By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff
With the Final Four set in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, there have been more crazy endings than one can remember, more than one will ever see in the NBA. From the round of 68, to the improbable cinderella stories sprinkled throughout the bracket, this March has truly brought the madness.
Mercer and Dayton are just some of the lucky ones who got invited to the ball, whose shoe fit for much longer than expected, while some lottery-bound players’ stocks have been dissected as much as those found on Wall Street on this national stage.
The tournament runs parallel to part of the final stretch of the NBA season. There are no Cinderellas in the NBA; instead there are teams who are just fine with losing. The 76ers lost 26 games in a row, spanning from the end of January into March. Tanking at this point is not uncommon, with as many as ten teams not actively trying to win every game of the season. During the month of March, the NBA hails in comparison to the entertainment that college basketball provides.
After about 11 million fans filled out brackets on ESPN, just as many, if not more, followed the historic journey of such teams as the Dayton Flyers. Watching the tournament games is so popular that every single game is streamed online. Watching during work is so popular that the online streaming has a “boss button” which instantly changes the computer screen from a basketball game to an Excel spreadsheet, or anything else work related. The madness is that big.
So why is watching amateur college athletes, most of whom do not have the skill to play professionally, more entertaining than watching paid superstars who are some of the best athletes in the world?
Because of the one-and-done rule, star players must play at least one year of college basketball before declaring for the NBA draft and there are a great deal of star freshman who have a lot of talent. These freshman can often lead their teams to great regular season records in spite of their lack of experience.
On the other side are experienced seniors, most of whom do not have the talent to play in the NBA and make millions, which is why they are still playing basketball in college at 22-years-old. Because of the decrease of talent found in these seniors, teams who regularly play seniors may not fare as well in the regular season. They will lose more to those talented freshman and as a result have a worse seed come March.
For many of them, however, they have been around the block and played in the tournament. This gives them the knowledge of what it is like to play on this stage, one that is much different than that of the regular season. With so many more people watching, every single possession carries much more weight. The senior will know what this is like; the phenom freshman will not.
This lack of experience leads to cinderella stories like Mercer, who started five seniors, to beat powerhouses such as Duke, who boast lottery-bound, yet inexperienced freshman like Jabari Parker. Parker is not only more talented than any player on Mercer, but is also one of the best players in college basketball; however, Mercer’s five starting seniors were able to beat Parker’s Duke, who only started one experienced senior.
Unlike the NBA, where those tanking teams who are expected to lose to powerhouses may not really give it everything they have and believe that they can beat their opponent, NCAA basketball fosters the belief that anyone can win. As a result, the underdogs will always at least try on the shoe, give it everything they can possibly give and see if they are indeed this year’s Cinderella story.
Because of this, when a close, hard-fought game reaches its final minutes, a varied amount of responses come from the 18-22 year olds playing the game. Some will step up, hit every free throw and limit their mistakes to almost none. Others may cave under the pressure, make a careless mistake or four that will severely hurt their teams chances at winning a close game. When this happens, a five point lead and the ball with about 40 seconds left is certainly not safe, even though in the NBA the team who is winning at this point will almost certainly come out victorious.
Just ask Michigan, who was in that exact situation against a David in Tennessee who was trying to take out a Goliath in Michigan. Before narrowly escaping with a victory, Michigan turned the ball over four straight times, giving the 11 seeded Volunteers a glimmer of hope in pulling off the upset.
March Madness is also more entertaining that the NBA playoff push because of the very visible fun each and every kid playing is having. Whereas in the NBA there are men as old as their late thirties, who are perhaps approaching basketball as a profession more than a game; the college games are filled with kids who are just playing to play and don’t get paid. Most of them will not receive Nike sponsorships and millions of dollars, so they are just playing to fight another day and keep on playing the game they love.
Because no one expects a five seed to upset a twelfth seed, there is no pressure, just basketball to be played. They are having as much fun playing on this stage as the viewers are having watching them. In Kentucky’s recent victory over Michigan, one player even filmed the last second three pointer to win the game on his smartphone from the bench. He just wanted to be able to remember this moment, because, like so many other players in the tournament, he was happy to be able to play some basketball.
As the NBA readies itself for the playoffs, where the lowly Eastern Conference will see multiple below .500 teams make the playoffs, college basketball is entertaining millions through pure, gritty basketball. In no other situation can we as viewers watch a real life Cinderella story take place before our very eyes. In the three plus weeks that the madness takes over many lives, it is possible to separate all the flaws from the professional game from the superiorities of the authentic college game. And just maybe we will see some unknown player see his stock skyrocket into the next can’t-miss NBA prospect.
