Coach K was asked this week about the ACC getting 3 in thing and he didn't answer that question specifically but instead made some very interesting, but cynical comments about the state of college basketball and its future. Poni and Page discussed this and their own opinions on the pregame and I wanted to start a thread to see what everyone else thought about any problems you think the current game is facing. I mean this is probably the weakest college basketball has been......ever? Poni said if they dropped Page's Pitt team into this season, they'd probably win the NC. I mean, yea, who would beat them? And you can say that about several Pitt teams in that era.
So what's happened? Well, I'm going to tell you what I think and go a little deeper than saying "its cyclical" or "it wasnt a great freshman class." There is truth to that but I think there are 2 reasons why we are seeing such mediocrity and parity.
1. The unintended consequence of the college football inspired conference realignment was that on the basketball side, the following programs were added to "major college basketball:" TCU, Creighton, Wichita State, Xavier, Butler, Houston, SMU, etc. Then throw in the addition of VCU and Davidson to the A10 from mid-major leagues, you have a lot more teams now that can sell "major D1 ball." You are even seeing places like East Carolina and Tulane trying to rise up by recruiting players who wouldn't normally bat an eyelash at them. Remember that Big last year who picked ECU over Duke and us?
2. Quite simply, there are far more teams taking basketball seriously. Sure, a lot of them are buying players like LSU and Auburn but what you have is a lot of non-traditional programs which have recruited NCAAT talent to places where these kids didnt go 10 years ago. There's more teams going after the same number of kids. You look at Seton Hall, Providence, Butler, Creighton, DePaul, TCU, LSU, Auburn, etc. Georgia and Washington got 2 of the Top 5 frosh. That would NEVER happen in football. College basketball recruiting has become extremely competitive and kids just dont pick a school based on historical tradition or recent success. They also dont stockpile like in football recruiting.
So, in closing, I think we are seeing what we are seeing is more of a byproduct of an "expansion" of major college basketball and thus watering down the level of play, at least at the very top. More teams selling "major D1 ball" and existing teams which have invested big-time money into winning. 10-15 years ago, maybe you had 30 programs which would get the majority of Top 150-250 players. Now it seems there's 70-80 teams fighting hard for those same kids. The only solution to this if you are a traditional or semi-traditonal program facing lean times, is to simply pump more money into it. You have to differentiate yourself from a VCU, Creighton, Auburn, Seton Hall, etc. But can you? Maybe not and this is just the new game.
So what's happened? Well, I'm going to tell you what I think and go a little deeper than saying "its cyclical" or "it wasnt a great freshman class." There is truth to that but I think there are 2 reasons why we are seeing such mediocrity and parity.
1. The unintended consequence of the college football inspired conference realignment was that on the basketball side, the following programs were added to "major college basketball:" TCU, Creighton, Wichita State, Xavier, Butler, Houston, SMU, etc. Then throw in the addition of VCU and Davidson to the A10 from mid-major leagues, you have a lot more teams now that can sell "major D1 ball." You are even seeing places like East Carolina and Tulane trying to rise up by recruiting players who wouldn't normally bat an eyelash at them. Remember that Big last year who picked ECU over Duke and us?
2. Quite simply, there are far more teams taking basketball seriously. Sure, a lot of them are buying players like LSU and Auburn but what you have is a lot of non-traditional programs which have recruited NCAAT talent to places where these kids didnt go 10 years ago. There's more teams going after the same number of kids. You look at Seton Hall, Providence, Butler, Creighton, DePaul, TCU, LSU, Auburn, etc. Georgia and Washington got 2 of the Top 5 frosh. That would NEVER happen in football. College basketball recruiting has become extremely competitive and kids just dont pick a school based on historical tradition or recent success. They also dont stockpile like in football recruiting.
So, in closing, I think we are seeing what we are seeing is more of a byproduct of an "expansion" of major college basketball and thus watering down the level of play, at least at the very top. More teams selling "major D1 ball" and existing teams which have invested big-time money into winning. 10-15 years ago, maybe you had 30 programs which would get the majority of Top 150-250 players. Now it seems there's 70-80 teams fighting hard for those same kids. The only solution to this if you are a traditional or semi-traditonal program facing lean times, is to simply pump more money into it. You have to differentiate yourself from a VCU, Creighton, Auburn, Seton Hall, etc. But can you? Maybe not and this is just the new game.
