By Nunnie Robinson, Westside Gazette Sports Editor
March Madness is on full throttle now that the conference champions and the at-large bids have been set, composing the 68 teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament of 64. The only given is that some schools are going to be in ecstasy while others will experience utter misery, depending on whether your school was selected or snubbed. The critics/pundits can debate whether North Carolina, Indiana, or West Virginia was worthy. The Tar Heels won out, leaving the others to lament being scorned or jilted. It happens every year so there is nothing new under sun. There will be upsets, intriguing matchups, and last minute game winners- men and women.
The SEC has 14 teams in the tournament while the ACC has only 4. How quickly the basketball landscape seismically shifted.
What Fab Five icon Juwan Howard couldn’t achieve as Michigan’s head basketball coach has been accomplished by former FAU coach Dusty May, who led the Wolverines to the Big Ten tournament championship while in-state rival Michigan State won the regular season title. Go Blue, Go Sparty!
Congratulations to MEAC champion Norfolk State and SWAC champion Alabama State, both of whom qualified for the tournament. The 16th seed Hornets will play another 16th seed, St Francis (PA) for the privilege of playing overall #1 seed and prohibitive favorite Auburn. The chances of either team winning are slim and none so why is it set up this way? Divisional championships are contested in every division except the FCS in basketball. Whyyyyyy?
NovaSoutheastern won the Division II championship 2 years ago and North Dakota State won the FCS championship in football for the 10th time. Frankly, championships are waged on every conceivable level in football: FBS, FCS, Divisions II & III and NAIA. Not so in college basketball where less talented and poorly funded programs must compete against storied, blue bloods like Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Gonzaga, et.al. The same holds true for the women, e. g., ‘25 SWAC champion Southern will compete in a one-off against UCSD for the opportunity to play #1 seed and Big Ten champion UCLA. The possibility of a 16 seed advancing is few and far between. HBCU fans may recall FAMU’s magnanimous run in ‘99. The unheralded Rattlers, the lowest seed to the win the MEAC, upset every opponent, won the tournament, qualifying them as the 16th seed to play #1 seed Duke. Clayton Jenkins, former Broward Schools administrator whose son, Clayton, Jr., played on that team, vividly recalls the game being moved from Tampa to Charlotte because the NCAA admins feared that Duke would be at an competitive disadvantage if the game remained in Tampa because excited FAMU alumni and fans were coming in droves to witness the Rattler phenomenon. Incredible!
A FCS championship tournament would improve exponentially the chances of HBCU conference champs and other Institutions going beyond simply qualifying for the tournament while simultaneously making it more equal and competitive. Understanding the part that money plays in these decisions, I’m befuddled that there isn’t greater advocacy for a FCS championship in college basketball.
Congratulations are in order for Norfolk State, whose men and women teams qualified for the NCAA tournament by winning the MEAC tournament championships.