The Next March Madness

As a fan of college basketball, the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament made me very upset. Aside from playoff hockey, I feel that ‘The Big Dance’ can be considered the most competitive sporting event out there. The intensity. The comebacks. The Cinderella teams. The upsets. The dominance. All of it is so enticing to a fan.

As a fan of college basketball, the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament made me very upset. Aside from playoff hockey, I feel that ‘The Big Dance’ can be considered the most competitive sporting event out there. The intensity. The comebacks. The cinderella teams. The upsets. The dominance. All of it is so enticing to a fan.

That got taken away from me as a fan and looking back, I think if there is a bright side to the cancellation, it is the fact that next year’s will be even better than previous ones. Every team will be going into the season feeling hungrier for success than ever before. Some might even dedicate their seasons to the seniors who didn’t get to play in 2020’s tourney.

However, there is one thing that has the potential to hold back the next Big Dance: the NBA G-league program. Personally, I don’t believe it will make a huge difference, but it is something that shouldn’t be overlooked.

The age-old question of whether or not college athletes should be paid is one that I can potentially get into another day but is one that current young athletes want the obvious answer to be yes as soon as possible. Now, they have the opportunity to be paid before they enter the pros.

The new pathway program that the G-league is putting in place is giving the top high school recruits from around the country the chance to play basketball and make money without going to college and then can be eligible for the NBA.

I agree with this new program, but as a fan of college basketball, I want to see the best players. I know it is only for a year for the best ones, but it is a great year. And even though only 20 or so players will be given this option, it still will take 20 of potentially the best college players out of the tournament.

Imagine the Duke Blue Devils without Zion Williamson. Everyone wanted to see him play in the tournament. If Liberty beat Virginia Tech, I was going to pay to go to Washington D.C. to go see Duke play Liberty, only because of Zion. If this pathway program was in place then, Zion would’ve been playing there and not at Duke and therefore not in the tournament, which as a fan of good basketball, would have stunk.

I think that the NCAA needs to figure out a way to combat the fact that they are losing their top recruits. I don’t know the answer to that, but in order to have the highest level of competition, you need to have the highest level of talent. Next March Madness will be great and I am really looking forward to it. But if it could be better with the better players, then why haven’t the NCAA figured something out yet.