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March Madness has arrived.
At some point in the not-too-distant future, this month – and the entire landscape of College Basketball, could get much more maddening.
Since the madness of conference realignment has taken hold, college basketball has always played a secondary role to what schools deemed best for their bloated football programs – strictly because of the massive amounts of money that football brought in. It’s led to some, shall we say, unfortunate outcomes in the case of rivalries…and even the demise of two of the original six “Power Conferences.”
The Big East used to play football, remember?
And after the end of this school year, it’s see ya later, Pac 12. From six down to four…and heading for two?
If you’re the Big 12 or the Atlantic Coast Conference these days, you’re more than a little bit nervous, and very ticked off.
College Football’s designated big dogs, the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten are reportedly making plans to form some sort of huge alliance that will begin the process of forming a new division, or so-called Super League for College Football.
And it will be by invite only.
Are we looking at a future with a “Power Two?” All due to the unrepentant pursuit of mega money? Nothing to do with geographical rivalries, or competitive balance of quality of play.
None of that. It’s all about the Benjamins.
No one will argue that the SEC and the Big 10 are the epicenter, the power brokers of College Football. Their athletic dominance, however pretty much ends there when we’re talking about the big time, revenue generating sports. When it comes to Men’s basketball in particular, the ACC and the Big 12 don’t take a back seat when it comes to the balance of power.
As we head into Selection Sunday, it’s looking like the Big 12 will get eight or maybe nine of its 14 current members into the field of 68 for the “Big Dance.” The ACC is looking at an unusually low four bids. Meanwhile, the Big Ten, currently at 14 teams and heading for 18 next year, will most likely have six teams playing in the NCAA tournament. The SEC will probably get seven.
Meanwhile, the “mid-major” Mountain West will be getting six or perhaps even seven of its 11 members into the tournament. The Pac 12, in it’s (for now) final season, just three.
The point is, the power in college hoops is far more spread out, and the Big 12 and ACC, if they’re left out of any kind of football alliance, could decide to take their basketballs and leave. They could work with the other excellent basketball conferences – like the Mountain West for example – to yield some heavyweight influence on the future of March Madness. They could flex their hoops muscles and start talking about some fashion of a basketball alliance. Other than SEC member Kentucky and maybe Indiana and UCLA from the Big 18, the true, historical “blue bloods” of the sport reside in the other conferences – Duke. North Carolina. Kansas. Syracuse.
For example, the next Gen of the Big 12 will feature current basketball powers like Kansas, Arizona, Baylor and Houston. Add in Big East powers like UConn and Mountain West teams like San Diego State, and you can’t hold a dance without ‘em.
Most folks don’t realize this, but the Men’s NCAA Basketball tournament is a bigger cash cow than the College Football Playoff. And unlike the CFP, it actually is controlled by the NCAA. So if the Big 10 and the SEC decide to break away in football, the Big 12 and the ACC could lock arms with what’s left of the NCAA programs and tell the two football conferences “see ya” when it comes to March Madness.
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