A loyal reader recently asked if we have any sports takes on this site.  Apparently, we don't write enough for his tastes.  I can see his point, and today, a sports take of my own: The NCAA tournament is massively overrated.

I know that most people in the sports world look forward to and cherish the NCAA Tournament.  I just don't understand why.  In fact, I don't understand why people love college basketball at all.  The College game is extremely similar to the Pro game, only worse.  My reasons for thinking the NCAA tourney is overrated:

1. College Players are Worse than NBA Players:
It's a fact, the worst player on most NBA teams is better than the best player on most NCAA teams.  Not all, but most.  This is the same reason why I don't like Double-A baseball, or the NBDL. (which is also better than NCAA basketball.)  I only have a limited amount of time, and I want to spend that time watching the best players around. The gulf between talent levels between NBA and NCAA is astounding if you watch enough games.  Like Grand Canyon astounding. 

2. College Rules Suck:
First off, the 35 second shot just ruins the pace of the game.  Too many teams run the boring-ass motion offense until 5 seconds left on the shot clock only to jack up some horrendous three point attempt.  I don't like the fact that you can substitute if a player makes the second free throw.  Again, it is a flow killer.  I think the college 3 is too close.  In fact, if they really wanted to shake up the game and improve it, they would just get rid of the 3 and leave those to the guys who can actually shoot them: the pros.  I prefer 4 quarters to two halves. 

3. Single Elimination means the best teams don't always win:
I know some people think that the single elimination makes every game so important and so hard fought, and I agree with that, but the NBA playoffs are far superior.  You get to watch 4-7 extremely competitive games, and you never have to worry that some marginal team will win it all.  Sure, sometimes the early rounds are not great (although in the past few years they have been excellent as well), as awesome teams drub weak ones, but by the second round, that rarely happens.  The cream rises to the top, baby.  But not in the NCAA tournament.  If you watched the NBA playoffs last year, you know that having a series actually raises the intensity of the games.  The teams come to hate each other.  I think it adds drama and context to the sport. 

4. Upsets are overrated:
Everyone likes to see the underdog win, don't they?  It just seems that those upsets are happening less and less, doesn't it?  I don't know, call me calloused, but the upsets aren't a big deal anyway.  Most of those teams end up getting crushed in the next round anyway.  I think all of the focus on the early round upsets really hurts the NCAA tournament in the long run.  See, the good teams get to the end anyway, and vie for the championship, but at that point, no one is watching anyway because the chance for an upset is gone.  The ratings for the Final Four have been going down for years.  I just don't understand why the NCAA draws up a tourney that puts most of the focus on the first round. It seems backwards to me. 

5. I hate Bracket Guy:
Yes, I'll admit it, filling out the brackets is kind of mildly fun for about 3 minutes.  Gambling on it obviously ratchets up the fun, as it does for literally anything you could do.  However, those 3 minutes you spent will soon lead you into a discussion with "Bracket Guy."  First, he'll tell you all of his upsets, his 12 over 5 seeds, then after every round of the tourney, he'll proceed to bore the shit out of you with every detail about his failures and his successes, when all you want to do is sit in your office and pretend you are working in peace.  Oh, and don't bother bringing up your bracket, Bracket Guy doesn't want any of those details.  Nope, he wants to tell you that he still has 12 of the Sweet Sixteen left.  By the way, I also hate the terms Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight.  And March Madness. They just rub me the wrong way. 

If you enjoy the NCAA tournament, so be it, I know most of you do, but for me, I just don't get it and find it massively overrated.  Tune in to the NBA playoffs in April to see some quality basketball. 

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