College Basketball is the Dean Koontz of Basketball

Thursday night I was one of the many sports fans watching the Syracuse vs. UCONN six overtime "thriller." Well, I cannot take credit for watching the whole game, because I fell asleep after Paul Harris missed the dunk, grabbed the rebound and made the lay-up while getting fouled, which put Syracuse up eight. I knew UCONN was done. Waking up Friday morning I assumed there would be an onslaught of sports reporters praising this game, nominating it as "The Best Game Ever Played." Reporters referred to this game as an "epic thriller." I do not nominate the game as the best game ever player, because it was not even the best game of the night. Up to the second overtime, the game was good, exciting. But the second, third, fourth, and fifth overtimes were a bit redundant. UCONN takes the lead, blows last minute free-throws, Syracuse ties the game, and either UCONN takes a bad last second shot or Syracuse misses a lay-up, repeat. It is like watching a horror movie where the antagonist keeps coming back to life and the movie is longer than three and a half hours. I would consider this game better than a poorly written horror flick, but it is far from the best game ever. The better game was the Lakers vs. Spurs where both Kobe and Pau Gasol scored 23 points. The better game was the top two seeds in the Western Conference playing against each other. The NBA does not need an official tournament before the playoffs to create excitement. The game itself is exciting to watch already, and the stipulations on the game are just a bonus. While watching a college game and a player shoots from beyond NBA three-point line, the announcer says emphatically, "from NBA three!" Like shooting from that spot is a big deal! I'd rather watch a game where shooting there is typical. The only real excitement during the NCAA season is during tournament time, and the conference tournaments are a gimmick. They are only important because the winners get automatic bids to the NCAA tournament, some of those winners are undeservedly given bids. This season, Chattanooga won the Southern conference tournament, despite finishing fifth in the regular season. Because the NCAA gives automatic bids for conference tournament champions, Southern conference regular season champions, Davidson did not get in. Thanks to this rule, fans do not get the opportunity to watch Davidson Guard, Stephon Curry, who led Davidson to the Elite Eight last season. And teams like Pittsburgh and UCONN lose early in their conference tournament without any consequence. NBA playoffs no matter what has the top eight teams in each conference playing for the championship. They do not have a committee choosing the teams, the best records are in. As exciting as gambling on March Madness Brackets is, I would rather watch the NBA playoffs more.