ROSWELL, Georgia – As the 2006 NCAA Tournament enters its second week of competition, I will be in Atlanta, somewhere neither of “my teams” – the Kansas Jayhawks and Syracuse Orange – will be: the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight. In the Atlanta bracket, a superior #12 Texas A&M team defeated Syracuse, an overrated 5 seed that only made the tournament because of its unlikely run in the Big East Tournament. Meanwhile, #4 Kansas was in early-season form, looking like a shadow of the Jayhawks that won the Big 12 Tournament the week before, losing to Missouri Valley runners up Bradley, an at-large 13 seed triumphant in the opening weekend. Bradley will play top-seeded Memphis in the Oakland regional semifinal tomorrow night. The early departure for the Jayhawks and Orange marks the second straight year that both 2003 finalists have failed to win their first round games.

Despite this year’s trend of conference tournament winners falling early and often, most notably for Kansas, Syracuse and Iowa, the tournament has been everything the NCAA and CBS could hope for, minus record-breaking ratings. The bracket busters have been out in full force, providing riveting television and entertaining matchups. Teams that fans know little about are making a big splash. Sure, the household names like Duke and UConn are there, and Villanova provides a little blast from the past. But this tournament is evidence of the way college basketball is changing, the emergence of lesser-known coaches, and the value of experienced players. Just when we thought that the Syracuse victory in 2003 was an indication that talented freshmen can win championships against battle-tested seniors, we must revisit that notion and admit that a tandem like Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara is the exception not the rule.

Nearly every game last weekend was competitive, even when the final score might have indicated otherwise (see #16 Albany vs. #1 Connecticut), and what more could you want? Speaking last week to Bob Fishman, CBS’ lead director of college basketball who directed the Albany-UConn game, he noted the extensive parity of the tournament field, predicting teams seeded 4-9 to lose in the first round. In his 25th year directing the Final Four and National Championship, Fishman believes that there are only a handful of teams capable of the 6-game win streak necessary to capture the national title, a much smaller number than in years past. Although he thinks as many as 2-3 Big East teams will advance to the national semifinal, he doesn’t believe that this will be the year that all the #1 seeds make the Final Four. All of the top seeds are still alive, and the Big East has teams left in three of the four regions. In other words, expect more drama and more upsets in week two.

Filed under: Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV, Television