Isn't college basketball fun when teams are actually playing for something?   I had to laugh this weekend when announcers were trying to give us reasons to care about games that essentially meant nothing:  "Bragging rights;" "A first-round bye in the conference tournament;"  "Making a statement to the Committee" ".49 tacos at Taco Bell;" whatever.    You CFB playoff types, take note.  The Big East just completed it's three-month exhibition season.   And here comes it's month-long tournament. 

How long has it been that every posession ends in a foul?   Has the athleticism just reached a point where there's just contact on every play - at least every drive?  I wonder if they need to take a look at having more no-calls where the only thing the defender did was play basketball.  Getting rid of the Fake Duke Charge would be a nice step in the right direction too.   You never see kids from Iona, Utah State or UAB trying to draw fake charges. 

They sure picked a great year to expand the Tournament.  I think Toledo is still on a few "last four out" lists.   I mean, seriously, are there really people who aren't alums of these schools who want to see Michigan State, Illinois, BC, and OK State in the Tourney?    Really.   I know the Valley was way down this year, but give me a 23-7 mid-major conference champ over a 17-13 major conference chump any day of the week.  Again, if you want the regular season to mean ANYTHING (assuming you're not talking about the Ivy League, where they have this quaint notion that the regular season should count), it seems rewarding teams who win more often would be a nice place to start.

In that same vein, the whole "bubble" this year appears to be based on the "The ACC used to be good" concept.  Why in the world would BC, VPI, and Clemson be clearly ahead of a Colorado State team who probably played in a tougher conference this year?  

If Fair Harvard doesn't wind up winning the Ivy, they should still go - at least ahead of BC, who they waxed on the road (um, again).