Incredible March Madness this year

[Chanson]

For all those who are keeping track, some teams who were never expected to be there, are there. Others like Virginia, AZ, Kentucky, UCLA, UNC, etc. are not.
Loyola Chicago, K State, and Tex Tech are long shots. My heart is hoping coach Webber wins it. He was screwed out of the job at Illinois and he deserves recognition. He truly is one of the cleaner old school coaches left. I'd put Izzo in that same category. 

[Dawgma]

Isnt Michigan State under inquiry in that FBI investigation?

[Chanson]

I read AZ, USC, UNC, & another. Didn't hear about Mich St.

[Dawgma]

Sorry.  Had to look it up.  I thought I remember them talking about Tom Izzo but looking it up it was HE that spoke out that the investigation being a black eye on college basketball.  Probably heard his name  and FBI on ESPN one day.  I apologize on that one.  Should have looked it up before I posted.

[SisyphusMiner]

Sorry.  Had to look it up.  I thought I remember them talking about Tom Izzo but looking it up it was HE that spoke out that the investigation being a black eye on college basketball.  Probably heard his name  and FBI on ESPN one day.  I apologize on that one.  Should have looked it up before I posted.

Give yourself a break.  You didn't accuse, you posed it as a question.

[Chanson]

No worries Dawg. It's not about which coach has cheated, but which one is getting caught. They all do it. It's a matter of how bad & if they are stupid enough to get caught.

[FarWestTexas]

Izzo was getting heat about a former player earlier in the year.  Same time as the gymnastics coach trial.  He won and it went away.

[SisyphusMiner]

No worries Dawg. It's not about which coach has cheated, but which one is getting caught. They all do it. It's a matter of how bad & if they are stupid enough to get caught.

Right on.   I am well aware I am in the minority here, but I would prefer if the power schools just went semi-pro, and the rest formed a new league with strictly enforced rules regarding neutrality and amateur players.  The big business spectacle makes for fine play, but at what cost?  I'm a weirdo who likes watching people play at whatever skill level they are at, but knowing its not because a multimillionaire coach with a multimillion dollar recruiting budget flew out in a private jet and secretly handed a player a diamond encrusted rolex.

[liebestraum]

I think the US is the only country where universities feed athletes into pro leagues (I’m not really counting baseball here).  In other countries, club teams do that job - be it basketball, rugby, soccer, whatever.  And it makes way more sense from an academic perspective.

What is going to be interesting is that there is a movement in higher ed towards offering more classes (and degrees!) on line.  There are still plenty of people who think face-to-face teaching is the only way to go, and so I expect universities of all sizes will continue to have actual students attending campus and (as a consequence) actual sports teams - especially the power conferences.  The money is just too good to ignore.  BUT - at some point, I could see a set of athletic departments from big universities “seceding” from the actual academic side of a university and become a separate (but equal? lol) part of the university brand without the pesky academic requirements of a core curriculum and required classes/majors.

I’m planning on being dead by the time that happens.

lieb