Mediocrity will lead to parity. 

 

The talent pool in college basketball has dwindled over the past decade with too many players leaving after one year of college. There is not a team in college basketball that would make the Elite Eight in a 65-team bracket against teams from ten years ago.

 

But we don't care. We love upsets. We love it when Morehead State hits a last second three off the backboard to beat Duke, 85-84. We love the drama of the first Thursday and Friday of the NCAA Tournament. 

 

We crowd around the television at work to catch the drama. Less work gets done on these two days than any other time during the calendar or fiscal year. We even update each other on upsets through texting. 

 

"Siena up on UConn by 5, 10 min left. LOL."

 

"OMG. Like, no way. Seriously?"

 

The sound of the CBS College Basketball theme music gives us chills. More than likely after that theme music, drama is next. That magnetic basketball the NCAA has to force these things to boost ratings will be working fine. 

 

Some fill out their brackets seven minutes after they are released. On Monday in front of the water cooler, the bracket is the hot topic of conversation.

 

"You have too many upsets dude."

 

"But look at my Final Four. Duke, North Carolina, UCLA, and Kansas. It's a lock."

 

"I have three 12 seeds beating 5 seeds-seems to happen every year. And I have Oklahoma winning it."

 

These days we have 30 different media outlets predicting the bubble situation with up to millisecond updates. Since when did the "next four out" really matter? Those teams probably shouldn't be in the tournament anyway. 

 

"Creighton was out five minutes ago, but now they could be a 6-seed in the Indianapolis regional. Wait, this just in. San Diego State won, so Creighton is now out unless Utah State beats Nevada by more than 11 points and hits at least 10 three's in the win unless the Netherlands can score at least three runs against Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. 

 

"Just trust us, okay. Because we know and you don't!"

 

The reality of it is, these bracket experts don't really know what's going to happen... and that's the beauty of it. The NCAA Tournament selection committee always brings us a few surprises. 

 

For a handful of teams, Greg Gumbel holds the key to their futures as he names the teams that are going to be playing in the Big Dance. "Who are we playing? Where are we playing? Are we playing? Who else is in our regional?"

 

And when these brackets are released, we want to read the committee the riot act for leaving out a few teams public opinion says "got robbed" out of a bid to the tournament. Pragmatically, these teams don't have a leg to stand on. 

 

If they wanted in, they should have won a few more games to ensure their entry. If you don't want your bubble to rupture, play your way off the bubble. 

 

Then we have to listen to Dick Vitale whine about a travesty all night on Sunday night, "I think it's really, really sad that Syracuse didn't get into the tournament." Mr. Vitale must be upset because he picked the Orange on his November grocery list of teams to get to the Final Four. 

 

"Hey baby... I like Syracuse, I like Duke, North Carolina baby, Oklahoma, I like UConn, Louisville, I like UCLA, I like Gonzaga, I like your shoes, I like my bald head, I like my glass eyeball... and one sleeper team right now to watch is Billy Donavan and the Florida Gators this season Baby 3, everybody say, Ay Bay Bay."

Jeez Mr. Vitale. Way to go out on a limb by picking the school that won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007 to be a potential sleeper. 

 

Some fans want the NCAA to split up Division I into two different divisions so only the big boys get a chance to play for the national title. Tell that to George Mason-the team that made the improbable tournament runs of all tournament runs. 

 

Before the Patriots did the impossible by making the 2006 Final Four, the casual basketball fan thought George Mason was a former player for North Carolina-albeit it was really George Lynch. George Mason didn't even fit the "mid-major" tag given by the condescending bigger conferences as a tag they put on the alleged "giant-killers" in the bracket.

 

Tell Stephon Curry and Davidson their 2008 run to the Elite Eight shouldn't have happened. They were a 10-seed that knocked off power-hungry Georgetown and Wisconsin before falling by a bucket to eventual national champion Kansas in the regional final.

 

This year, these pundits will attempt to act confident when they pick their four teams to make the trip to the Motor City. But like us, they have absolutely no idea who will end up in Detroit. 

 

Why? Because nobody has separated themselves from the pack. As soon as we think somebody is ready and willing to become a top-tier team (to borrow Clark Kellogg's theory of putting teams in tiers-which is actually a good idea no matter how boring and annoying he is), they suffer an strange loss.

 

We wanted to anoint North Carolina in December after they pounded Michigan State by what might as well have been 100 points inside the very football stadium this Final Four is to be held. The Tarheels-much like other Roy Williams coached teams-have underachieved despite only losing three games. 

 

But when the Atlantic Coast Conference officials give North Carolina and Duke calls only given to the most homerific referee of all-time and Michael Jordan, it's hard to lose more than three games.

 

Although Duke can lose six times and still be one of two schools in the history of college basketball to move up five spots in the top ten after a 27-point loss to Clemson... along with North Carolina.

 

Not that I'm bitter.

 

Nobody will win the $1 million bracket challenge this year or any other year either. Because you have no inkling at all who will be going to the Final Four. Admit it, you don't. Neither do I, but again, that's the beauty of this whole March Madness thing.

 

So while we are at it, give me Pittsburgh, Louisville, Michigan State, and Siena. And North Carolina, UConn, and UCLA. If Dick Vitale gets 12 Final Four teams, I get seven. New rule.

 

And that's why mediocrity will lead to parity this March and April.

Fans of North Carolina and Duke are sorely mistaken-you are not the King of basketball. You have two of the top programs in the country, no doubt. But these are national programs that hardly rely on local talent to continue to live up to their billing.

 

In last Sunday's victory for North Carolina over Duke, players hailing from North Carolina combined to score zero points. In fact a quick glance of the Duke roster and you will not find one player that is from North Carolina.

 

So what gives? Who died and made the state of North Carolina boss? And since when is North Carolina/Duke the biggest rivalry in sports?

 

Ever heard of Army/Navy? What about Celtic/Rangers in Scottish soccer. Both clubs hail from Glasgow and have hundreds of years of religious tension involved. Now that is a rivalry.

 

Sure, North Carolina/Duke is a big deal in college basketball. But calling it the best rivalry in sports is as asinine as calling North Carolina the best state for basketball.

 

Duke has won three national championships under Coach Mike Krzyzewski-definitely an admirable feat. North Carolina has won four titles, surprisingly only two under Dean Smith and one under Roy Williams with Matt Doherty's players. Perhaps another subject for another day.

 

Let's take a gander, for example, at the Duke teams of 1991 and 1992. Without question, two of the best teams in the history of college basketball. In 1992, not one player came from North Carolina. Christian Laettner was from New York, Bobby Hurley from New Jersey, and Grant Hill from Virginia.

 

The 1982 National Champions, yes, had two outstanding players from North Carolina. Michael Jordan came from Wilmington, while James Worthy hailed from Gastonia. Pretty good players to claim as yours.

 

What about the 1993 North Carolina title winners? Donald Williams was from Garner, N.C. However, he was the only North Carolinian to contribute to the national championship.

 

The 2005 Matt Doherty All-Stars weren't overloaded with homegrown talent either. Only Reyshawn Terry and David Noel made significant contributions to this title effort.

 

Now you have Tyler Hansbrough, the 2008 winner of the Naismith Trophy. Great college player, absolutely no future in the NBA. Hansbrough will get pounded in the professional ranks by bigger and stronger players. He will ride an NBA bench for five years, and will be found living on his college star status in the North Carolina area a few years from now. Nothing wrong with that.

 

And since when was Roy Williams one of the best college basketball coaches of all-time? He had one of the greatest teams of all-time at Kansas, loaded with some guy named Paul Pierce, Raef LaFrentz, Jacque Vaughn, and Scot Pollard.

 

Williams proves that if you get coffee for the right person for a lot of years (Dean Smith)-or least game plan when Smith is passed out from his scotch-you too can get a job at one of the top five college basketball institutions at Kansas. Then he makes a lateral move to North Carolina, another one of the top programs ever.

 

Williams never had to earn his keep coaching at a small school. He was gift-wrapped a top-notch job at Kansas. And Kansas probably got a better coach in Bill Self-who earned his way at places such as Oral Roberts and Tulsa-and was the last coach since Larry Brown to deliver a national title to Rock Chalk county.

 

Williams had recruited one player of note in his only national title at North Carolina in 2005, Marvin Williams. Sean May, Rashad McCants, and Raymond Felton was recruited to Tarheel Country by Doherty.

 

Your three major schools that have won national titles, to include North Carolina State, have combined to win nine titles. Admirable, no doubt.

 

Kentucky has won seven by itself, while Indiana has claimed five.

 

Which state is best? Give me Indiana every single day and twice on Sunday. Because UCLA won 11 titles, with some Indiana native named John Wooden running the show.

 

And who was the last college basketball team not to lose a game? That's right, 1976 Indiana coached by Bobby Knight.

 

One of the best players of all-time is from North Carolina in Michael Jordan. Congratulations. But what about another Indiana grown player named Larry Bird. Bird was so good in college that he led Indiana State to the National Championship game by himself before losing to Michigan State in 1979.

 

In college basketball, yes. North Carolina is pretty good. But give me a break on this "best state for basketball" thing. 

 

After all, the movie "Hoosiers" was not based in North Carolina.

Alex Rodriguez is still the best player of all-time.  

With or without steroids, Rodriguez is still better than anybody else that has ever played on a major league baseball field. There are 275 million reasons why A-Rod flirted with steroids. And heck, he probably lied to us again on the interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons. 

Rodriguez didn't need steroids to be the best player of all-time, he was anyway. What Rodriguez did is warp himself into a culture. 

 

He was the best hitter in the game as a lanky teenager with the Seattle Mariners while facing juice-filled pitchers that threw harder than humanly possible. He simply evened the score by partaking in steroids. 

 

This whole mess is as asinine as making a big deal out of Michael Phelps. Were we so naive to think A-Rod was clean? If you think anything in sports is pure, you are lying to yourself. 

 

It starts swaying off the path at a young age, and continues to get worse. Personally, I don't care if these athletes are on fish tranquilizers or eat steroids for breakfast. 

 

I want to see a man run an 8.99 in the 100. I want to see a 400-pound defensive tackle run a 4.1 in the 40. I want to see a man hit the ball 1,000-feet. 

 

These baseball traditionalists baffle me. Like the baseball Hall of Fame is a sacred place with the highest moral standard. 

 

Pete Rose is a Hall of Fame player. A-Rod is with or without steroids. Same with Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. 

 

What is cheating anymore? As they say, if you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin'. 

 

There is no Hall of Fame that is more numbers-conscious than the baseball Hall. A-Rod's numbers warranted inclusion before he turned to juice, while he was on juice, and after he was on juice if you believe he's still not on something. You cannot erase history. We want to see the long ball, and we will pay top dollar to watch it take place. 

 

Indirectly, cheating put money in pockets of those who didn't do it right along with them. Indirectly, they're part of the problem. Fewer home runs mean fewer tickets sold. It's not rocket science. It's just the way it is. 

 

If you participated in the steroid era and you didn't join in the fun, it sucks to be you. You lost a lot of money. You might have a cleaner conscious for not having done steroids, but cheating sells. Cheating puts asses in the seats at the ballpark. 

 

Sports are not, have not, and never will be pure. Athletes have always been and will always be above the law. If you can throw harder or hit a baseball further than anybody else, you are in a special category. 

 

I didn't make the rules and odds are those reading didn't make the rules either. This was established long before the internet. As a society-as sorry as this sounds-we worship athletes. We give them a free pass. When was the last time 110,000 people filled The Big House to watch a single mother take care of three children? Which is harder and more impressive? 

 

If you are na