NCAA Wrap-Up

It's almost fitting that the Final Four was so anti-climactic. The real story remains the great first two weekends. It was quite a ride.

I'll grit my teeth and congratulate Billy Donovan. He did a fantastic job with that young team; they were incredibly balanced. He's buried the demons of 5 years of March debacles. Once you win a title, you can do no wrong.* Of course, they won't make the sweet sixteen next year. Write it down. You heard it here first.

Next year will be the first year of the NBA's new rule mandating one gap year after high school before a player can be drafted. We shall see if that makes what happened this year a one year thing. My guess is it will only slightly. Players will still jump as underclassmen straight to the pros. Occasionally, you'll have a Carmelo Anthony situation where a player who would have otherwise jumped straight to the pros leads his team to a championship, but the mid-majors will still be stocked with more experienced players. You're really only talking about a dozen more quality players added to the top-tier teams, at the most. So we may not see an 11-seed in the Final Four next year, but it will happen again soon.

8 months until college basketball starts...


*Jim Harrick is the only exception: he did no right before, during, and after leading UCLA to the championship in 1995.