Nunnie on the Sideline

By “Nunnie” Robinson, Westside Gazette Sport Editor

March Madness continued to live up to its moniker over the weekend. While channel surfing as we all  do in times of leisure, I came upon the Houston Cougars/Texas A&M game in its waning moments. The Cougars were leading by a relatively comfortable 9 point margin with a little over a minute remaining. After scrambling back to within 3 points, with 1.2 seconds left, the Aggies made a miraculous 3 point shot to tie the game, sending it into overtime where Houston finally prevailed 95-90. On the ladies’ side, the Kansas Jayhawks forced overtime against Michigan, also on a last second 3 pointer, then prevailed 81-72. The tops 2 seeds in each region for both women and men have held court thus far.

I want to pivot momentarily and pose a rhetorical question regarding our MEAC (Howard) and SWAC (Grambling St.) Champions, who by virtue of their amazing victories, qualified for the NCAA Division I tournament. In the NBA it’s called the Play In and in the NCAA, it’s called the First Four. Howard lost a  hard fought game, which ended their season, to Wagner, but the  Mighty G-Men prevailed in overtime against Montana St. 86-81. The reward for the victory was the opportunity to play number one seed Purdue, which easily dispatched the Tigers.    My question : Is winning the conference championship, qualifying for the First Four, only to be paired arguably against one of the top four teams in the country the ceiling for HBCUS and schools of similar ilk?  And isn’t the money earned from playing in those games shared equally with other conference schools? Since they have several championships for various divisions like Divisions II and III and NAIA, why can’t one be developed for formally I-AA schools, today referred to as FCS in football. Surely, the competition would be more equal, thus increasing schools like Howard, Wagner, Montana St. et al, chances for success on the court, thereby increasing revenue opportunities for the individual schools and conferences. The tournament record historically for schools qualifying for the NCAA is dismal at best.  You may recall Coppin State’s 78-65 upset of South Carolina in 1997 or 15th seeded Hampton University, a team that won 25 games, defeat number 2 seeded Iowa State, a team led by future NBA star Jamal Tinsley in 2001.  We know it can and has happened; however, the chances of any school not a Power 5 or least a Mid Major winning the NCAA championship is tantamount to winning the Power Ball or Mega. I surmised that like everything else in politics or sports, decisions of this import or magnitude usually involve money. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can school me. Of course, here’s something we can all agree on: The transfer portal and NIL have changed amateur athletics for years to come.