anyone could say it's not good for college basketball.

of course, it's a good point that everything is different for a casual fan, but maybe that's a different discussion...

3/28/2006 3:13:59 PM

Quote :

"Kansas is my pick right now to win it all next year if they all stay and don't go pro."

I gotta go with either Carolina or Ohio State

OSU has Oden coming in for one year, he's going to be HUGE next year. After he signed to OSU a couple other big recruits signed on to make a run with him. Add that to the talent already there this year and I dont think anyone is going to stop them

3/28/2006 3:15:53 PM

Quote :

"did you mean Duke for 1 of those?"

yes, sorry.

good catch!

3/28/2006 4:06:38 PM

OSU is loosing half their team from this past year

3/28/2006 4:43:47 PM

my take: simple.

i think this is fun. however i think it would have been MORE fun if say "big name" teams filled out 2 or 3 of the other spots besides george mason. so that they could continue to be huge underdogs. you know take out ANOTHER #1 team on their way to the final? that sorta thing. that would be even better.

3/28/2006 4:47:56 PM

if florida beats gmu

prepare for one of the lowest rated NC's in years

3/28/2006 4:48:56 PM

I think duke beat a team by 70 or something in the first round

basically a middle school guys team prob could have beat that shitty team

I'll take the parity in the men's game

3/28/2006 5:50:59 PM

Parity in college basketball, unlike the NFL and college football, is good.

At the end of the day, the teams with the most money will win 9 years out of 10 in basketball. Most of those teams get their money not because they're great or care about basketball, but because they have successful football programs.

Look at the Final Four, 2 of the 4 teams in it have fans that would rather win their division in the SEC in football than the basketball national championship, and UCLA's blingin.

George Mason fans are going to love this because they know it's not going to again probably. (Indiana State, since their great run in '79 with Bird, have made the tournament a grand total of once and have not a won a game in the tourney in the past 27 years.). Even if George Mason wins the title this year (and that's a big if, they have Florida and then UCLA or LSU), big schools are not going to go play them and will not schedule them for gimmee games. Maryland will not be looking to make them a regional rival like George Washington.

Big schools will do what they can to ensure no new competition, that's why the BCS was created. Schools like George Mason still have to go play on the road to make money for their athletics programs, unless ESPN puts them on national TV like Gonzaga.

That's why parity is good, cause even if parity occurs, a team like Mason won't be in the Final Four every year, let alone national championships.

Assume for a second Washington upset UConn in the Sweet 16 and then beat George Mason. We'd have a Final Four consisting of Washington, UCLA, LSU, and Florida. Outside of fans at the first two and some fans at the last two, would anyone else have cared? That's the most boring Final Four you could've come up with at the beginning of the tournament.

[Edited on March 28, 2006 at 6:04 PM. Reason : .]

3/28/2006 6:02:56 PM