Double Trouble

The ACC is supposedly having a subpar year. They've had several consecutive 'down' years. The conference's last couple of down seasons even ended with the title. The Big East usually is mentioned as the new standard in college hoops.

But it is no surprise when super conferences get six-plus teams in the tournament. With that many teams, there will be years when they all are pretty good. The problem is, that only gets you to the Sweet 16, at best.

And except in rare cases, no one cares about the regular season. History is packed with trivia; there isn't room for all that stuff. All people will remember fifty years from now, if anything, is who won it all.

There are a number of freshmen and sophomores in the Atlantic Coast Conference who will make noise this season, and next. Two of the fastest-rising stocks are UNC's Harrison Barnes and John Henson. They are already very good young players. Both have the potential for much more.

Henson is "Marcus Camby 2.0" as one game announcer described him: grasshopper-proportioned limbs, a small forward's leaping quickness, the hunger to keep you from filling your basket. He's even developing a few post moves, including a running flip shot that somehow goes in.

Barnes was on all the high school all-star lists. He disappeared for the first third of the year, reminding me a bit of Kobe Bryant's Laker debut. He took too many save-the-day shots and passed at the wrong times. He wore a I know I'm good; I just need one more shot look for a while... then it started to click for Barnes. He has that court vision that (my estimate) only about 5% of college players have--the ability to adjust in mid-dribble. Barnes is going to be one of the best players in Carolina history... assuming he stays.

NCAA Basketball Tournament: 'Parity' Is Like Ash In My Mouth

Another March Madness, another busted bracket. I only do one bracket a year, and picked Kansas to whip Villanova in the title game. We're done with the opening two rounds of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, and this is no longer possible. That's a fact. Also a fact: After the first weekend, the most over-used word is parity. "We now have parity." Parity? Where? When did that begin? When Cornell makes the Sweet 16 four of six years--that's when we can say that the playing field is level. Let's see Northern Iowa actually win the title, and then reach the second weekend again in '11. Only then could we claim that there is a true sense of unpredictability. But those things are not going to happen. More than likely, these teams (and the entertaining St. Mary's College) will be replaced by a handful of other upstarts. Every March, we get so excited over the upsets that we get amnesia. Upsets happen every year. Brackets get destroyed quick and in a hurry.

The one recent exception was 2009, where all four #1 seeds made it to the national semifinals. There will never be true parity in major college ball. Although the usual murderer's row didn't appear in the tournament this year--represented by perennial powers like UNC, UCLA, and UConn--do you really doubt that they'll miss again next season? Schools like North Carolina are just on a different level. They have the recruiting network. The money. The boosters and alums. Big-time community support that, in most cases, has been there for over a generation.

You're going to see the same twenty or so universities making the tournament for another generation. There are exceptions to this old-school theory, like a Gonzaga, which has built a winning program in recent memory. But they still aren't part of the upper echelon--they're merely outstanding (so far). They're not Michigan State, or Duke.

Yes: that kind of powerhouse, where a great coach leaving or a losing season are just bumps in the road. Not the beginning of a retreat to obscurity. Remember when that team did good that one year?... This is why I'll always be most enthusiastic for the NBA over college. (Other than the obvious upgrade in play and talent.) At least the pro league doesn't pretend to be something it is not. Its flaws are there for everyone to see. Meanwhile, the NCAA proposes adding thirty-two teams to the Madness, yet pretends that the phrase 'student-athlete' is still written in the correct order.

Come on. Try and convince me.