The One-Month Sport Commences

Though I do not recall where I saw the headline but running up to Selection Sunday, known as the commencement of the NCAA Tournament, one statement read “College Basketball: The One-Month Sport”. Is Selection Sunday the beginning of the tournament or has it become the beginning of the college basketball season?

The college basketball season, according to its schedule, officially began in mid-November though it is doubtful that spectators and fans were rushing to their TVs to watch Duke demolish the Presbyterian team by nearly 70 points. Call me crazy but I am pretty sure most people could have called that win. In fact, throughout all of November, the Duke Blue Devils with their notable fanbase (the Cameron Crazies) only face one top-25 team. The same goes for the month of December. Over the same span of time, the University of Kentucky Wildcats only faced three teams that ended the season in the top-25. In fact, for Kentucky, it was not until Dec. 20 against the UCLA Bruins that the game ended with less than a 10 point score differential.

January can also be argued as the beginning of the season as finally teams play games “that matter.” Conference rivalries are renewed and fans finally begin to show up to games (with excitement at least). Still, though, it is sparse to see much TV coverage. With the NFL playoffs and the new College Football playoff in January, a lot of focus is taken away from college basketball. February and early March are filled with the NBA All-Star game, MLB preseason, and NFL free agency signings. Social media news feeds did not start blowing up with college basketball until the last two days of Championship Week. All conference tournaments were skipped. The normal magic of a Cinderella team coming out of a conference was downplayed (sorry Wyoming).

It is unfortunate that college basketball has become a “one-month-sport” as that month is arguably the most magical time for sports. There is no other time that you can watch 16 life-or-death games in one day. The emotions are high. Superstars are found (Gordon Hayward?). But unfortunately if one thing goes wrong for a team, their entire regular season is nullified and draft stocks suffer (Kevin Ware).


As a lover of college basketball, I try to stay true to it by watching the full season. Though I understand the pain of those November games there is a charm to watching a team grow through the season and seeing an underdog rise in the ranks. No one would have guessed Northern Iowa would have ended the season just outside the top-10 in the AP poll. But the real question is how did they get there? Unless you watch the full season you will never know more than simple recaps during tourney season. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What to Expect in the NBA Offseason

This past NBA season proved to be historic. From a Warriors team with more regular season wins than any other team (an likely the greatest percent increase in fan base) to the Cavs coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals to bring a championship back to Cleveland. It was the perfect fairy tale and the NBA as a business couldn't have asked for anything more, but this offseason may prove to live up to the legendary status that was set by the season. Many of the questions on the mind of basketball fans revolve around the movement of the stars around the league. From up and coming stars like Brandon Ingram to established giants like Kevin Durant, the offseason promises mystery and a some shock. To quickly recap a couple big moves that have already taken place, former MVP Derek Rose has been blown from the Windy City and ended up atop the Big Apple as a member of the New York Knicks. Good move? For him, yes. A new start in a new city with a cast with potential in Carmelo Ant...
Read more

GOATs

In the wake of the death of Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer of all time, my mind is reflecting on what it means to be the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) at something. I feel as though only a small percentage would argue with the fact that Ali was the greatest boxer of all time. Ali himself shouted it from the rooftops and through his bouts in the ring and his life outside the ring he proved that he was more than special. This brings me to my point. There are many special athletes that do special things but it is difficult to win the label of GOAT. The few GOATs can readily be named. In boxing it is Ali. In basketball it is Michael Jordan. In golfing it is Jack Nicklaus. In hockey it is Wayne Gretzky Every other sport is undecided. In baseball there is Ruth, Mantle, Aaron. Football has Montana, Marino, and Manning. Mary Lou had Nadia. Serena has Martina. Ronaldo, Messi, Pele, Beckham. There will always be arguments made for different players and athletes who are admittedly v...
Read more

Didn't Fall Start Two Weeks Ago?

Although, I have been a major slacker and haven't written a post in a while, I have not deviated from my love of the games. In fact, my love for football specifically has kept me more glued to others' information than to producing my own. But now is the time for me to change my ways and return to the process by which I forcibly push my personal opinions down the throats of those who voluntarily click on the link to this blog. You are the true MVP here. College and pro football has begun which means that Fall is finally here. Just like baseball in the Spring, it is not a calendar date that determines the seasons but the beginning of a sport. Although yesterday was (according to a piece of paper with numbers on it made by man) the first official day of Autumn, let me bring you up to speed on a few things that have already happened this Fall...this true Fall...in pro football (college will come another day). The Empire That Never Falls Though they cannot be considered a dynas...
Read more