I love college basketball. There's nothing quite like it. This season has been particularly interesting to me. Watching my Bearcats trying to scratch and claw their way into the NCAA tournament has been suprisingly fulfilling. So here are some quick hits this afternoon as I eagerly anticipate the madness that accompanies March. Andy Kennedy should be offered the UC job. President Zimpher miscalculated how much this town loved Bob Huggins and she's paid the price. All Kennedy has done is save her butt. He took a rag-tag group of scholarship players and walk-ons and has the Bearcats on the verge of getting into the tournament. Not offering him the job would be even dumber than firing Huggins. It's true I'm emotionally invested in this one, but it's time to make the right decision and remove "interim" from his title.
Mid-majors are overrated. Bracket prognosticators are saying that the Missouri Valley Conference should get five teams in the tourney, and the Colonial conference should get three. Are they serious? Since when should these leagues get more teams to the dance than the ACC? I attribute this misinterpretation of greatness to the oversaturation of college basketball coverage. If these lower echelon teams are going to get all this run, then I'd encourage teams struggling in their power conferences to drop down to lower ones and start kicking butt. This is getting ridiculous. Cinderella isn't Cinderella if her last name is Trump. Keeping with this theme . . .
Gonzaga is overrated. If they're the fifth best team in the country, then I'm Gheorghe Muresan. I watched these guys the other night need a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat San Francisco at home. The San Francisco Dons [what a mascot] used to be awesome . . . back in the 50's when they had Bill Russell. Gonzaga needs some real competition to deserve that ranking. My prediction: they're out by the second round.
Storming the court has gotta stop. Last night Florida State was given a technical foul when their fans stormed the court with 1.7 seconds remaining in their game against Duke. The game was in hand, but still, the game wasn't over. Fans rushing the court is bush league, especially Florida State who defeated Duke at home two seasons earlier [they rushed the court then too]. With all the drunk loonies in the stands, something is eventually going to go wrong and a visiting player will be hurt. If colleges can't control the environment, they should have to forfeit these games.
All I got for now. More as the madness draws nearer.