ne_seafort wrote:
>NCAA CONSIDERS ENDING BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS
>
>Syracuse, NY (UT) - The NCAA is reportedly deciding this week whether
>or not to eliminate its annual postseason tournament.
>
>The change was considered after an independent commission released a
>report last week that scathed the NCAA playoff system. Numerous
>reasons were cited, including insufficient study time and overall
>fairness.
>
>"I hope they do decide to do away with it," said commission
>chairperson Bobby Spurrier during a recent interview, "March Madness
>is exactly that. It is madness, and it is patently unfair. Traditional
>basketball powers like Kentucky, Duke, and Kansas will always be
>finishing in the Top 16, resulting in an unequal distribution of
>additional revenues to those schools. Smaller colleges like Boise
>State and Utah cannot compete."
>
>The tournament's length was also a point of contention. "It can take
>up to a month of class time away from the student-athletes," said
>sports psychologist Dr. Einhart Biggelsworth. "Who knows what long term
>effects this could lead to?"
>
>The commission contends that NCAA basketball should instead follow
>college football's example and institute a series of bowl games.
Actually, that last part should be taken somewhat seriously, in part;
get rid of the tournaments below the NIT, and replace then with a
group of four-team mini-tournaments hosted by one of the four schools.
It gives the seniors one last hurrah, and might even make some money
for the schools involved.
But I can't believe everybody missed the big story yesterday: in order
to comply with Title IX without having to go through the bother of the
women's tournament, the NCAA has announced that all basketball games
will be co-ed. Not that women and men will play together, mind you,
but that women will play two 15-minute quarters, and then men will
play two 15-minute quarters, or vice versa (the home team gets the
choice, which is important as the sex that plays the second half also
plays any overtime periods; on a neutral court, the women go first).