dirty
EOG Master
The Tournament that ended the middle ages
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</TD><TD noWrap>April 4, 2006
By Gregg Doyel
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Tell Gregg your opinion!
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- T9357136 --><!-- Sesame Modified: 04/04/2006 16:39:37 --><!-- sversion: 10 $Updated: swanny$ -->INDIANAPOLIS -- The 2006 NCAA Tournament will be remembered for national champion Florida and for runner-up UCLA, for the international emergence of Joakim Noah and the return to prominence of UCLA. It will be remembered as the tournament that saw Florida the football school become the best basketball school in America.
But it will be remembered for something more enduring than that.
The 2006 NCAA Tournament will go down as the tournament that changed everything.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=175 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD width=175>
</TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR><TR><TD width=175>Thanks to GMU, fans won't be surprised the next time an 11 seed plays -- and wins -- in March. (Getty Images) </TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>For that, we have George Mason to thank. And Bradley. And Wichita State. And Montana and Murray State and Northwestern State.
This was the tournament that should have changed all of us. You the fan. Me the writer. And most important, the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
Actually, the selection committee was ahead of the curve on this one.
It was the selection committee that doled out a record four bids to the Missouri Valley Conference, and then looked brilliant when Wichita State and Bradley reached the Sweet 16. With two teams in the Sweet 16, the Valley tied the ACC and skunked the Big Ten, which advanced zero teams that far.
It was the selection committee that gave a record two bids to the Colonial Athletic Association, then looked brilliant when George Mason knocked off Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut.
George Mason, whose bid-worthiness was heavily critiqued after the bracket was announced March 12, reeled off the most remarkable Four-figured run in sports -- any sport -- since Roger Bannister cracked the 4-minute mile in 1954.
This was the tournament that should have changed -- better have changed -- the way the mainstream views mid-majors. There's nothing "mid" about lots of these programs.
Nowadays, anyone can be a major. If the coach is good enough and the karma is right, there's simply too much talent to go around. Television shows us the biggest conferences from November to February, but the power leagues no longer can corner the NCAA Tournament market in March. College basketball has evolved past that.
The big conferences are getting the message, too. You think it's a coincidence that this year, out of the blue, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim endorsed the idea of expanding future NCAA Tournament fields?
Boeheim and the National Association of Basketball Coaches want more teams in the tournament, but it's not because they want to see more George Masons and Wichita States in the years to come. It's because they know they're going to see more George Masons and Wichita States in the years to come. They want to make sure they also just as many Syracuses.
"At this point, I think the topic of expansion is a fairly new one -- but clearly it's come up," NABC executive director Jim Haney said during the Final Four. "I feel confident that it will need to be addressed."
The big schools will insist. Because the small schools aren't going anywhere.
In one tournament, the face of college basketball changed.
Schools like Wichita State and Bradley and Montana played supporting roles, but George Mason was the star of this show.
Before this tournament began, you the average reader couldn't have named two starters for the Patriots. Before this tournament began, me the average college basketball writer couldn't have done much better. Jai Lewis, check. Tony Skinn? Check, but only because he punched a Hofstra player in the toolbox. Folarin Campbell? Lamar Butler? Will Thomas?
Father forgive me, but I had no clue.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=175 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD width=175>
</TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR><TR><TD width=175>Will the Grizz and the Big Sky conference earn two bids next season? (Getty Images) </TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>So what happens next season? The Colonial and Missouri Valley will continue to get multiple bids. This is how it starts. With one league, maybe two. The trickle won't become a flood -- with 65 teams in the NCAA field, there's only so many bids to go around -- but beyond the CAA and the MVC, another league will come along. Maybe it's the Sun Belt. Maybe it's the Mid-American.
It will be somebody next year, and because of George Mason and Wichita State and Montana, that somebody will get a chance.
Let's say a 24-6 South Alabama team wins the 2007 Sun Belt Tournament to get that league's automatic bid. But what about Sun Belt colleague Western Kentucky? Maybe Western Kentucky has gone 23-6, with wins against UAB and Virginia, as was the case this season. You can't name two starters for Western Kentucky, but so what.
On March 12, 2006, you couldn't have named two starters for George Mason. By April 1, though, you knew everything about George Mason. And so Western Kentucky gets a chance in 2007.
That's what the 2006 NCAA Tournament has done. It hasn't just been a fun ride for the small schools. That's far too condescending and shortsighted. George Mason didn't just gather mid-majors everywhere and sneak them into the VIP room of college basketball.
George Mason barged up to the VIP room, beat up the bouncer and kicked down the door. College basketball's VIP room just got bigger. After the 2006 NCAA Tournament, everyone's invited.
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</TD><TD noWrap>April 4, 2006By Gregg Doyel
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Tell Gregg your opinion!
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- T9357136 --><!-- Sesame Modified: 04/04/2006 16:39:37 --><!-- sversion: 10 $Updated: swanny$ -->INDIANAPOLIS -- The 2006 NCAA Tournament will be remembered for national champion Florida and for runner-up UCLA, for the international emergence of Joakim Noah and the return to prominence of UCLA. It will be remembered as the tournament that saw Florida the football school become the best basketball school in America.
But it will be remembered for something more enduring than that.
The 2006 NCAA Tournament will go down as the tournament that changed everything.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=175 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD width=175>
</TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR><TR><TD width=175>Thanks to GMU, fans won't be surprised the next time an 11 seed plays -- and wins -- in March. (Getty Images) </TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>For that, we have George Mason to thank. And Bradley. And Wichita State. And Montana and Murray State and Northwestern State. This was the tournament that should have changed all of us. You the fan. Me the writer. And most important, the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
Actually, the selection committee was ahead of the curve on this one.
It was the selection committee that doled out a record four bids to the Missouri Valley Conference, and then looked brilliant when Wichita State and Bradley reached the Sweet 16. With two teams in the Sweet 16, the Valley tied the ACC and skunked the Big Ten, which advanced zero teams that far.
It was the selection committee that gave a record two bids to the Colonial Athletic Association, then looked brilliant when George Mason knocked off Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut.
George Mason, whose bid-worthiness was heavily critiqued after the bracket was announced March 12, reeled off the most remarkable Four-figured run in sports -- any sport -- since Roger Bannister cracked the 4-minute mile in 1954.
This was the tournament that should have changed -- better have changed -- the way the mainstream views mid-majors. There's nothing "mid" about lots of these programs.
Nowadays, anyone can be a major. If the coach is good enough and the karma is right, there's simply too much talent to go around. Television shows us the biggest conferences from November to February, but the power leagues no longer can corner the NCAA Tournament market in March. College basketball has evolved past that.
The big conferences are getting the message, too. You think it's a coincidence that this year, out of the blue, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim endorsed the idea of expanding future NCAA Tournament fields?
Boeheim and the National Association of Basketball Coaches want more teams in the tournament, but it's not because they want to see more George Masons and Wichita States in the years to come. It's because they know they're going to see more George Masons and Wichita States in the years to come. They want to make sure they also just as many Syracuses.
"At this point, I think the topic of expansion is a fairly new one -- but clearly it's come up," NABC executive director Jim Haney said during the Final Four. "I feel confident that it will need to be addressed."
The big schools will insist. Because the small schools aren't going anywhere.
In one tournament, the face of college basketball changed.
Schools like Wichita State and Bradley and Montana played supporting roles, but George Mason was the star of this show.
Before this tournament began, you the average reader couldn't have named two starters for the Patriots. Before this tournament began, me the average college basketball writer couldn't have done much better. Jai Lewis, check. Tony Skinn? Check, but only because he punched a Hofstra player in the toolbox. Folarin Campbell? Lamar Butler? Will Thomas?
Father forgive me, but I had no clue.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=175 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD width=175>
</TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR><TR><TD width=175>Will the Grizz and the Big Sky conference earn two bids next season? (Getty Images) </TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>So what happens next season? The Colonial and Missouri Valley will continue to get multiple bids. This is how it starts. With one league, maybe two. The trickle won't become a flood -- with 65 teams in the NCAA field, there's only so many bids to go around -- but beyond the CAA and the MVC, another league will come along. Maybe it's the Sun Belt. Maybe it's the Mid-American. It will be somebody next year, and because of George Mason and Wichita State and Montana, that somebody will get a chance.
Let's say a 24-6 South Alabama team wins the 2007 Sun Belt Tournament to get that league's automatic bid. But what about Sun Belt colleague Western Kentucky? Maybe Western Kentucky has gone 23-6, with wins against UAB and Virginia, as was the case this season. You can't name two starters for Western Kentucky, but so what.
On March 12, 2006, you couldn't have named two starters for George Mason. By April 1, though, you knew everything about George Mason. And so Western Kentucky gets a chance in 2007.
That's what the 2006 NCAA Tournament has done. It hasn't just been a fun ride for the small schools. That's far too condescending and shortsighted. George Mason didn't just gather mid-majors everywhere and sneak them into the VIP room of college basketball.
George Mason barged up to the VIP room, beat up the bouncer and kicked down the door. College basketball's VIP room just got bigger. After the 2006 NCAA Tournament, everyone's invited.
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