Turnovers and quick whistles

The past three weeks of March Madness have been marvelous theater as we've been treated to the story of VCU's move from last in to Final Four participant, Butler's repeat as a regional winner, and the numerous tight games highlighting weekend one of the tournament.

Along the way we've also dealt with blown calls, under-achieving top seeds, and a national championship game known for the number of shots which did NOT go in the basket.

Let's review the lowlights, shall we?

- Number one seeds. None of the one seeds made it to the Final Four--Pitt lost in round two, Ohio State and Duke in round three, and Kansas in the Elite Eight.

- Number two seeds. North Carolina, San Diego State, Florida and Notre Dame could not take advantage of the early exits of the top seeds.

- Quick whistles. The most notable errant whistle was the phantom five-second call on Texas when they could not inbound the ball against Arizona.

- Big 12. Of the BCS conferences, the Big 12 fared the worst with a 5-5 record by their five participating teams.

- The state of Tennessee. First, the Athletics Director at Tennessee came out with a statement clearly indicating that head coach Bruce Pearl's days were numbered, then the Vols used that negative energy to lay an egg--a 30 point loss--against Michigan. Over in the Southwest Regional, Vanderbilt was awarded the five seed and abruptly exited--early again--to Richmond.

- Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale. I was right alongside Bilas on the night of Selection Sunday once it was announced that VCU and UAB had made the field and Colorado had not. Bilas and Dick Vitale, to their discredit, never made amends for their comments about VCU when it was clear that the Rams were one of the better teams in the tournament. Did they deserve to get in? By what we know of the selection process, they did not--but VCU clearly proved by their on-court play that they belonged and that should have been acknowledged by Bilas and Vitale.

- Stadiums. I know it's wishful thinking to believe that the NCAA will move Regional finals and the Final Four out of domes/enclosed stadiums--the benefit is that it provides greater opportunity for fans to see the games live. But please, go back to a stadium configuration where the floor is placed at one end of the venue, thus creating a bit more intimacy and improved sight lines. Sure, you'll sell 15,000-20,000 less tickets but the fan experience will be better and the shooting percentages of the involved teams will likely improve.

- Butler versus Connecticut. There were intriguing storylines last night--Butler's second Final Four appearance, Jim Calhoun's chance for redemption after his NCAA dust-up earlier this season, Kemba Walker's MOP candidacy, and whether the Butler bulldog should be allowed on the floor or not. This game, though, failed to deliver because both teams acted as if they had practiced every fundamental other than shooting. The post-game statistics were damning--Butler had more fouls than made shots and UConn, the national champion, had 11 turnovers to six assists. Years from now the list of national champions will still say "Connecticut" but the memory etched in our minds right now is of some really ugly basketball and the lowest point total since the 1949 title game.

Now, the offseason begins and, once again, we'll be treated to the annual drama of "who's staying/who's going" as players consider early exits and try to predict whether an NBA lockout is simply a possibility or a harsh reality. New coaches will settle in at places like Oklahoma, Missouri, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech and Tennessee, and spring commitments will be made by remaining blue-chippers who didn't make a decision in the fall.

Come October 15, we'll open the gyms once again for practice and the journey will start anew. Make no mistake, though, storm clouds are beginning to form on the college basketball vista--early exits are impacting the game, officiating is inconsistent from game to game and conference to conference, far too much emphasis is placed on tournament results with the regular season growing increasingly irrelevant, and that leads to the continued drumbeat to expand the tournamant field to 96 games.

It may be wishful thinking but here's hoping that the NCAA addresses the things necessary to improve the game without making wholesale changes which would disrupt the beauty, and drama, of these past three weeks.