March Madness Has
Arrived
The 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball season has been riveting to
say the least. We've seen everything from conference facelifts, to freshman
phenoms, and even mid-major dominance. Although the final chapter is still to
be written, this season will certainly be one to remember, and perhaps one that
marks a turning point in collegiate basketball.
Conference Shake-up
Before the season had yet to even begin, folks were buzzing
about the disbandment of the old Big East Conference. Teams like Syracuse,
Louisville, and UConn, who had each won a title in the past 10 years, were no
longer members of this historically successful conference. While Louisville and
UConn remain in a conference limbo of sorts, Syracuse hopped over to the ACC to
join the likes of perennially dominant teams, Duke and North Carolina.
Freshman Phenoms
What do Duke, Syracuse, Kansas and Arizona all have in
common? In addition to having successful seasons, they are all riding the backs
of talented freshman. Duke's Jabari
Parker, Cuse's Tyler
Ennis, Kansas's Andrew
Wiggins, and Arizona's Aaron
Gordon are all-but-guaranteed lottery picks this upcoming NBA draft. While
the one-and-done crowd is quickly becoming a fixture in NCAA, the most exciting
part is watching how these kids handle the spotlight of March Madness.
Mid-Major Perfection
Despite failing to obtain the number 1 ranking for any
amount of time this season, Wichita State did not fail when it came to their
on-court performance. The team did what no other team in NCAA history has done:
go 31-0 in the regular season. While their strength-of-schedule has been
debated ad nauseam, the team did make the Final Four last year, so no one
should be surprised to see a repeat performance this March. The question is,
can a mid-major finally cut down the nets?
Announcements
There is plenty to look forward to this March, for all
basketball lovers. And although the tournament is still a few weeks away (the
best place to watch is through the ESPN Full Court Package from Direct Television), the NCAA has made a
few announcements to give the super-fans something to discuss in the mean time.
One is the recent announcement of the Division
III tournament's field of 62, which, although the stakes (and arenas) are
smaller, the hoops are no less exciting. Another recent announcement is the new
NCAA
hand-checking rules, which allow more ball-handling freedom for the
offensive player. It should be interesting to see how this affects play in an
already tense tournament atmosphere.
Regardless of the circumstances of each particular season,
college tournament basketball is first-class entertainment filled with genuine
sincerity and determination. There's no wonder why the ratings are so high or
that March Madness sports memorabilia is always a best-seller (don’t forget to
check out all our great selection of autographed balls).
With all the recent twists and turns in this NCAA season, the 2014 tournament
seems destined to be a classic!
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