We Demand Playoffs

Michael Wilbon makes some interesting points in his Washington Post article Crushing The Glass Slipper. Wilbon basically argues that the imbalance in football is spilling over into basketball and hurting March Madness.

What the [NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Selection] committee wants, its actions tell us, is the college basketball equivalent of the football bowl season. That is to say a postseason for the biggest schools to hoard all the money and have all the exposure, which will lead to a greater recruiting advantage and more wins, no games on the road against mid-majors and continually higher seeding in the tournament (or a better bowl game). It’s the ultimate self-fulfilling prophecy, and an organization made up of institutions of higher learning ought not be so intellectually dishonest. But this is what we’ve come to expect from college football, and now increasingly college basketball.

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But the committee members, increasingly, crunch the numbers, emerge and try to convince us conference affiliation has nothing to do with their decision-making, which means some of the members are lying either to themselves or to us, and either way they’re hurting the tournament . . . and the deserving schools they exclude. Please don’t insult me with the excuse, “Well, Saint Mary’s couldn’t win the whole tournament.” Neither can Arizona . . . or Wisconsin.

With more and more emphasis seemingly placed on money, one has to question if college athletics really can be considered “amateur” anymore. Rewarding teams based on expected TV ratings, fanbase size, expected ticket sales or other monetary factors in lieu of on-the-field or on-the-court achievements is certainly a violation of the spirit of amateur sports and good sportsmanship in general.

Shame on those who are responsible for taking the fun out of America’s beloved games. America, it’s time to stand up and demand fairness.