This is honestly my fourth try at writing this article. And to be fair to, well, myself and to give myself excuses for a fourth try at writing something as simple as an at-large college basketball article, all my other ideas were about as stale as the three Peeps from Easter that have still gone uneaten.
Some other ideas bounced around in my not-working-hard-enough brain included:
- Talking about the greatness of the 2007 Florida team and historical comparisons to other great teams in the annals of college basketball. Uh, no. That's only been covered about 20,000 times in the week after the Final Four.
- Incoming recruits. Could have worked, but then I might as well have just written an 800-word link to Rivals.com and Scout.com.
- NBA draft sleepers. Possible, but the opening of it made those Peeps I was referring to look like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man.
So, I'm just going to talk about everything on my mind as it relates to college basketball. Think of this as like a blog post on HGH (or maybe just Muscle Milk).
The most fascinating thing in any newspaper or website during March Madness was the much-discussed feature about O.J. Mayo in the New York Times. I love the fact that the kid is talking about setting a new trend and creating a basketball legacy at USC. Except for the fact that everyone, including his coach, knows he is just there for the one year.
But the best part was the "no, I'll call you" quotes. Those had me practically rolling on the floor for about half an hour due to pure incredulousness. On the main (see: highest-rated, most relevant) local sports radio station in Dallas, The Ticket, whose hosts almost never talk college basketball, they mentioned the horrible karma of a star athlete going to USC with the name O.J.
And given what we know about Mayo, I wouldn't put it past him to be involved in a low-speed chase with Taj Gibson or Gabe Pruitt in the driver's seat in the year 2035.
I didn't like Bob Huggins before two weeks ago, and I sure don't now. Yes, everyone has a dream job, but you committed yourself to Kansas State just a year ago and probably told some of the best high school players in the country something like, "At Kansas State, we are building a great program and we'll be in the Final Four in no time."
While Kansas State still could have a great season next year with Frank Martin at the helm, and a great recruiting class that says they are still all committed to K-State, it just seems like the same guy that shot life back into a mediocre program sucked it all out and showed a disgusting lack of loyalty along the way.
Meanwhile, I don't feel that way at all about Billy Gillespie's move from Texas A&M to Kentucky. Why? Kansas State to West Virginia is not a step up in program stature. No one, except the most myopic A&M fans would consider A&M to Kentucky a lateral movement in job prominence.
I failed to read or hear the correlation anywhere between the last time the Sweet 16 had no double-digit seeds in the Sweet 16. It was 1995, and all of the best high school players from the Class of 1994 were playing in college in 1995. Who was drafted in June 1995 to break that trend and was the only one that year? None other than Kevin Garnett.
Speaking of correlations, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Mississippi State, Oklahoma, and Syracuse will all return to the NCAA tournament in 2008. All three have solid recruiting classes joining solid returning parts. Plus, all had measurably bad luck. According to college hoops uber-guru Ken Pomeroy, the Orange, Bulldogs and Sooners were among some of the unluckiest teams in the nation.
The number measuring something once thought to be unquantifiable is taken by using a Pythagorean winning percentage calculation and the team's actual winning percentage (there's some kind of schedule adjustment in there, too) and subtracting one from the other. In all, Syracuse missed out two wins they should have had, and Mississippi State and Oklahoma were unlucky to the tune of four should-of-had-'em wins.
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