"THE WRONG IN MARCH MADNESS, COLLEGE B-BALL"

"Bracketology" for the "March Madness" season, is not just a game, but for some it is a major investment, a source of income, Las Vegas' second biggest gambling event, but make no mistake it is not just a set of games. How do people pick teams, analyze players, and come up with, the ever so crucial formula, of a winning bracket?

The people that play brackets for fun, as a game, usually just look at the records of the teams, who they will play against, and what stars, a team has on their rosters. However, this is usually a failing strategy. Games played during the regular season, pre-conference and in conference, thru the conference tournaments are not comparable to the National Championship Tournament. The six game gridiron, with little time for preparation and overall scouting of teams, from all over the states, is what the Tourny is all about. The teams built with "playground" players (like Michigan's Fab 5, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels short one game, of a perfect season, and the countless other teams, built around players looking for the short term millions and NBA glory), will never win the big prize.

The teams win national championships with fundamentals, a great coaching staff, one great player (to lean on and score), one inside presence, one ball controlling guard, and finally the will to play for the team, rather than individual performance. However, the college trend of "play two years and go the NBA," is killing the game. On the Michigan "Fab 5" team, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard could have won the Tourny alone (if they had some unity, but didn't). The UNLV Runnin' Rebel team, with Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, and Greg Anthony went 30-0, but lost in the last game, to Duke (no championship, for them). These two teams, had all of the talent in the world, yet could not bring home the trophy. Other teams, N. C. State (under Jim Valvano) 1983, Villinova 1985, Louiseville 1986 (with "Never Nervous Pervis Ellison"), Indiana (with Keith Smart's jumper at the buzzer over the heavily favored Syracuse) 1987, and finally the Kansas Jayhawks are one of the best examples, last winning in 1988.

"Danny and the miracles" (dubbed by the media), led by player of the year Danny Manning, had little chance of winning the Tourny, before the tournament began. Kansas, in a down year, entered the tournament as a six seed. The bracket they entered into was laden with talented teams, such as, Purdue (the #1 seed), Kansas State (with Mitch Richmond, a seasoned NBA star out of college), Pittsburgh and N. C. State. However, Kansas made it thru the bracket, on the heals of Manning, but thru K-State in the final eight game. The team was composed of Danny Manning (the only stand out player), Milt Newton, Piper, Kevin Pritchard (the only other player, to play in the NBA), and Jeff Gueldner. However, they triumphed as a team, with fundamentals, led by Larry Brown, over an Oklahoma Sooner team (led by NBA players, Stacey King, Harvey Grant and Mookie Blaylock). The Jayhawk team thrived with team work, one star player (who was NBA bound, but was first bound by team and school, not money and individual accolades), a strong guard (in Pritchard), Piper and Newton as good supporting "team players," and a whole lot of heart.

In today's NCAA teams, there is less and less heart, fundamentals, and true basketball "team" skills. In the place of what was the college game, most players are straight from the playground, influenced by little coaching (just wooing from scouts and dreams of shoe deals). For every Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant, there are hundreds of players coming out of college and high school early, to be the next Telfair, Jaron Rush, Michael Beasley, or flash in the pan, like Brendan Heywood. There are countless examples of players who play for themselves, not the team at the time, and love "Skip to My Lou," rather than "sweat in the gym." Look at teams like Davidson, Gonzaga, Western Kentucky, and the others who continuously make the "big teams" go home, come Tourny time. The obvious reason isn't more talent, but they do have players that stay in college, for three to four years. George Mason's final four run, last year, was not a fluke. It was good scouting, coaching, and fundamentals, thru the team.

Watch Memphis get upset, before the Final Four, this year. They are the quintessential "street team" and have no shot of going to the Final Four, much less winning the Tourny. The final four teams, in this year's Tourny, will be teams like Kansas, North Carolina/Louiseville, Texas/Stanford, and possibly Xavier. Tennessee, Memphis, and UCLA all have young, out for themselves players, who make the games to close. They do not have the team spirit, depth (or depth, with purpose), or overall concept of what it takes to win a tournament, set up like this. A gridiron Tourny, where only depth, coaching, and overall team dynamics will prevail. It is not an individual mission, but a team concept.

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