GLENDALE, Ariz. — RIP, Cinderella.
She died alone, her dreams shattered, after years of being shunned at the Big Dance.
It’s basketball in March. But except for Dick Vitale hyperventilating on his sofa, where has all the madness gone?
At the NCAA Tournament, glass slippers are out.
Steel-toe work boots are in.
The teams kicking tush and taking names are Big East beasts, not underdogs. The gap between the have’s and have not’s in college hoops is growing wider. Read the scoreboard and weep, baby.
“The people at the top have become definitively, clearly, the people at the top,” Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said Saturday, after his top-seeded Huskies won the West Regional by beating Missouri 82-75.
The idea any Tom, Dick or George Mason can find glory on the road to the Final Four is now a myth.
If your office-pool bracket is a mess, it’s probably the fault of legendary coaches such as Louisville’s Rick Pitino and Calhoun. Or blame a traditional power like the Tar Heels for turning upstart challengers Carolina blue.
We cannot forget the happy confusion of Jimmy Valvano scampering around the court looking for somebody, anybody to hug at the Final Four. But 1983 was so long ago, it was before Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds or anybody hitting buzzer-beaters in the tourney now was alive. The awesome power of the team- from-nowhere upset has been unplugged in college basketball.
From 2000 to 2008, the 36 teams that advanced to the Final Four included 15 No. 1 seeds, eight No. 2’s, five No. 3 seeds and two No. 4 seeds.
With the trend of heavyweights on the final dance card destined to hold true this season, the stats suggest if you want to predict the champion, ignore the meek or weak.
No common party-crasher (and nothing lower than a No. 3 seed) has won so much as a game at the Final Four since Indiana coach Mike Davis accurately predicted his Hoosiers were going to shock the world in 2002.
“There are probably six or seven teams that could win the national championship,” Calhoun said.
Why does Cinderella have no reason to live?
Let us count the ways.
The Big East is a beast. “One of our coaches said it’s the third-best conference in the country: the Eastern Conference of the NBA, the Western Conference of the NBA and the Big East,” said Huskies forward Jeff Adrien, who recorded 12 points and 10 rebounds against Missouri. Players are attracted to the bright lights. So Memphis or Gonzaga might make noise out in the boonies, but the BCS conferences where all the games are on TV hoard the star power.
Recruiting services that evaluate everything from the crossover dribble to the favorite box juice of a phenom in grade school make it nearly impossible for some young hick from French Lick to go undiscovered until he grows up to become Larry Bird.
Maybe the dreams of the little guy are getting squeezed because college basketball no longer does anything in a small way. A glaring example of how March Madness has gone corporate was on display at the West Regional.
The money-grubbing trend of playing basketball games in football stadiums has grown in popularity, making it hard for a neutral crowd that decides to adopt an underdog to make the wave of sound to ride to an upset. As UConn took the floor against Missouri, there were 18,886 witnesses swallowed by a cavernous dome.
When the Tigers finally scratched and clawed to a 50-49 lead in the second half, the Mizzou pep band’s trombones huffed and puffed, but the stadium’s lousy acoustics made the school fight song sound like a radio station fading in a car, rather than a cry to battle for coach Mike Anderson’s scrappy bunch.
Sure, these Tigers refused to back down against mighty UConn. “We’re all junkyard dogs,” Missouri forward DeMarre Carroll said.
But, in the end, the best talent won out.
Sweet justice? Or just plain boring?
UConn freshman Kemba Walker, a McDonald’s All-American guard from the Bronx, hit the shot that counted most, banking in a floater from the lane to put the Huskies ahead 70-65 with 2 minutes, 11 seconds remaining in the second half.
“It was a heartbreaker,” Walker said.
After the critical basket, there was such a hush in the stadium you could hear Calhoun shout defensive instructions to his Huskies from where I sat 100 feet away.
This is madness?
No, it’s big business as usual in college basketball.
Or, as UConn guard A.J. Price put it: “There’s nothing but great teams playing now.”
MISSOURI (31-7)
Carroll 6-14 0-0 12, Taylor 3-13 1-2 8, Tiller 3-4 2-4 8, Lyons 5-11 3-4 13, Lawrence 5-12 0-0 13, Denmon 1-3 0-0 2, Anderson Jr. 0-0 0-0 0, Ramsey 4-5 0-1 8, Safford 4-8 0-1 9, English 0-4 0-0 0, Paul 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 32-76 6-12 75.
CONNECTICUT (31-4)
Austrie 1-4 4-4 7, Adrien 5-8 2-2 12, Price 6-17 5-7 18, Robinson 4-7 5-6 13, Thabeet 2-4 1-3 5, Beverly 1-1 0-0 2, Edwards 1-3 0-0 2, Walker 7-9 9-10 23. Totals 27-53 26-32 82.
Halftime — UConn 44-38. 3-point goals — UM 5-18 (Lawrence 3-7, Safford 1-2, Taylor 1-4, Lyons 0-1, Denmon 0-1, Carroll 0-3), UConn 2-12 (Austrie 1-4, Price 1-6, Robinson 0-1, Walker 0-1). Fouled out — Tiller. Rebounds — UM 32 (Tiller 5), UConn 47 (Thabeet 13). Assists — UM 21 (Tiller 5), UConn 15 (Walker 5). Total fouls — UM 24, UConn 13. A — 18,886.
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
