Another opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament is history. Pretty good stuff, right?
Duke had to work hard, Missouri suddenly found the light switch, Kent State is another Mid-American Conference team surviving into the Sweet 16, Tulsa scared the Big Blue out of Kentucky, Creighton and Southern Illinois proved that Missouri Valley Conference basketball is not just tradition and reputation.
But hey, you want to know the dirty little secret of this three-week basketball festival? Like the bit players on a mini-series, the (don’t-call-us-Cinderella) Small Schools from the mid-major conferences are scripted only to provide a little local color.
This is sports’ version of the Millionaire Boys’ Club. The NCAA is in cahoots with CBS and the power conferences (the Big 12, Big Ten, Big East, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Pacific-10). Their mission in life is to line their pockets with rights fees and advertising money while keeping the Little Guys down.
Sure, teams such as Kent State, Southern Illinois, Creighton and Tulsa get their NCAA shot every March. But The System is like bull-in-the-ring. Those schools are the sand-kicked-in-the-face weaklings who get to take on a succession of bullies.
I don’t even need to cite a conspiracy theory. The facts are there in black and white each summer when the upcoming season’s basketball schedules are announced.
The single most-important tool used by the NCAA men’s basketball tournament committee to select and seed teams is the Ratings Percentage Index. The RPI favors teams in the power conferences because it measures a team’s won-lost record (25 percent), its opponents’ won-lost record (50 percent) and its opponents’ opponents’ record (25 percent).
In the good ol’ coach network, teams such as Tulsa, Creighton, Kent State, Southern Illinois and Butler get a “thanks, but no thanks” answer when they try to upgrade their schedules. Texas would rather play McNeese State and UT-Pan American than a home-and-home series with Tulsa.
Creighton’s double-overtime victory over Florida provided CBS with another One Shining Moment film-clip promo. It also exacted a little mid-major revenge. Two years ago, Florida ripped out Butler’s heart with a buzzer-beating first-round victory. Butler was coached by Barry Collier, now the Nebraska coach … who refuses to schedule Creighton.
Butler won 25 games this season but committed the unpardonable sin of losing in the first round of the Horizon League tournament. The Bulldogs didn’t receive an at-large invitation, but two average Big East teams Boston College and St. John’s did.
The best players go to the top schools in the biggest conferences with the most money. Tulsa had a wonderful team efficient, well-balanced, hard-working. But a former McDonald’s All-American (Tayshaun Prince) torched the Golden Hurricane for 41 in Saturday’s second-round victory. Tulsa’s players’ familiarity with McDonald’s involves super-sizing their orders.
Dick Vitale was crying elephant tears over the seeds given to Gonzaga and Western Kentucky. “The little guy doesn’t really have a shot,” Dickie V wailed.
And that’s because the big schools and the television networks want it that way. The small schools, the mid-major conferences, receive best supporting actor nominations, but they don’t win Oscars. Root for Kent State if you like, root for Southern Illinois. They’ll be gone by Sunday night.
For three weeks each March, the NCAA Tournament is the greatest sports show on earth. It’s also the biggest sham.
Another opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament is history. Pretty good stuff, right?
Duke had to work hard, Missouri suddenly found the light switch, Kent State is another Mid-American Conference team surviving into the Sweet 16, Tulsa scared the Big Blue out of Kentucky, Creighton and Southern Illinois proved that Missouri Valley Conference basketball is not just tradition and reputation.
But hey, you want to know the dirty little secret of this three-week basketball festival? Like the bit players on a mini-series, the (don’t-call-us-Cinderella) Small Schools from the mid-major conferences are scripted only to provide a little local color.
This is sports’ version of the Millionaire Boys’ Club. The NCAA is in cahoots with CBS and the power conferences (the Big 12, Big Ten, Big East, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Pacific-10). Their mission in life is to line their pockets with rights fees and advertising money while keeping the Little Guys down.
Sure, teams such as Kent State, Southern Illinois, Creighton and Tulsa get their NCAA shot every March. But The System is like bull-in-the-ring. Those schools are the sand-kicked-in-the-face weaklings who get to take on a succession of bullies.
I don’t even need to cite a conspiracy theory. The facts are there in black and white each summer when the upcoming season’s basketball schedules are announced.
The single most-important tool used by the NCAA men’s basketball tournament committee to select and seed teams is the Ratings Percentage Index. The RPI favors teams in the power conferences because it measures a team’s won-lost record (25 percent), its opponents’ won-lost record (50 percent) and its opponents’ opponents’ record (25 percent).
In the good ol’ coach network, teams such as Tulsa, Creighton, Kent State, Southern Illinois and Butler get a “thanks, but no thanks” answer when they try to upgrade their schedules. Texas would rather play McNeese State and UT-Pan American than a home-and-home series with Tulsa.
Creighton’s double-overtime victory over Florida provided CBS with another One Shining Moment film-clip promo. It also exacted a little mid-major revenge. Two years ago, Florida ripped out Butler’s heart with a buzzer-beating first-round victory. Butler was coached by Barry Collier, now the Nebraska coach … who refuses to schedule Creighton.
Butler won 25 games this season but committed the unpardonable sin of losing in the first round of the Horizon League tournament. The Bulldogs didn’t receive an at-large invitation, but two average Big East teams Boston College and St. John’s did.
The best players go to the top schools in the biggest conferences with the most money. Tulsa had a wonderful team efficient, well-balanced, hard-working. But a former McDonald’s All-American (Tayshaun Prince) torched the Golden Hurricane for 41 in Saturday’s second-round victory. Tulsa’s players’ familiarity with McDonald’s involves super-sizing their orders.
Dick Vitale was crying elephant tears over the seeds given to Gonzaga and Western Kentucky. “The little guy doesn’t really have a shot,” Dickie V wailed.
And that’s because the big schools and the television networks want it that way. The small schools, the mid-major conferences, receive best supporting actor nominations, but they don’t win Oscars. Root for Kent State if you like, root for Southern Illinois. They’ll be gone by Sunday night.
For three weeks each March, the NCAA Tournament is the greatest sports show on earth. It’s also the biggest sham.
Another opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament is history. Pretty good stuff, right?
Duke had to work hard, Missouri suddenly found the light switch, Kent State is another Mid-American Conference team surviving into the Sweet 16, Tulsa scared the Big Blue out of Kentucky, Creighton and Southern Illinois proved that Missouri Valley Conference basketball is not just tradition and reputation.
But hey, you want to know the dirty little secret of this three-week basketball festival? Like the bit players on a mini-series, the (don’t-call-us-Cinderella) Small Schools from the mid-major conferences are scripted only to provide a little local color.
This is sports’ version of the Millionaire Boys’ Club. The NCAA is in cahoots with CBS and the power conferences (the Big 12, Big Ten, Big East, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Pacific-10). Their mission in life is to line their pockets with rights fees and advertising money while keeping the Little Guys down.
Sure, teams such as Kent State, Southern Illinois, Creighton and Tulsa get their NCAA shot every March. But The System is like bull-in-the-ring. Those schools are the sand-kicked-in-the-face weaklings who get to take on a succession of bullies.
I don’t even need to cite a conspiracy theory. The facts are there in black and white each summer when the upcoming season’s basketball schedules are announced.
The single most-important tool used by the NCAA men’s basketball tournament committee to select and seed teams is the Ratings Percentage Index. The RPI favors teams in the power conferences because it measures a team’s won-lost record (25 percent), its opponents’ won-lost record (50 percent) and its opponents’ opponents’ record (25 percent).
In the good ol’ coach network, teams such as Tulsa, Creighton, Kent State, Southern Illinois and Butler get a “thanks, but no thanks” answer when they try to upgrade their schedules. Texas would rather play McNeese State and UT-Pan American than a home-and-home series with Tulsa.
Creighton’s double-overtime victory over Florida provided CBS with another One Shining Moment film-clip promo. It also exacted a little mid-major revenge. Two years ago, Florida ripped out Butler’s heart with a buzzer-beating first-round victory. Butler was coached by Barry Collier, now the Nebraska coach … who refuses to schedule Creighton.
Butler won 25 games this season but committed the unpardonable sin of losing in the first round of the Horizon League tournament. The Bulldogs didn’t receive an at-large invitation, but two average Big East teams Boston College and St. John’s did.
The best players go to the top schools in the biggest conferences with the most money. Tulsa had a wonderful team efficient, well-balanced, hard-working. But a former McDonald’s All-American (Tayshaun Prince) torched the Golden Hurricane for 41 in Saturday’s second-round victory. Tulsa’s players’ familiarity with McDonald’s involves super-sizing their orders.
Dick Vitale was crying elephant tears over the seeds given to Gonzaga and Western Kentucky. “The little guy doesn’t really have a shot,” Dickie V wailed.
And that’s because the big schools and the television networks want it that way. The small schools, the mid-major conferences, receive best supporting actor nominations, but they don’t win Oscars. Root for Kent State if you like, root for Southern Illinois. They’ll be gone by Sunday night.
For three weeks each March, the NCAA Tournament is the greatest sports show on earth. It’s also the biggest sham.
Another opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament is history. Pretty good stuff, right?
Duke had to work hard, Missouri suddenly found the light switch, Kent State is another Mid-American Conference team surviving into the Sweet 16, Tulsa scared the Big Blue out of Kentucky, Creighton and Southern Illinois proved that Missouri Valley Conference basketball is not just tradition and reputation.
But hey, you want to know the dirty little secret of this three-week basketball festival? Like the bit players on a mini-series, the (don’t-call-us-Cinderella) Small Schools from the mid-major conferences are scripted only to provide a little local color.
This is sports’ version of the Millionaire Boys’ Club. The NCAA is in cahoots with CBS and the power conferences (the Big 12, Big Ten, Big East, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Pacific-10). Their mission in life is to line their pockets with rights fees and advertising money while keeping the Little Guys down.
Sure, teams such as Kent State, Southern Illinois, Creighton and Tulsa get their NCAA shot every March. But The System is like bull-in-the-ring. Those schools are the sand-kicked-in-the-face weaklings who get to take on a succession of bullies.
I don’t even need to cite a conspiracy theory. The facts are there in black and white each summer when the upcoming season’s basketball schedules are announced.
The single most-important tool used by the NCAA men’s basketball tournament committee to select and seed teams is the Ratings Percentage Index. The RPI favors teams in the power conferences because it measures a team’s won-lost record (25 percent), its opponents’ won-lost record (50 percent) and its opponents’ opponents’ record (25 percent).
In the good ol’ coach network, teams such as Tulsa, Creighton, Kent State, Southern Illinois and Butler get a “thanks, but no thanks” answer when they try to upgrade their schedules. Texas would rather play McNeese State and UT-Pan American than a home-and-home series with Tulsa.
Creighton’s double-overtime victory over Florida provided CBS with another One Shining Moment film-clip promo. It also exacted a little mid-major revenge. Two years ago, Florida ripped out Butler’s heart with a buzzer-beating first-round victory. Butler was coached by Barry Collier, now the Nebraska coach … who refuses to schedule Creighton.
Butler won 25 games this season but committed the unpardonable sin of losing in the first round of the Horizon League tournament. The Bulldogs didn’t receive an at-large invitation, but two average Big East teams Boston College and St. John’s did.
The best players go to the top schools in the biggest conferences with the most money. Tulsa had a wonderful team efficient, well-balanced, hard-working. But a former McDonald’s All-American (Tayshaun Prince) torched the Golden Hurricane for 41 in Saturday’s second-round victory. Tulsa’s players’ familiarity with McDonald’s involves super-sizing their orders.
Dick Vitale was crying elephant tears over the seeds given to Gonzaga and Western Kentucky. “The little guy doesn’t really have a shot,” Dickie V wailed.
And that’s because the big schools and the television networks want it that way. The small schools, the mid-major conferences, receive best supporting actor nominations, but they don’t win Oscars. Root for Kent State if you like, root for Southern Illinois. They’ll be gone by Sunday night.
For three weeks each March, the NCAA Tournament is the greatest sports show on earth. It’s also the biggest sham.