Friday, February 15, 2008
Since it’s humble beginnings of an eight-team tournament in 1939 — thought up by legendary Kansas coach Phog Allen — the NCAA tournament has provided plenty of madness. But contained in it all has been a double-edged sword for Kansas basketball.
In the 1996-1997 season, Kansas was clearly the best team in the country. But the tournament can be tricky, as was proven when Arizona upset the Jayhawks in the Sweet 16. Suddenly, the best Kansas team faded into disappointing obscurity. Sure, Jayhawk fans remember the brilliance of the five future NBA draft picks, but what stands out the most is that loss in the tournament and the overwhelming disappointment that followed.
Members of the 1927-1928 team, which went 9-9. reach for the ball during practice.
But with the bad comes the good. Every college hoops fan should know the story of Danny and the Miracles, when the No. 6-seeded Jayhawks won their final six games on Danny Manning’s back to win the national championship.
Was Kansas even close to the best team that season?
No way.
But that’s the kind of thing that can happen in a single elimination tournament.
Since the NCAA started seeding teams in 1979, only five times have two No. 1 seeds met to decide the title. That’s how inconsistent the tournament is.
Another reason to love and to hate the NCAA tournament is that it severely devalues the regular season. Kansas has won 50 conference titles in 100 years of conference affiliation, but does that mean much to the rest of the nation? All most people want to ask is, “How many tournament titles have you won?” And for Kansas, that’s only two, in 1952 and 1988.
It’s just really, really hard to win six games in a row against the nation’s best competition.
Consider the percentages, which I will estimate while giving the Jayhawks the benefit of any doubts. Even if Kansas is by far the best team, it has an about 1 in 5 chance to win it all. With a 100 percent chance of winning the first game, a 95 percent chance in the second round, an 80 percent chance in the third round, a 70 percent chance to win in the fourth round and a 60 percent chance in each of the Final Four games, that leaves just less than a 20 percent chance to win every single one of those games.
Yet still, some people have the gall to complain about Kansas’ lack of success in the tournament. Isn’t 50 conference titles good enough?
But still, the tournament is the ultimate American dream. If a team has tons of potential but struggled in the regular season, there’s always a fresh start in March.
Unlike in college football, one or two losses won’t kill the chances for a national title. And, also unlike college football, at least there’s no debate at the end of the season. Whoever wins is the champion because that team proved it on the court, even if a lot of it has to do with luck.
Here’s to hoping that during the next 110 years, Kansas gets lucky a few more times.
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