NCAA MUSINGS

Finally, Gus Johnson is getting some Nationwide love. He has a pro's voice and a fan's enthusiasm. I love Gus games.

Why doesn't Dorsey just start the game with four fouls and get it over with?

I haven't looked, but I'm relatively sure the Bracket Lady is cleaning my clock.

Stephen Curry, who looks like Bambi and has no tats is still causing controversy. Nobody can figure out whether he's phonetically "steven" or "Steff-On". What he is for sure is a Big School recruiting error.

I wrote a few months ago that I've never seen any team catch the ball better than Kansas. They still do. Mrs. Basin, my precinct committeeman, watched a few minutes of the Kansas game, totally uncontaminated by anything I've written (she doesn't blog), turned to me and said "These boys just handle the ball better than any of the other boys."

Michigan State did something you don't see much any more. They made Pitt work so hard on defense, the estimable Panthers had no go juice left for offense. Screwed my brackets but it was a beautiful thing for an old coach to watch. Ball movement is next to Godliness.

On the whole the NCAA has done a great job improving both the quality and the uniformity of the officiating. Almost every game was a credit to the officials. Having said that, I do have to say that the officials were too passive too long in the Stanford game yesterday. Maybe it was because they had already run off the Stanford coach but they let the Lopez twins taunt and shove until all the sportsmanship was squeezed out of an otherwise good game. You can be sure the next crew will get control early in Stanford's next game.

All the bellyaching about Arizona State aside, you really have to ask if an additional A-10 or colonial at large team would not have enhanced the games. There were no tears shed for Virginia Commonwealth (and they did kind of cut their own throats at the end of the regular season) but they played a lot of good teams solid and spent the whole year in the top 8, mostly top five, of Mid-Majors.com (love that site!). The bigger point is that there is good quality for an at large pick beyond the 8th team in the Big East or the Sixth team in the SEC.

Is it time to stop inflating the WCC. Gonzaga got to the Sweet 16 a few years ago. Get over it.

Billy Packer really has to find another frame of reference besides the ACC. Jimmy Joe Naismith really didn't put up the peach basket in Durham or Chapel Hill. Philadelphia and even NYC have longer basketball heritages than the ACC. C'mon Billy. Broaden your horizons a little.

Finally, the Tourney is really just the sports dam breaking to allow enjoyment to flow downstream. We go from that great wasteland of sports dullness, February, to the conference tourneys, the brackets playing out, Opening Day and the Masters. Life begins, Summer shows itself a little. CIPS bills go down some. Kids on Bikes are just riding for enjoyment, rather than simply being fleeing felons. If you have sat radio, there's almost always a game on. You can hit some golf balls without losing body parts to icy divots. Checking the college sports sites, you can scout for new Gems. The Baseball Prospectus is Out. You don't just read it. You examine it all summer. Once they throw up that first ball in the NCAA's, life is good and getting better!

Have a good tourney and a great Summer!