college basketball season mirroring football?

The 2007-2008 college basketball season has not even really begun and already we have seen some almost unbelievable and shocking upsets. Admittedly, the Mich St and Ohio St losses to two NCAA Division II schools were exhibition games, but come on, we ARE talking about one pre-season top-25 Div I team and the other a team that went to the NCAA national championship game last season. And losing to Div II Grand Valley St and University of Finley on the Spartan's and Buckeye's home floor no less. (BTW, 100 points if you can tell us where University of Finley is located WITHOUT first looking it up. And that is "Finley", not "Finland".)

And now we have seen #22 University of KY lose in Rupp Arena to Div II Gardner-Webb, by no less than 18 points! That is the 3rd worse loss ever by a UK team on their home court in the history of UK basketball. At least the Spartans took double overtime to lose at home by only 3 points, and the Buckeye's were literally decimated by graduation. But, the KY Wildcats, losing at home by 18? In regulation? And never really even seriously in contention for taking a lead in the game, much less getting it close enough to win?

So, here is the question. Are we going to see the same topsy-turvy college basketball season that we have seen in college football this year? And if so, can we really explain it so easily as to say that it is all due to "parity" across the nation in sports?

Is the win by Gardner-Webb over UK as big of an upset as App St was in beating Michigan at home in football?

Ok, I just asked a ton of questions there, so let me give you my take.

First, as to the GW win over UK, I absolutely believe that, that win by GW is completely on par with Appalachian State's victory over Michigan in football. Absolutely. If GW had hit a 3-point shot as a last second buzzer beater, then I would not say that. But in this case, GW not only lead wire-to-wire from the opening tip-off, but almost never had less than an 8 point lead the entire game. And ended blowing UK off of their home court. So I truly believe that the two games are 100% equal as to their respective impacts. I think that win by GW has to rank up there as one of the top 5 biggest upsets in the history of college basketball. Because unlike App St, Gardner-Webb was not predicted to win their conference. (BTW, another 100 points if you can name a single other team from the Sun Mountain Conference. Yeah, like I really knew what conference GW was in before this.)

As to the issue of whether we will see the same type of incredible upsets and topsy-turvy situation in college basketball that we have seen in college football this year. That has yet to be determined. But one thing is for sure. The trend now, is that if I am a Div II coach my players would definitely be believing that they can go into any Div I schools home floor and beat them now. And if I am any kind of Div I HC, I am putting that GW-UK score on the whiteboard during film seesions today, to prove to my team that regardless of how many people are in their ears telling them how good they are, and how they can possibly make millions in the NBA, if they lose to teams like University of Finley, they can kiss that #1 draft position goodbye. (Ok, probably not true, but I would tell the kids that anyway.)

I have to admit, I am not a huge basketball fan. Other than when UL plays, I hardly watch college basketball. But I will this season. Especially if upsets like this continue. If for no other reason than it will be fun to see what shakes out as a result.

Finally as to "parity" in college basketball, I am not so easy to say that is the case. Because let's be real about this for a minute. None of those upsets, even the regular season one by GW over UK, mean anything. Unlike in college football, a team in college basketball can lose 1/3rd of their games, and if they get into the NCAA tournament in March, can actually still become national champions. So, season loses do not mean anything with regard to national championship desire or contention. But what those early upsets and especially those by such obviously lower talented teams do show, is that a lot of Div I teams have a lot of holes in their armor. And those holes are the things worth watching to see if the coach's can fix them before games become VERY important at conference and NCAA tournament time.

So, if a team like GW can beat UK on their home floor, but then make a run in their Division II playoffs and win the Div II national championship, then maybe I will be more apt to say, "Yeah, there is a great deal of parity in college ball today." But, right now, I have to think that this is more a symptom of trying to get kids with one eye on the court and the other on the NBA to show up to play every night, as opposed to kids who have learned how to play together as a team, and within the system that their coach teaches. For me, I think this is more a parallel with how the U.S.A basketball teams underperform time and time again in international and during Olympic Games play. Where foreign teams with obviously lesser talent jump and beat more powerful, more talented and even bigger US teams. I think in college today, kids who look to play the game of basketball as a means to get a 4 year degree, are just that much more focused and determined, than college teams loaded with McD's AA talent who only show up to play when the bright lights of TV are on. And just like in college football, the college game is all about "coaching" now. If you can get 6 to 9 kids to play for 4 years, by the time they reach their senior seasons they CAN make that NCAA tourney run for the national championship.