Parody As We Know It

As we conclude the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, one thing has become increasingly clear when looking at the final sixteen teams remaining. The top programs in the country have reestablished their dominance over the 393 school landscape of college basketball. Every one of the top three seeds have advanced, and the lowest remaining seed, Arizona, is one of the preeminent programs in the country. So what happened to the Davidsons and George Masons of the world?

As far as I can remember, the NCAA Tournament has been the residence of Cinderella; the place where any team that makes it can grind out an upset that will have the whole country buzzing, delivering us images of Steph Curry and his textbook stroke gracing newspapers and websites everywhere. This year, there are no such images; instead we are given the powerhouses, five Big East teams demonstrating that they are, in fact, the consensus conference of choice.
Jay Bilas made the argument that this year is a “down” year for the mid-major teams, but that seems to go against the grain of what is happening with basketball in this country. With top college players staying in school for only one season, it would appear that the top programs would have difficulty reloading with talent as they have in the past. This would seemingly level the field and provide increased opportunities for the smaller programs to achieve the much desired upset.

In football, we all believe that the best teams come from the BCS conferences and the traditional powers. There will always be a Boise State, but in general, most agree the only programs that have a real chance at the National Championship come from the big six. In basketball, however, we have been trained to think differently. The fact that there are no mid-majors remaining in the Sweet 16 certainly must make us think twice about the reality of parody in college basketball today. Regardless of who comes out on top, it will be a program that is no true surprise; a team that countless fans, pundits, and “experts” chose before Thanksgiving.

So does this Tournament bring us true excitement? I certainly think so. While it is always nice to see a story such as Davidson, the reality is, we, as Americans, are only interested in sports at their highest level. The remaining programs have the best talent, coaches, staff, facilities, and resources. This year, decades of developing powerhouse programs have certainly paid off, as we are left with the cream of the crop.

- Andrew Chun WG'09