I am either getting more easily irritated as I grow older, or some of these alleged sports experts are getting more and more stupid with their analysis and opinions. Take for example the story below from Rivals:
"DOES IT REALLY MATTER? [
http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1146&CID=778484]
Mike Huguenin
Rivals.com College Basketball Editor
We're a little less than three weeks from "Selection Sunday," and watching Saturday's Memphis-Tennessee game was a good way to get excited about March and the NCAA Tournament.
But as exciting as the game was — and it lived up to the hype, even if it wasn't the offensive shootout it was supposed to be — there still was one overriding theme: It really didn't matter.
Wayne Chism and Tennessee got the win Saturday but Shawn Taggart and Memphis will still be a No. 1 seed. Despite the loss, Memphis still is going to make the tournament. Heck, the Tigers still are likely to be a No. 1 seed. Even if it had lost, Tennessee wouldn't have been hurt badly by the loss. It won't even matter in terms of the tournament if the Vols lose Tuesday at Vanderbilt to fall out of the No. 1 spot.
Contrast that with football. As hyped as the Memphis-Tennessee game was, it didn't come close to the hype when Michigan and Ohio State met at the end of the 2006 college football regular season.
The reason: That game truly had something riding on it.
In college football, once you lose, you no longer are in control of your fate. From that point on, your fate is in the hands of others. But even with its loss Saturday, Memphis doesn't have to worry about anybody else. Tigers coaches and players know their fate is in their hands in that as long as they keep winning, the longer they keep playing.
The biggest difference between college basketball and college football is the overriding importance of the regular season in football. And as great as the NCAA Tournament has become - college football has nothing to match it, not even close - the college basketball regular season just isn't that exciting."
What?!
1. "It really didn't matter." Try selling that to the Orange and White nation who have never before been able to say, "We're #1" and had all the major polls to back it up (unanimously even). Try selling that to the Tigers in Blue (both fans and the team) who felt like they had just had their hearts yanked out of their chest afterwards. To steal all hope from the Tigers of finishing with an undefeated season, and then say, "It didn't really matter." That's just pure foolishness.
2. To sum up his statements in paragraph 3: In the whole scheme of things... "it didn't really matter." Well, perhaps in the whole scheme of things, Mike Huguenin doesn't matter... at least not his opinion. The fact that Memphis will still be in the tournament and most probably still a #1 seed takes absolutely NOTHING away from the significance of the Vols beating the then #1 ranked team on their home court where they had won 40+ games in a row! It makes a huge statement about Tennessee and this team's ability to turn an opponent's strengths and weaknesses against them despite being in an obviously hostile environment. The Memphis win for Tennessee is a significant mark on the measuring stick of how far this program has come since Bruce Pearl took the reins.
3. The following quote sums up the remaining paragraphs: "The college basketball regular season just isn't that exciting." This guy must be one of those who likes to propagate the MYTH that a tournament or playoff belittles the importance of the regular season. He is (whether purposely or not) a BCS lover. Beating a #1 team at home during the season is very significant. Beating them and taking over the #1 ranking makes it extra special. When they turn out to be an in-state rival against whom you have to recruit... it is priceless. And if we come up against them once more in the NCAA Tournament, "whoa nelly!" The regular season has its owns rewards, and it also has a significant impact on qualifying and seeding in the tournament. The regular season cannot, however, do that one special thing: determine a national champion. That is what the playoff or tournament is for. That is the whole purpose of the tournament. The regular season accomplishes most everything else. It is not made any less important or significant by having a tournament afterwards. Quite frankly, to suggest that can best be described as "asinine fatuity."
4. To compare the regular seasons of college basketball and college football in this manner also confirms Mike's apparent love of the BCS. Else, he would have duly noted that if the NCAA Division IA (FBS) had had at least a 4 team playoff back in 2006, Michigan would still have had an opportunity to play for a National Championship despite their late season loss to Ohio State (why? because of their rankings based on their WHOLE REGULAR SEASON of work!). It is the BCS that gums up the works, not a playoff system.
5. Finally, the one thing I hesitate to mention because some will just say I'm promoting some alledged media bias or conspiracy against Tennessee: how come we never heard any statement like this back when it was North Carolina versus Duke at 1 vs 2? What pompous sports writer would have dared to say back then, "It doesn't really matter." ???
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