With Mid Majors Gone, Tournament Not As Interesting

Now that Northern Iowa and St. Mary's have been eliminated from the dance by Michigan St. and Baylor respectively, the NCAA Tournament, at least to me, doesn't seem as interesting anymore.

I see the teams from the so called "power conferences" all the time from November till March. We know how good the are. They are so predictable. There is no intrigue, no suspense with these "name brand " teams. There is a renewed excitement when a Northern Iowa, St. Mary's or other teams from the smaller conferences advance in the NCAA Tourney to the elite 8 and, as in the case of George Mason in 2006, to the Final Four. Most of us Americans are "little guys". We work ordinary jobs and make ordinary salaries. In short, we live ordinary lives. The Dukes, Kentuckys and North Carolinas of the world remind me of the celebrities in life who are elitists and don't want anything to do with the common man. As I've said before, may college basketball fans root for the lower seeds because, in some way, they can relate with them. Northern Iowa is like your next door neighbor, or your barber or your friends you go out to lunch with. Duke and Kentucky are like Michael Jackson, David Letterman or any other celebrity who are too big for their britches and wouldn't give you the time of day.

What really gets me is the attitudes of people in the media such as ESPN. They all seem to want the power conference teams to win all the time. What is wrong with someone like George Mason or Northern Iowa crashing the party at the Final Four? If they can beat these so called "power conference" teams, then they must be better, at least on that occasion. As I was riding home with my Father, I heard Fred Coleman on ESPN Radio say that Kansas St., Baylor, West Virginia and Duke would make the Final Four. That's fine. That's his opinion. But then he added "At least we'll have all power conference teams". What an elitist, conceited attitude. Are your ratings really effected if the big boys don't get to the Final Four? Fred, are you afraid of losing your job? I am lamenting that Northern Iowa won't have a chance to beat Tennessee to go to Indy. I think they would have had a good chance. At least there is one mid major team left: Butler. They play Kansas St. Tomorrow at 4pm. Should the Bulldogs win, they will go home, home to Indianapolis where they will play in the Final Four in front of their home crowd. Butler has even more incentive to win Saturday. If Kansas St. wins, they will go to Indianapolis and will probably practice at Butler University. What an insult! That would be embarrassing for Butler.

Well, even though the Final Four will once again be made up of mostly power conference teams, at least there might be new faces. Perhaps Baylor, Tennessee and West Virginia will make it. The Vols have never made it to the elite 8 let alone the Final Four like their female counterparts. Baylor, unlike their female counterparts, has not made it this far either. The Mountaineers last trip to the elite 8 was in 2005 when they lost to Louisville. In their way are Michigan St., Duke and Kentucky respectively. Three power house programs with tons of Final Four appearances and championships combined. Butler, do it for all the Mid Majors. Make it to Indy. Please!!