The term Cinderella applies no more aptly to any school than Gonzaga University. The no-name Bulldogs earned the nickname by advancing deep into the NCAA Tournament for three consecutive years. The success made shining stars out of Casey Calvary, Dan Dickau, Richie Frahm and Blake Stepp. However, as Gonzaga has increased success recruiting actual stars to it's Spokane campus, the NCAA Tournament success has dwindled.
In 1999, Gonzaga shocked the college basketball world and advanced to the Elite Eight. As a 10-seed, they upset Minnesota, Stanford, and Florida. They cemented "The Runner" in the lexicon of college basketball. The Zags even took eventual National Champion UConn to the final minute before losing, 67-62. The following year, Gonzaga did the unimaginable and returned to the Sweet 16. Again as a 10-seed, the Bulldogs defeated Louisville and St. John's to make the second weekend. In 2001, they did the impossible and returned once more to the Sweet 16. This remarkable run earned them the Cinderella moniker and title of America's Team.
2002 is the year in which the trouble started. The NCAA Tournament selection committee screwed Gonzaga by handing them a 6-seed, despite the fact Gonzaga was ranked 6th in the nation. Instead of showing the tournament committee up, the Bulldogs blew it and lost in the first round to 11th seeded Wyoming. The following year, the Bulldogs heroically took the #1 overall seed Arizona Wildcats to their absolute limit, eventually losing in double-overtime. In 2004, Gonzaga received their highest seed from the selection committee to date (#2 in the West), only to get smoked by the Nevada Wolfpack in the second round. In 2005, Gonzaga received a 3-seed, only to lose again in the second round, this time to Texas Tech. In 2006, Gonzaga received another 3-seed. This time, the Zags got out of the tournament's opening weekend for the first time since 2001. However, they blew a huge lead against UCLA and lost an absolute heart-breaker in Adam Morrison's final college game.
In the last two years, Gonzaga has seen disheartening opening round defeats. They were worked by Indiana as 10-seed in 2007. Just this past weekend, Gonzaga was upset by upstart Davidson. Despite their 8 West Coast Conference Championships, Gonzaga has advanced past the first weekend only once since 2001.
Gonzaga has only lost to a lower-seeded team three times in this 10-year span. Even still, only one of those games (2004 against Nevada) should be considered disasterous. He who giveth also taketh away. The light that shone on Gonzaga early in their run has turned to new keepers of the mid-major flame, namely George Mason, Davidson or whatever the Missouri Valley Conference has to offer. It would be easy to label the Gonzaga Bulldogs as overrated or choke-artists; looking at the facts, however, it seems they're just victims to the fickel fate of the NCAA Tournament.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Make This Happen
The NCAA Tournament is damn near flawless. Even still, minor tweaks could improve it. There are three sure-fire ways to fix the minor flaws of the tournament while keeping its spirit in tact.
1. Eliminate the opening round game. It’s a shame that the losing school of this game is even considered to be in the actual tournament. Even though both of these schools are champions, they receive zero respect. Their school name appears in smaller font on the bracket line, if it’s included at all. They also won’t appear on those tacky t-shirts that list the entire bracket on the back. They don’t get to experience the true NCAA tournament. Reward the champions and punish the at-large teams. The opening round should be eliminated, but the play-in concept should not.
2. Expand the play-in game format. There should be three play-in games on the Tuesday after Selection Sunday. All three games will involve questionable at-large teams that have a real claim for tournament inclusion. All games will involve power conference mediocrity taking on mid-major good-but-not-greatness This year’s line-up could potentially look like this:
Villanova vs. Illinois State
Arizona State vs. Temple
Dayton vs. Baylor.
Winners advance to the NCAA Tournament and losers go home to watch the real tournament begin without them. The tournament would be considered to have 64 teams, not 67. This would create a situation where actual champions (yes, even of the weakest conferences) are treated as such and the at-large runners-up need to prove their worth. This would also create a hot-topic for the water coolers and blogs by pouring gasoline on the Major/Mid-Major fire. Possible names for this event include “Prove-It Tuesday” or “The Official Major/Mid-Major Bracketology Buster sponsored by Pontiac and the lame college basketball themed made-for-TV movie ESPN is trying to shove down our throats this year.”
3. Enforce a .500 winning percentage requirement. The NCAA Tournament is not in existence to deliver exciting games for the casual television spectator. Its purpose is to determine a National Champion. Would the 7th place team from the ACC with a 7-9 conference record have a better chance of advancing than a 12-4 2nd place team from a respectable mid-major conference? Probably. However, does the former team deserve to be in the tournament over the latter? Absolutely not. We know they’re not good enough to win it all. They weren’t even good enough to finish in the top half of their conference.
These three steps would make the NCAA Tournament fairer and more exciting; at the same time, these steps would stave off far-fetched ideas such as implementing a 128-team format or inviting only the 64 “best” teams. Small tweaks would allow the heart of the tournament to remain in tact while simultaneously keeping the magic of March Madness alive.
1. Eliminate the opening round game. It’s a shame that the losing school of this game is even considered to be in the actual tournament. Even though both of these schools are champions, they receive zero respect. Their school name appears in smaller font on the bracket line, if it’s included at all. They also won’t appear on those tacky t-shirts that list the entire bracket on the back. They don’t get to experience the true NCAA tournament. Reward the champions and punish the at-large teams. The opening round should be eliminated, but the play-in concept should not.
2. Expand the play-in game format. There should be three play-in games on the Tuesday after Selection Sunday. All three games will involve questionable at-large teams that have a real claim for tournament inclusion. All games will involve power conference mediocrity taking on mid-major good-but-not-greatness This year’s line-up could potentially look like this:
Villanova vs. Illinois State
Arizona State vs. Temple
Dayton vs. Baylor.
Winners advance to the NCAA Tournament and losers go home to watch the real tournament begin without them. The tournament would be considered to have 64 teams, not 67. This would create a situation where actual champions (yes, even of the weakest conferences) are treated as such and the at-large runners-up need to prove their worth. This would also create a hot-topic for the water coolers and blogs by pouring gasoline on the Major/Mid-Major fire. Possible names for this event include “Prove-It Tuesday” or “The Official Major/Mid-Major Bracketology Buster sponsored by Pontiac and the lame college basketball themed made-for-TV movie ESPN is trying to shove down our throats this year.”
3. Enforce a .500 winning percentage requirement. The NCAA Tournament is not in existence to deliver exciting games for the casual television spectator. Its purpose is to determine a National Champion. Would the 7th place team from the ACC with a 7-9 conference record have a better chance of advancing than a 12-4 2nd place team from a respectable mid-major conference? Probably. However, does the former team deserve to be in the tournament over the latter? Absolutely not. We know they’re not good enough to win it all. They weren’t even good enough to finish in the top half of their conference.
These three steps would make the NCAA Tournament fairer and more exciting; at the same time, these steps would stave off far-fetched ideas such as implementing a 128-team format or inviting only the 64 “best” teams. Small tweaks would allow the heart of the tournament to remain in tact while simultaneously keeping the magic of March Madness alive.
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