College basketball is struggling. Attendance has dropped each of the past seven years, as have television ratings, with ESPN’s current average down 6 per cent from last season.
Scoring is at an all-time low and the rough, physical play is reminiscent of the NBA in a bygone era.
A 35-second shot clock, control-freak coaches who micro-manage every possession, pampered, underskilled kids from AAU programs and ‘one and done’ stars putting in a year on campus before entering the NBA draft are changing the game, and it’s not for the better.
Even its ardent supporters are critical. ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, a former Duke star, calls the current college game “unwatchable”.
But starting this week all of that will be forgotten, as fans and the media focus on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, an FA Cup-style knockout competition also known as ‘March Madness’ or ‘The Big Dance’.
Not only does March Madness inspire millions of Americans to fill out ‘brackets’ and gamble billions of dollars (pseudo-illegally), it’s one of US sports’ biggest and best annual events and rarely fails to disappoint in terms of emotional storylines.
You want tears? In 1990, Loyola Marymount went on an amazing run, knocking off three higher-rated opponents following the sudden death of their best player, Hank Gathers, who collapsed and died on the court during their conference tournament.
You want David vs Goliath? In 1985, #8 seed Villanova stunned Patrick Ewing and powerful Georgetown 66-64. Villanova is still the lowest seed to win the championship.
Already the 2015 tournament has thrown up some unbelievable feel-good stories, with Australian Peter Hooley taking centre stage after hitting the game-winning three-point shot for the University of Albany.
Hooley, a guard from Adelaide, had recently rejoined the team after flying home to be with his mother, who passed away from cancer six weeks ago. With Albany down by two points, Hooley gathered a rebound and let a shot fly. It ripped the net and the Great Danes punched their ticket to the tournament.
An emotional Hooley was mobbed by teammates and fans, as the ESPN announcers re-told his remarkable personal tale.
And that’s the thing about college hoops.
It’s not the prettiest basketball, and it’s light years away from the NBA – which has been rejuvenated by young stars like Stephen Curry – but there is no shortage of amazing stories that continue to emerge year after year.
This year you have Kentucky, full of high school All Americans and coached in a pro style by John Calipari. The Wildcats are 34-0 and are hoping to become the first team since Indiana in 1976 to win the championship without losing a game.
You have Cal-Irvine. This is the first tournament appearance for the team nicknamed the Anteaters, and led by a guard named Luke Nelson, who grew up playing the game in Worthing, England.
You have Aussie kids at Albany, Eastern Washington, Lafayette, Boise State, Louisville, LSU, Butler and Baylor. And you have hope that if your team gets hot at the right time – like Cleveland State in 1986 or Gonzaga in 1999 – it can make a run to the Sweet Sixteen or the Elite Eight, or even, like George Mason in 2006, all the way to the Final Four.
Know what it’s like? The National Hockey League. The NHL plays an 82-game regular season that is for all intents and purposes, a battle to get into the playoffs or get a better post-season seed.
Like college basketball, the NHL regular season is a grind. It’s long and ugly. But once the playoffs come, the intensity lifts, the quality of play improves and teams that you wouldn’t even consider backing get red-hot and rolling. The Los Angeles Kings won it all last year after finishing third in their division and facing elimination in each series leading up to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Back to basketball. The important thing right now is that NCAA leaders recognise that March Madness in many ways is a (very attractive) Band-Aid covering a deep flesh wound. The skills and talent factor could change, with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver hinting that his league may add a minimum age requirement; that could help college ball.
The NCAA rules committee needs to look at the shot clock – perhaps changing it to 30 seconds – as well as the distance of the three-point line. They should also drop a couple of timeouts, or take the timeouts away from the bench so coaches don’t have so much control over the games.
The fear, of course, is that the tournament will be so big and so successful, as it always is, that the NCAA bigwigs will once again smile, count their cash and do absolutely nothing.
Timmy
Guest
I would agree that the one and done system is a far from ideal method, and it can detract from the fan experience. There are far less stories at the college basketball level than what there was in the past. Although it has not, and in all likelihood will not have an effect on my Saint Mary's gaels, it takes away a fair sight of interest in games, especially in the non conference schedule.
Clark
Guest
Still remember that Webber timeout incident haha. That wasn't very clutch.
joe
Guest
The one thing I would say to all the posters on this topic,is despite the NCAA not paying players,there is most definitely money being put into players pockets at bigtime schools. The football & basketball players are getting plenty of golden handshakes from boosters,hangers on,etc. So they are being compensated in some way,its just not the NCAA making the payments. Your bigtime athletes are getting money,cars,jewelry etc.It happens everywhere. In particular college football,especially in the SEC.Its notorious for paying players.But it happens everywhere to some degree. But that still is a totally separate deal from the NCAA,who I hate.They horde the money & hide behind ridiculous rules & get away with it.
joe
Guest
You're preaching to the choir,pal.I agree there should be some sort of weekly/monthly salary or trust fund set up for players but again the NCAA can hide behind the rules on the books & officially pay nobody. The NCAA claims your education IS your payment but a lot never graduate & their "education" is nothing more than a excuse to have them at the school to play football or hoops.A lot of these guys have no business being in college,they would never be there except for the simple reason which is to play sports. And these scholarships the school hands out as "payment",its not like they are giving a football player a scholarship thats been denied a legitimate student that would otherwise receive it.The scholarship is there strictly for the football/basketball player to be lured into the program.If there were no football/basketball program,that scholarship would cease to exist.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
I know it's posted on a comedy website but I love this piece on March Madness and why it's a total sham. I don't blame players for leaving after a year and abandoning the college game when they are exploited for the gain of others. http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-ncaa-tournament-full-shit/ I think someone at Grantland or ESPN recently wrote a piece recently about the NBA being a slave to the college game instead of investing in their own feeder league like the D League. Like you said, it's almost not the same game sometimes.
Johnno
Guest
Ed The game's changed. The gap has widened too much NBA/NCAA. I'd like to see the NBA bring in a under-20's youth league, like the NRL, and players paid a minimum wage e.g. 50K,plus other subsidies e.g. health insurance, team cover a lot of food bills etc. And in modern times players can still study e.g. online, or part time college, or diploma. eg Bulls V Laker's Under-20's, Celtics V Laker's Under-20's Could work I reckon. Mark Cuban reckons the guys should skip college and just go the D-League. The D-league is expanding and NBA investing more in it which is good. Knicks bought a NY team in D-League. I read horror stories in NCCA colleges where some of the players go hungry in the sense that there diets are not nutricuous enough to be a top athletes many complaints about the food side, which is quite true as when you train hard you need much more food and the right food.
MACDUB
Guest
Ed, great article. The timeouts are ridiculous. By my calculations, there can be up to a maximum of 16 timeouts per game - that is one roughly every 2.5 mins of in game play. There is no flow to the game, it is stop start and that hurts the product.
astro
Guest
Better still, get the NBL to head hunt the best U23 players in the states and bring them to Australia. They would get paid, could attend a University, develop their skills and prepare to enter the draft when ready.
astro
Guest
What baffles me is that no one is asking the NCAA to pay these guys millions...minimum wage would be a start! The NCAA could continue to make billions of dollars without a worry in the world, if they just gave the players a nominal amount for their hard work and the revenue they generate.
joe
Guest
The John Oliver piece on HBO last night was classic.The "March Sadness" video game was one of funniest things I've seen in a long time. That said the NCAA dosent give a shit about any reports on their corruption or business model. Theres been tons of fantastic articles & tv pieces highlighting the crooks at the NCAA over the years,its still "business as usual" for them. Problem is they have the government behind them & can also hide behind the ridiculous "amateur/student-athletes" rules which lets them get away with basically a slave like working situation.Maybe the slave like description I use is a bit over the top,but you get the drift. I could go on & on about examples of NCAA lunacy & just flat out thievery but I'd be here all night typing,so I'll leave it be. But with the NCAA rules on "amateurism" set in stone,combined with full backing by most levels of govt over here,its very difficult to beat them in court.
juan dos
Guest
Imagine if the NBA decided to build their own u-23 league. I know there's the D-League, but that still functions as a reserve competition. If the NBA set up this theoretical u-23 league, where they paid the players, they could take the best high school talent, offer them contracts, offer them insurance. They could encourage the players to take part-time college course, perhaps by linking themselves with local community colleges. The league's focus would obviously be on developing these young players, making them NBA ready. Open it up to any player from around the world. You hear so many stories of the best basketball talents coming from poor backgrounds, wanting to use basketball to help out their families, and it's very similar to soccer players from the 3rd world, except that these guys get stuck going to college. Think about someone like Brandon Jennings. Players could nominate for the draft at any time, but at no point would they be giving up their eligibility for this youth league. I'm not advocating huge money, but it would give these kids 5 years of employment and development, and even if they didn't make the cut in the NBA how many of them would be able to get good employment in Europe, Australia, or Asia after that? And at least encouraging them to seek out skills training or part-time college courses would help if they ever got injured or just didn't make it. The league would be very watchable also, it would be the best talent outside of the NBA. Furthermore it would help to ease the burden on kids being brought into the league too young and immature. Give them a taste of a semi-normal lifestyle before the millions in the NBA. I'm a Tar Heel, and we've been lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you see it) the last few seasons as we rarely seem to attract one and dones. I think college hoops would survive this youth league. The youth league itself would be just for elite high school talent who don't want to enter college, who want to seek employment for their talents immediately. College still has history on its side. I'm thinking of how the Ivy League looks now when I think of how college basketball might look without the very best high schoolers. College ball would go back to having true student athletes, and it would make seeing your college produce an NBA draftee that much more special. I'd still watch the Heels even if they weren't a player factory, and I think there'd be a little bit more magic about the game. It's obviously not as simple as I've put it here, but I'd like to think this solution could help out everyone involved, perhaps only harming the huge money for college coaches and NCAA sports administrators.
juan dos
Guest
John Oliver has a really good ability to break down the insanely stupid facets of our society, a lot of which we almost take for granted, and make it incredibly obvious that change is needed. His spot on the NCAA last was brilliant.
Adam
Guest
Agree 100% Ryan. Look at the back-to-back Florida teams. Obviously you knew those players which helped generate interest the year after the first championship. As opposed to relying on (most likely) inconsistent freshman each year to create that buzz. Also spot-on with the coaches and the 35sec clock Ed. Sucks the life out of games. Hard to get excited about some Big X game that finishes 45-40!
astro
Guest
At some stage, college players must start being paid for their services. In this day and age, its a disgrace that student athletes earn nothing, while the NCAA and colleges earn billions off their efforts. Until college players are paid, they'll continue to leave in droves, and so they should. Unlike football, where the players are not physically big enough for the pro level after one year, high school prospects have proven they can flourish in the NBA. This is the only trend that could force the NCAA to compensate their players as a means of saving their regular season, and making the game more than just a one month exhibition. Last night's John Oliver story on the NCAA was damning, and should serve as a wake up call to the NCAA. It needs to change...
Ed Wyatt
Expert
Ryan: great comments. That's probably an entirely different article, but you're right about the lack of three or even four-year stars in college hoops. You still get it in college football, which helps the NFL immensely. I think Adam Silver would love to see fewer young, immature players in the NBA draft, but that's a delicate issue for a number of reasons.
kevin dustby
Guest
What would ESPN do without showing college basketball? it might have to get rid of 3 channels
Ryan O'Connell
Expert
I didn't realise the college game was struggling as much as it was. Then I thought about how much college ball I watch now, and it's true that I really only concentrate on the rankings during the season (rather than watching a lot of games), and then really start to pay attention once the NCAA Tournament starts. Asking myself why, for me personally it's the turnover of the top players. When I watched a lot of college basketball, you knew the players well because they were in their third or fourth year of college, and you'd followed them and their growth. Now, by the time you get a feel and understanding of the best players, they're leaving early to turn pro. Think back to around the 89-93 period, and (as a Duke fan) you followed Laettner, Hurley, etc all the way through their four years. Of the players that did leave early, the majority still played at least 2 to 3 years, which gave you a chance to come to know them a little better (Larry Johnson, Chris Webber, Grant Hill, Jimmy Jackson, etc, etc) and a narrative around them started to form which made them interesting to watch (for example, from the players I just mentioned: was LJ tall enough to take his power game to the game? Was Webber poor in the clutch? Did Hill have a good enough jumper? Was JJ overrated or underrated? Etc) Now, you almost have to take more interest in the coaches, because at least you know them. But whether that's good thing or not is debatable. Interesting piece, thanks Ed.
AW Tait
Roar Rookie
I'm hoping it's a cyclical thing. With Kentucky having 9 All-Americans in the same squad they'll probably take the whole thing out, so I'm looking forward to cheering for the underdog. But when it comes to draft time, it'll be interesting to see how well someone like Karl-Anthony Towns (who will go in as an All-American, NCAA Champion) fares when he's averaged single figure points and rebounds per game. In a sadistic kind of way, I hope the Kentucky players are drafted really low, and that budding college players start thinking that being the star player at a smaller school (or anywhere other than Kentucky, really) will be better for their draft chances.
Joe
Guest
March Madness is the only thing keeping college hoops relevant so it already is saving the game The problem for college hoops is that March Madness has become so big & the majority of major teams are getting into the tournament consistently each year,the regular season is almost irrelevant. Add to that the other issues you have listed with poor quality play,overbearing coaches etc,people aren't gonna watch regular season games every night. You can pay almost no attention to the day to day happenings in college hoops & just wait for the conference tournaments & then the main tournament that begins a week later The NCAA dosent need to fix anything because they're still raking in the cash Bottom line is the NBA is a far superior product & thats not gonna change.The way college is set up now,the quality will continue to erode