College hoops badly needs March Madness
Nancy Armour: Sport gets fresh start after suffering through a terrible year
This has not been college basketball’s finest season.
A trial laid bare the seedy details of the recruiting game, confirming just how widespread the rot is in the sport, if not all of college sports. The coach of one of the country’s top teams gets suspended after he’s heard on wiretaps talking about the “strong-ass offer” allegedly made to a prospective player. A blown-out shoe threatens the season of Zion Williamson, the most exciting player in decades.
Add in almost nightly instances of horrible officiating, and it’s almost enough to make even the most die-hard fan wonder why we continue to watch.
Come Thursday, however, our faith will be restored. For the next three weeks, all of college basketball’s ugliness will be forgotten, if not forgiven, as we revel in what is arguably the best event in all of sports. If March Madness doesn’t thrill your soul, well, you probably don’t have one in the first place.
The beauty of the NCAA tournament is in its equality. Is Duke more likely to wind up in Minneapolis than, say, Yale, Iona or even Purdue? Of course. But it’s not a given. Look no further than last year’s tournament, when UMBC (Maryland-Baltimore County) pulled off the upset of all upsets, the first 16 seed to take down a No. 1.
Not just any No. 1, mind you, but the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament, Virginia. Team chaplain Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt celebrated last March as her Loyola Ramblers captured the NCAA South Regional title.
For two glorious days, pretty much the entire country became fans of the Retrievers — Chesapeake Bay, not golden, as we all know now. We celebrated the audacity of the interloper and took delight in the blow it struck for “little guys” everywhere.
When UMBC lost — we haven’t forgotten, Kansas State — there was Loyola. As if making its first tournament appearance in 33 years wasn’t appealing enough, the Ramblers’ patron saint was a 98-year-old nun, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt.
It didn’t matter if you were Catholic,
Buddhist or had no religious affiliation whatsoever. A nonagenarian nun who does scouting reports and is beloved by teenagers and 20-somethings for her unconditional love and support is someone we can all root for. Plus, you learned what nonagenarian means.
Loyola’s improbable run led all the way to the Final Four, a lofty achievement similar to that of Virginia Commonwealth, George Mason and Penn. Yes, while some of the biggest names in the game were back home on their couches, the Ramblers had command of the biggest stage.
But there’s more to the tournament than warm-and-fuzzy moments. (Though who among us hasn’t queued up replays of “One Shining Moment” when we’re feeling particularly blue?) While some of the games border on the unwatchable, most are thrilling, either featuring high-level play or so tightly contested the result is in doubt until the final seconds.
Butler-Purdue comes to mind. So does Nevada-Cincinnati. Kansas-Duke was epic, and not just because it sent the Jayhawks to the Final Four last year. The title game wasn’t much to remember, but Donte DiVincenzo’s play was. The redshirt sophomore from Villanova played himself into the NBA against Michigan, coming off the bench to go 7 of 10 in the first half and finishing with 31 points, a record for a non-starter in the NCAA title game.
Deep down, we know college basketball is deeply flawed. Probably more so than any other sport, really, because of how small the rosters are and how large the influence of outside power brokers is.
This season was a confirmation of it. Some of the game’s most famous coaches and most successful schools found themselves in a very uncomfortable spotlight because of the trial involving recruiting hustlers Christian Dawkins, Jim Gatto and Merl Code. Williamson’s injury caused by a busted shoe, and Nike’s spare-nothing response, was a case study in the exploitation of college athletes.
But just as the teams in the tournament are starting fresh, so, too, is college basketball. Never has the sport needed this do-over more.