Perfect end to spectacular college hoops season

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How fitting.

An incredibly entertaining title game capped a fantastic Final Four which capped a sensational NCAA tournament which capped a ridiculously competitive, enormously fun season.

Yes, I'd have been happier if Marquette was the team cutting down the nets at the end, but otherwise, I can't imagine enjoying a season more than I enjoyed this one.

From that five-week stretch in December and January in which five consecutive No. 1 teams were defeated to the monumental upsets in the first couple of tournament rounds to the emotionally draining championship game, really, who could have asked for anything more?

How about that first-half stretch Monday night in which Spike Albrecht -- an unknown Michigan freshman who came in averaging 1.8 points -- scored 17 in about 17 seconds (OK, I'm exaggerating) to give the Wolverines a 12-point lead ... only to be upstaged by Luke Hancock, who came off of Louisville's bench to score 14 straight points and totally swing momentum to his team?

"Amazing" is one of the most overused words in the English language these days, but that truly was amazing.

Were I building a college roster, I'd steal Rick Pitino's blueprint and build one just like Louisville's. A shot-blocking center who worked hard to become a fine all-around big man. Two cheetah-quick guards who can get into the lane at will and produce in the clutch. A tough, talented power forward. Several nice role players, including Hancock, who can get into the kind of 3-point zone that can carry a team.

A lot was made of the gruesome injury suffered by Kevin Ware serving as a rallying cry for Louisville. Maybe, but I say to heck with that. If I'm Pitino, I'd have much rather had Ware's services as the first guard off the bench. And yet the Cardinals overcame the absence of a very important player to prevail in two knock-down, drag-out Final Four games. Kudos to them for a championship well-deserved.

Year after year after year, the NCAA tournament is the one sporting showcase that never, ever disappoints. The Final Four always was one of my favorite things to cover, and this year's edition reminded me why.

At one point near the end of the first half Monday, just after Hancock's flurry had singlehandedly rallied Louisville, Peyton Siva threw an alley-oop pass that Montrezl Harrell slammed home for a one-point Cardinals lead.

The "l" in Montrezl is silent, but I wasn't.

Sitting alone in our family room -- my poor wife has to work in the morning and couldn't stay up to watch a game that didn't end until about midnight -- I leapt out of my La-Z-Boy and hollered, "Wow!"

Think about how many times you've watched a sporting event alone in a room and think about how many times something has happened that actually made you get up and cheer. I've been in that situation thousands of times. And this might have been the third or fourth time I've reacted that way.

That's how good that moment was.

How fitting.
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Snubbed by NCAAs? Tough nuggies!

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My Marquette Golden Warriors emerged as 3 seeds, tying their highest since seeding began more than 3 decades ago. So that's good.

If they advance, their second opponent probably will be Murray State. That's bad.

Not because Marquette will be overmatched but because it doesn't seem fair that the No. 3 seed has to play a team from Kentucky in Louisville.

Then again, all my lads had to do was win a couple of games in the Big East tournament. If they had, they would have moved up to a 2 seed (or a slightly higher status among 3 seeds) and they would have received a more favorable draw. Instead, they played poorly, got crushed by Louisville, and now face a potentially difficult challenge.

Frankly, I have little sympathy for teams that get "snubbed" by the NCAA tournament selection committee.

Don't want to get left out of the field? Win your conference tournament. Beat a ranked team or two.

Don't want to get "jobbed" on seeding? Don't bow out early in your conference tourney. Play a tougher non-league schedule.

It's pretty simple, really: Win more and you won't have to whine. That goes for me and my boys, too.
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NCAA hypocrites unite!

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The world is full of hypocrites and, it being March, we might as well talk about one of the biggest groups of hypocrites on the planet:

The university presidents and other Pooh-bahs atop the NCAA.

They refuse to sanction a national football tournament. Why? Because one or two extra games would put too much wear and tear on their beloved athlete-students. Plus, any system other than the BCS would cost those same athlete-students too much class time (even though almost all would be on Christmas break during a real championship tourney).

OK, let's say we take them at their word. (We don't ... but for the sake of argument, we'll say we do.) How do they explain what's going on this week in college basketball, with one conference tournament after another pushing hundreds of athletes to the brink of exhaustion and keeping tens of students among the athletes out of the classroom?

In the Big East on Friday, UConn will be playing its fourth high-intensity game in as many days. If the Huskies beat Syracuse and advance to Saturday's championship, they'll be the first ever to play five games in five days. And basketball games, unlike their football counterparts, include more than 10 minutes each of actual action.

Apparently, the money grab that is March Madness -- from the conference tournaments to the NCAAs to the NIT -- trumps all the fear of wear and tear.

My beloved Marquette Golden Warrior Eagles played three games in three nights in the Big East tourney, the third being Thursday's quarterfinal loss to Louisville. That the rest of the Marquette student body has been taking midterm exams all week was of little concern to the NCAA honchos. Not when there's big coin to be made at Madison Square Garden. Let the athlete-students make up the exams later (if they take the exams at all).

The NCAA wants it both ways ... and they're succeeding at getting what they want.

OK, fine. We know when we're beaten. Just don't look so smug while blowing smoke up our butts. Say what it is: preservation of status quo, cash grab, lording over the sports world, whatever.

And just don't say it's about the kids. Because everybody with an IQ over 50 -- even Digger Phelps and Dickie V -- knows it isn't.
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Pitino? A slimeball? Who woulda thunk it?

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The Bald Truth

Good for Louisville, standing by their man.

Yes, Rick Pitino is a hypocrite, a devout Catholic who more than coveted his neighbor's ass. Yes, he's a scuzball and a weasel and a liar - traits he shares with most big-time college coaches ... and, sadly, with most members of the human male population.

Believe me, I'm not excusing his behavior. All I'm asking is: What is Louisville supposed to do? Fire him?

Ridiculous.

Pitino is a basketball coach, and a damn good one. Louisville is not a religious institution, it's a basketball factory.

Pitino didn't get caught cheating to get a kid into school who didn't belong there (notice I said "didn't get caught"). He got caught cheating on his wife.

I wouldn't blame her for firing him. It would be silly and disingenuous for Louisville to do likewise.

The Numbers

35-18 ... Amount the Cubs have been outscored since Lou Piniella got the heave-ho for arguing with the umps Sunday in Colorado. (And most of the Cubs' runs were of the meaningless, end-of-blowout variety.)

0-4 ... Cubs' record since Lou got tossed.

3 ... Games the Cubs dropped to St. Louis in the standings since Lou got ejected.

Jeesh. Imagine what would have happened had the manager not fired up his troops!

The Balder Truth

Going out on the limb to say that the Cardinals will be mighty tough to beat if Matt Holliday, batting behind Albert Pujols, keeps hitting .486.

That, kiddies, is what's called an impact trade.

Game Improvement

The first time I played Beverly Country Club was in 1999. That was so long ago, my playing partner at the media event was Skip Bayless, who has gone on to do a few other notable things since he bolted from the Chicago Tribune.

The thing I remember most about that round: I played so poorly that, on the way home, I called the golf pro I know and told him I needed a lesson immediately.

I wouldn't say I was scarred for life, but if anyone asked me to name the toughest course I ever played, I answered "Beverly Country Club" without hesitation. (Bayless, a much better player than me, had a brutal time of it, too.)

Score? Please. I stopped writing it down after two holes. To be kind, I'll call it 140. I lost the dozen balls I brought with me, the sleeve of balls I was given for the event and several more golf balls I had found during the day while hunting for those I had lost.

My standard line: "There are something like 8,000 trees there, and I was behind every one of them."

Well, I'm pleased to say that they've cut down a lot of those trees to make the course more beautiful and more playable for their members. Those who compete in the USGA Senior Amateur there next month will find a stern but fair test of golf.

I got to revisit Beverly on Wednesday. This time, I shot a 101. As usual, I rarely strung two consecutive good shots together. I Watsoned an 8-foot birdie putt on my next-to-last hole and then, needing only a bogey on the last for a 99, I choked my way to a triple.

For the most part, though, my game at least vaguely resembled golf.

Oh, and I played the entire round with the same ball, which sometimes doesn't happen even when I'm mini-golfing.

So I can't wait to return to Beverly in 10 years. If my math is correct, I'm pretty much guaranteed to shoot 62.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

And speaking of golf ...

Yes, Tiger Woods has won two straight tournaments and seems to be rounding into championship form. I'll still take the field in this weekend's PGA Championship at Hazeltine.

OK, if I have to pick a name other than Eldrick, I'll go with ...

Steve Stricker to drop off the short list of greatest players never to have won a major.

Planting seed of Illinois upset

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Four (but a nowhere near final four) observations regarding the NCAA tourney bracket:

1. Of the 5/12 matchups notorious for producing upsets, Illinois will be a popular choice to make an early exit. And it would be hard to blame those who feel that way. The Illini's first-round opponent, Western Kentucky, defeated Louisville on a neutral court and led Florida State midway through the second half before fading. Even if Chester Frazier were healthy - and he isn't - Illinois would have to be considered a shaky No. 5 seed. It says here that all four No. 6 seeds (UCLA, Arizona State, Marquette and West Virginia) are better than the Illini, who defend well but are prone to almost comical offensive swoons.

2. The Penn Staters are upset, but the Nittany Lions have only their own schedule-maker to blame. At least the schools from mid-major and small conferences have an excuse - the big teams won't play them, especially on the road. But what's Penn State's excuse for having one of the softest non-conference schedules in the entire country? It's nice to see the selection committee reward teams that play more than cupcakes. Take heart, Nittany Lions: You'll always have those two wins over Illinois - including that unforgettable 38-33 thriller.

3. Of course UConn deserved to join Big East brethren Louisville and Pitt as a No. 1 seed. No, it isn't Memphis' fault that it's "stuck" in Conference USA while UConn is in the nation's toughest league. It is, however, a fact. While the Tigers' main competition was coming from the likes of Tulsa, UAB, Houston and UTEP, UConn was going to war twice a week. Penalizing the Huskies for a six-OT loss to an excellent Syracuse team also would have been ridiculous. Simply stated, Memphis is a No. 2. Everybody likes to rag on the committee this time of year, but the gentlemen did a superb job this year.

4. I need to do a lot more homework before I fill out my bracket and embarrass myself publicly, but here are some of the lower seeds that intrigue me at first glance: West Virginia (No. 6 Midwest), USC (No. 10 Midwest), Tennessee (No. 9 East), LSU (No. 8 South), Maryland (No. 10 West) and, of course, Marquette (No. 6 West). Hey, I'm a fan, too!

Hoops, hoops and more hoops

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An elite eight's worth of observations from a wild (and wildly entertaining) weekend of college hoops:

1. It doesn't mean they'll win the title, of course, but the Pitt Panthers are the best team in the country. They beat UConn twice, have three big-time difference-makers and lots of fine supporting actors. And they're not coached by Dave Wannstedt.

2. Nine teams can win the national championship: Pitt, UConn, North Carolina, Duke, Oklahoma, Louisville, Michigan State, Kansas and Memphis. I'm already completely psyched for the NCAA tourney.

3. Most assume Oklahoma stud Blake Griffin will be the national player of the year, but the MVP apparently is Dominic James. Before he broke his foot, my Marquette Golden Warrior Eagles were in first place in the nation's best conference, were ranked No. 8 in the country and were 23-4. Without him, they've gone 0-4 and almost surely won't be seeded higher than sixth in the NCAAs. How could we have known that a 5-foot-10 guy who can't hit 50 percent of his free throws could be so valuable? OK, so maybe they would have lost to UConn, Louisville, Pitt and Syracuse even with James, but ...

4. The Big East is the best conference in the country - and the contest isn't close. Even after the beastly Pitt-UConn-Louisville troika, any of the next four Big East squads would have a good chance of finishing in the top two of just about any other league. I like Memphis' style and coaching ... but really, where would the Tigers have finished if they had to play a Big East schedule instead of a Conference USA schedule? 

5. There's a bigger difference between Michigan State and the rest of the Big Ten pack than there is between any other Big Six conference leader and the rest of its field. Aside from Tom Izzo's lads, the Big Ten features several solid-but-severely-flawed teams that won't survive the opening weekend of the NCAAs.

6. On the one hand ... Chris Lowery has demonstrated why coaches want to get theirs when the opportunity arises. Early in his tenure at Southern Illinois, he had great success with Matt Painter's recruits and received some overtures from major programs. Lowery stayed put - after getting himself a nice raise - and now the program is sliding backward. You have to wonder if he has any regrets about sticking around.

7. On the other hand ... Billy Gillespie had it all at Texas A&M - a huge contract, respect in an excellent league, university support and a great pipeline into his state's prep talent. But when Kentucky came a'callin', he simply had to go, right? I mean, after all, it is Kentucky! Well, there's a lot to be said about being rich, winning big and building a program in a less pressure-filled environment. Gillespie is flaming out in Kentucky, and it won't be long before they come a'callin' again - for his head. It's one of those no-win jobs; I don't know why any coach would subject himself to it.

8. Nice try, Northwestern. For a little while there, it was almost as if you were, um, someone other than Northwestern.