Writer calls upsets by midmajors Sweet

[Da Coach]

Brian Burwell of the St. Louis Post Dispatch

NCAA upsets are sweet music for so-called mid-majors

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/bryanburwell/story/717FF453FFD7C0C7862576F00011DAC9?OpenDocument

And a nice article from the Los Angeles Times about the Northern Iowa win over Kansas-

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/23/news/sc-spt-0324-ncaa-ryan-northern-iowa--20100324-25

another interesting article about the effect of the One-and-done college basketball players-

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/36007533/ns/sports-college_basketball/

[DoubleJayAlum]

That last article creates an interesting thought.

If the one-and-done rule is both (1) keeping the power conference teams from developing dynasties and is (2) being blamed/credited for the success of mid-majors this year, than as mid-major fans should we be in favor of keeping the rule in place?

[tornado]

but the very top caliber high schoolers - kids like John Wall, Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley -
obviously can no longer go straight to the NBA - BUT--- those kids DO have NBA caliber talent...
so now they all want to spend ONE year in colege, but they want to go somewhere that will showcase them...
somewhere that they will have a shot at a National Title...so ALL those top kids, instead of jumping to the NBA as they did for the better part of the past 3-4 decades since Moses Malone...
Those kids will all be at Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis (under Cal), etc...and that will tend to make a FEW top BCS schools VERY, VERY strong each year depending on how many of those TOP players they get..

So, I say the one-and-done rule actually will HELP and lock in the very top programs like Kansas, UK, etc...
and those guys will become as straong & nearly as unbeatable as this year's Kentucky.

[Da Coach]

That last article creates an interesting thought.

If the one-and-done rule is both (1) keeping the power conference teams from developing dynasties and is (2) being blamed/credited for the success of mid-majors this year, than as mid-major fans should we be in favor of keeping the rule in place?

Funny, but just 1 year ago, when the NCAA issued a record low number of at-large bids to midmajors, there was no suggestion of this one-and-done rule hurting the major schools.
In just these past couple seasons, the rule allowed Memphis (Derrick Rose) to get to the title game, and it helped win the NCAA title for Kansas (Durrell Arthur). If not for this rule, those kids would have gone straight to the pros, and those teams would never have benefitted from those superstar players playing a second of college ball.

So I doubt it benefits the midmajors in any way.

[bigdaddystuck]

I think it does help the mid-majors in some ways. I agree with T, that your best of the best are still going to go the big name route, Kentucky, Kansas, UNC, Duke, etc.... Those schools will still get the top recruiting classes and have guys who are ready to play right now.

It helps the mid-majors get those good players who know they need more than 1 or 2 seasons to improve their skills. Look at UNI this year, or many mid-majors who have success in the tourney, they have upperclassmen leadership. Those guys usually play better as a team, usually don't have that flashy or huge #'s guy on their team.

[Da Coach]

An article from ESPN's Pat Forde about how the increased number of midmajors this year have a lot of fans who like to root against the big boys -
Picking sides has never been easier

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/tournament/2010/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=5023685

Here are his comments about UNI-
The plucky Panthers from the Missouri Valley Conference are in with three Enormous State Universities, all of which spend money and build facilities in profligate fashion. The difference in athletic budgets is roughly the difference between a middle-class neighborhood and a gated community.
Last year UNI dropped baseball to help make athletic ends meet, after dropping men's swimming and men's tennis earlier in the decade. Michigan State's budget is more than $75 million. Tennessee crossed the $100 million threshold for the first time this year. Ohio State was the original $100 million athletic empire.
None of the Enormous State Universities would have had even a passing recruiting interest in Northern Iowa shooting guard Ali Farokhmanesh, the face of the tournament to date after shooting down No. 8 UNLV and No. 1 Kansas in successive games. None of them would even think of paying a coach as successful as Ben Jacobson a salary of $150,000 -- in fact, that might be what Ohio State spends annually on chewing gum for coach Thad Matta.
Now the question is whether any of the Enormous State Universities can beat UNI.

[DoubleJayAlum]

Funny, but just 1 year ago, when the NCAA issued a record low number of at-large bids to midmajors, there was no suggestion of this one-and-done rule hurting the major schools.
In just these past couple seasons, the rule allowed Memphis (Derrick Rose) to get to the title game, and it helped win the NCAA title for Kansas (Durrell Arthur). If not for this rule, those kids would have gone straight to the pros, and those teams would never have benefitted from those superstar players playing a second of college ball.

So I doubt it benefits the midmajors in any way.

There has to be some crowding out though, doesn't there?

If these guys go to college instead of the NBA, they take up a scholarship spot. That means that someone else that would otherwise be good enough to attend these top tier programs, now has to settle for something less. This crowding out may continue, ultimately causing some players to trickle down to mid majors that we otherwise wouldn't get.

I agree that certain teams that get these one-and-dones will probably be at the top, but those schools probably would have been there anyway (this year's North Carolina notwithstanding).