Blame aplenty for Memphis Mess

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OK, kids, it's time for this week's edition of THE BLAME GAME!

Who is most to blame for the Memphis mess, which has led to the university's 2007-08 basketball team being stripped of its NCAA-record 38 victories?

--John Calipari, then-Memphis coach.

--High-ranking university officials.

--Derrick Rose, then-star point guard.

--Rose's family.

--The NCAA.

--David Stern, NBA commissioner.

Here is the supporting evidence regarding each candidate ...

JOHN CALIPARI

He wasn't named in the NCAA report but he's a control freak who had to know what was going on. He certainly knew Rose's brother had accompanied the team on charter flights against NCAA rules and he likely knew Rose had used a substitute to take the SAT. This is the second time one of Calipari's Final Four teams (UMass '96 being the other) has had an entire season's worth of wins vacated because of major infractions. Although Calipari wasn't formally accused in the UMass case, either, this is one heck of a coincidence, no? Congratulations, Kentucky, you've hired the best kind of cheater - one who gets away with it.

MEMPHIS OFFICIALS

They hired Calipari even though he had a suspicious past and they provided little oversight to prevent scandal in his program. Then, after the decision was announced Thursday, they expressed their outrage and said they'd appeal. They really don't care about the lost victories, they care about the lost money; they now have to return the dough they got for the team's march to the Final Four. Hey, there's a reason "lack of institutional control" is cited in almost every one of these cases. It is the institution's responsibility to oversee its athletic program. Period.

DERRICK ROSE

He knew he was cheating and he did it anyway. His only defense is that he didn't really want to go to college but the system "forced" him to do so because the NBA no longer allowed high-schoolers to turn pro. Sorry, but that's no better than the defense Rose played for the Bulls in April, when Rajon Rondo burned him repeatedly. Say what you want about the kids who opt to go overseas instead of to college; at least they and their families play by the rules.

ROSE'S FAMILY

Derrick's other excuse: He was a kid. The adults around him should have known better. Of course, they probably truly believed that the right thing was having Derrick get into school by any means possible. The NBA wasn't an option and given that he failed the ACT three times, hiring an SAT stand-in must have seemed the only choice. Heck of a life lesson for young Derrick: Honesty is the best policy ... unless cheating works better.

THE NCAA

Where was the oversight to prevent Rose from using a substitute test-taker? It makes you wonder how many times this has happened over the years. Methinks plenty. The others simply haven't been caught.

DAVID STERN

Selfishly, most of us like the NBA rule that denies the future Kobes, KGs and LeBrons the opportunity to go from preps to pros. We like that our favorite NBA teams don't have to take chances on 18-year-olds and we like our college teams to get these studs. But really, how can a rule that makes universities act like minor-league teams be good? How can a rule that turns teenagers into unpaid (or at least low-paid) mercenaries be prudent? Why should a young man who clearly is good enough to make a living in his chosen profession - and one whose family might desperately need the money - be forced to wait (or to leave the country)? It would have been like telling Chris Evert or Mozart or, yes, LeBron: "Sorry, kid ... no pro for you!"

OK, given all the evidence, have you ranked your culprits? I have, and here's how I'm dividing the blame:

NCAA ... 5 percent.

STERN ... 10 percent.

MEMPHIS ... 15 percent.

CALIPARI ... 20 percent.

ROSE'S FAMILY ... 20 percent.

ROSE ... 30 percent.

I'm a big believer in personal responsibility and in each of us being held accountable for our actions.

Though Rose's family (and probably his coach) let him cheat (and probably encouraged it), it ultimately was Derrick's call. He was old enough to know right from wrong. He chose wrong, and he brought his school shame because of it.

I like to think that Rose's free-throw-line choke job, which helped deliver the '08 title to Kansas, was the karmic result.

Kentucky has tradition - but not the best job

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Sunday's final four:

1. Why, why, why on earth would Tom Izzo, John Calipari, Billy Donovan or any other coach who already has built a top-tier program be even the least bit interested in going to Kentucky now that another good coach has been driven away from Bluegrass country?

Izzo is back in the Final Four with Michigan State, which for the last decade has established itself as the premier program in the Big Ten and one of the very best in the country - far better than Kentucky, in fact.

Calipari is worshipped in Memphis, where he is king of Conference USA and where he successfully recruits some of the very best players in the land.  According to several ratings services, he is bringing the No. 1 class of 2009 to Memphis. At Kentucky, the alums and other hard-core fans probably would expect him to do better than No. 1. Who needs it?

Donovan has won two national titles at Florida and continues to bring top talent to Gainesville, where he is revered for having already given the thumbs down to Kentucky once.

As a bonus - a huge, enormous, gigandulous bonus - none of these guys faces the kind of scrutiny and pressure in his current job as he would at Kentucky. As an extra bonus, all are paid the same kind of outrageous salaries they'd get from the Bluegrass boyz.

There are a handful of traditional powerhouse programs and Kentucky is one of them. (Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Indiana and UCLA also leap to mind.) But I'd say that many others, including Michigan State, Memphis and UConn, have pulled alongside - and, in many cases, surpassed - those traditional powers. 

Funny thing about tradition in sports: It guarantees nothing. Just ask the Cowboys how much tradition has been worth on the playing field the last few years. New traditions get established all the time in sports; witness the Red Sox now being clutch winners while the Yankees have become chokers.

Tom Crean left Marquette for Indiana, saying it was a slam-dunk decision because "Indiana is Indiana." Well, Indiana hasn't been Indiana for awhile now, including Bobby Knight's last half-dozen years there, and Marquette - thanks in great part to Crean - has surpassed Indiana by miles. Crean is counting on tradition helping him recruit better players to Indiana than he did to Marquette, but most ratings services say his Marquette replacement, Buzz Williams, will be bringing in a group as good as or better than Crean will to Hoosierland.

Of course, once upon an Al McGuire time, Marquette was one of those traditional powerhouses. 

Yes, Kentucky has tradition out the ying-yang. But so do many other places where the pressure isn't so great a coach feels like killing himself 50 times a year. There are too many other fantastic schools at which a coach can win big without putting himself through the torture.

2. Saturday's Villanova-Pitt game was so good, I found myself actually cheering several plays - something I very rarely do because I'm more of a detached appreciator of excellence than I am of a fan. I must admit: It was pretty darn fun.

3. As usual, the "experts" couldn't stop talking about the distractions facing UConn after word of possible NCAA recruiting violations surfaced before the weekend. Ridiculous. Why would UConn players be even the slightest bit distracted by this? Turns out, they weren't, as the Huskies took down Purdue and Missouri to get to the Final Four.

4. In honor of  Tiger Woods officially being back, it's time to take a mulligan on my Final Four picks. What other choice do I have, since I managed to go a sterling 0-for-4?

As much as I appreciate Izzo's Spartans, UConn can play whatever game Michigan State wants to play - and play it just a tad better. On the other side of the bracket, I'm going with the upset: Villanova's tough, talented perimeter players, augmented by vastly underrated Dante Cunningham, making Carolina blue.

And in the all-Big East title game ... UConn 80, 'Nova 74.

Call your bookies and pull out those wallets, folks. I mean, I haven't steered you wrong yet!

A League of Its Own

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Thursday's final four:

1. Two words, my friends: Big East. Instead of wondering if there will be four No. 1 seeds in the Final Four for the second straight year, we probably should wonder if one conference will capture all four spots for the first time ever.

2. How 'bout Mizzou? Or maybe a better question is this: How the hell did the Tigers get trounced by Illinois back in December? DeMarre Carroll just might be the best player most of America doesn't know. As usual, the kid was everywhere for Missouri in its impressive win over Memphis to reach the Elite Eight. It's hard to imagine the Tigers taking out UConn in the West final, but they've done a pretty good job smacking around doubters - and opponents - so far.

3. In Villanova, Duke ran into a faster, stronger, defensively superior version of itself. The result was so predictable ... I'm mad as hell I didn't predict it.

4. Hey, look at those oft-maligned (quite oft by me) Chicago Bulls! They're playing so well lately, they probably could win a couple of NCAA tourney games.

Memphis pussycats almost tamed

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Thursday's not-yet-final four:

1. Needing 35 points from a normally low-scoring bench player to beat mighty Northridge, Memphis gave quite a scare to those of us who have pegged the Tigers for the Final Four. If Memphis doesn't play significantly better Saturday, it will lose to an impressive Maryland team that, unlike Memphis, comes out of a real conference.

2. Note to play-by-play men, color commentators, studio hosts and analysts of all stripes: Please, please, pretty please stop using the phrase "score the ball." It's meaningless blather. 

3. Much to the delight of most of my fellow alums, Marquette was referred to as the "Warriors" in Sports Illustrated's tourney preview issue. Yes, we were the Warriors for four decades, including my time at the school. But aside from that memorably humiliating six-day stretch in 2004 in which we were supposed to embrace "The Gold" as our nickname, we've been (like it or not) the Golden Eagles for 15 years now. Here's hoping the SI folks were as wrong about Marquette's NCAA prospects - they predicted we'd lose to Utah State in Friday's opener - as they were about MU's current moniker.

4. After the afternoon session, I'm 7-1 as a tourney prognosticator. That's great because it means I can't finish any worse than 7-56!

(Check back after the night games for more NCAA natterings.)

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.