CU in the... NIT?

Image via Wikipedia I need to start this article by pointing out that I am not a fan of CU in any way. I have never routed for CU unless they happen to be playing against a team from Texas, I hate all that is Texas. So, when I say that the University of Colorado was royally disrespected and disgraced by not being selected to the NCAA Tournament that starts this week, you can rest assured that it comes from an individual that is partial and unbiased. Before I tell you why CU should be in the tournament I’ll tell you why 2 teams should not be.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham made the NCAA tournament as an at-large big. This means that they didn’t win their conference championship tournament to receive the automatic qualifying bid. UAB was 22-8 overall while going 12-4 in their conference. They won the Conference USA regular season title but lost in the conference tournament. These numbers by themselves look fairly impressive but they are wildly deceiving. Conference USA is terrible. There is not one ranked team in the conference and the UAB out of conference schedule is a joke except for 2 games, Duke and Georgia, and UAB lost both games. When you only play 2 quality programs a year you shouldn’t loose more than 4 games and still expect to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid.

Virginia Commonwealth University has a record of 23-11 with a conference record of 12-6 and finish the season ranked 4th in the Colonial conference and also made the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid. Once again the numbers aren’t bad but how many teams can you name in the Colonial conference outside of Old Dominion. Before now I wouldn’t have been able to tell you that Old Dominion was in that conference. Their out of conference schedule was almost as weak as their conference schedule. They have zero wins against ranked opponents because they didn’t play any. Of their 4 good wins, 1 came against Wake Forrest who won 4 games all season (their worst season to date I believe). 2 came against conference foes George Mason and Old Dominion. George Mason had beaten VCU earlier in the season by 20 points and Old Dominion beat VCU in the Colonial Conference Finals. UCLA is the only really good win on VCU’s schedule and it came in a preseason tournament. So in review, VCU doesn’t win their conference regular season or post-season championship, played zero ranked opponents, and their best win came before the season even started.

The University of Colorado went 21 and 13 for the season and 8-8 in the conference while finishing the regular season ranked 6th in the conference. CU made it to the semi- finals of their conference championship and didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. Looking at these numbers they aren’t as impressive as UAB or VCU, but if we look deeper we will see that they are vastly more impressive. Let’s start with the conference. CU plays in the Big 12 Conference, a conference that everyone has heard of and can name teams in. Not only can we name teams but we have several ranked teams within the conference; Kansas, Texas, Missouri, and Kansas State. CU played Kansas 3 times this season and lost all 3 games but outside of the game at Kansas, CU played them close. Kansas was ranked in the top 10 for all 3 games. The Buffs played Texas (#5 at the time) and won. They split the season series with Missouri who was ranked 6th in the country when the Buffs beat them and 15th during the loss. CU’s most impressive achievement this season was beating Kansas State all 3 times they met. The wildcats were ranked for 2 of the three meetings. Once again, the CU Buffalos didn’t make the NCAA Tournament.

UAB and VCU played in very week conferences, didn’t win their conference championships, played very week out of conference schedules, and played a total of 2 ranked opponents combined with zero wins to show for it and make the NCAA Tournament. CU plays in one of the power conferences in college basketball, makes the semi-finals of their conference tournament where they loose to eventual the champions, #2 Kansas in a close game, won 5 of their 9 games against ranked opponents and didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. I’m all for giving small schools and conferences an opportunity to play on the big stage, but only when they earn it. VCU and UAB are probably very good programs in their own right, but compared to CU they didn’t earn their spot in the tournament. They had one quality win between the 2 of them and somehow make the big show. It is a disgrace to the selection process and a slap in the face of the University of Colorado basketball program.

Related articles

• NCAA tournament: Committee chair Gene Smith defends selection of UAB, VCU (sports.espn.go.com)
• Calling all Buffs Fans: boycott the NCAA Tournament First Round (prosportscolorado.com)
• NCAA Tournament: What Surprises Did The Committee Give Us On Selection Sunday? (bleacherreport.com)
• NCAA Basketball: Should Someone Like Joe Lunardi Pick the Brackets From Now on? (bleacherreport.com)
• NCAA Selection Committee Picked the Wrong Teams from Alabama and Virginia (bleacherreport.com)
• The Fix Picks the NCAA Tournament (blogs.wsj.com)
• Buffs' bevy of big wins fails to sway the NCAA (denverpost.com)

Three Issues, One Week

Image via Wikipedia Now that the NFL has extended the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) by one week I think that the 3 major issues need to be addressed and resolved. The 3 main issues in the eyes of the fans are as follows: NFL owners claim that due to rising operating cost the $1billion that they already receive before the revenue sharing is not enough, extending the regular season by 2 games and reducing the preseason 2 games and the increased benefits for retired players.

The NFL owners’ major issue is their claim that, even though the league is doing better than ever before and revenue continues to increase, the current CBA can’t sustain the rising cost of operation for the owners. The NFL is a $9billion a year business in which the owners receive $1billion off the top for their operating cost. The remaining $8billion is split between the players and the owners with 51% going to the players. With the building of new stadiums, inflation, and the current economic problems around the world, the owners say that in the next few years that the $1billion dollars won’t be enough to cover their operating cost. I’ve been calling this issue a claim because to this point the owners have shown no evidence to the players that this is true. Why should they?

I have been trying to wrap my brain around that question for the last few weeks. How many company owners open their books to all of their employees when hard economic times are said to be ahead. If I were to lose my job in an effort by my employer to reduce cost to maximize profit I have no right to question that claim. I understand the players position on the issue and would like to have the proof to go along with the claim, but at the end of the day aren’t they just employees of their teams’ owner? The existence of the CBA makes this a tricky question. The fact that the revenue is split quite evenly after the operating cost stipend makes it feel more like a partnership. If it is a partnership then the owners not only should open the books to the players but actually have an obligation to do so. The players have said all along that if the owners can show them the proof to support their claim then they would be happy to restructure the revenue sharing agreement. So when talks resume on Monday they should figure out if the owners are employers or partners to the players.

The player’s first major issue is the 18 game regular season schedule. They don’t want it and can’t see how that would improve the game in anyway. I have to agree with the players on this issue. Extending the regular season has 2 potential draw backs. The first is the added risk to injury that the players will face in a longer season. With the game being as violent as it is, there is no question that more players will get hurt during a longer season. This added wear and tear on the players will shorten some careers and will likely result in a lesser product near the end of the season. It also hurts the teams when it comes to evaluating talent. The preseason is meant to work out the kinks with the starts and test the talent level of the possible backups. If you get rid of 2 preseason games then you cut player evaluation time in half. Not giving teams an adequate amount of time to fully evaluate their players will only hurt the game especially teams decimated by injuries.

With the recent studies on brain damage caused by concussions it is understandable that the players are asking for better health benefits once they retire. We are seeing that the affects of concussions are not instantaneous. Retirement benefits need to be increased for these players in order to make sure they can live long and satisfying lives. Head injuries aren’t the only issues that retired players have to deal with. Many retired players will suffer from leg joint issues that could require treatment. Many players have issues with their shoulders even before they retire so it isn’t like most of these players stop feeling the pain of competition simply because they retire. With a game as great as football it would be a tragedy to see some of the games greats in fragile state years down the road when it can be prevented with better benefits.

These are the issues that need to be worked out this week in order for a lock out to be avoided. If there isn’t a new CBA by the deadline on Friday then there should be no more extensions. The longer these negations go on the better the chances of the fans missing out on football are. The players won’t be affected until they start missing pay checks and the owners will do what they can to get to that point in order to get what they want. If there isn’t a deal done by the deadline on Friday then the NFL Players Union should decertify and take their chances in court. At least that way we will have a better chance of having a full football season next year.

Related articles

• NFL, players agree to 7-day CBA extension (denverpost.com)
• NFL Labor Talks: Creative Solutions & Compromises for a New CBA (bleacherreport.com)
• Breaking It Down: The Core Issue of the NFL Labor Talks (bleacherreport.com)
• NFL, players union taking weekend break from mediation (cbssports.com)