UPSET?? Says who?

Several news outlets this morning are reporting the massive college basketball upset that occurred last night: Un-ranked Michigan took down #4 UCLA at the Garden.

I don't buy it.

It comes back to the point I made a while back about college football. Preseason rankings mean absolutely nothing. They only take into account so-called "expert opinions" about teams that for the most part have never played all together. With the turnover in college sports, especially basketball, it's impossible to predict the cohesion of teams year in and year out. Therefore, we have all the early season "upsets" of teams that shouldn't have been ranked that high to begin with.

Who says Michigan over UCLA is such a big upset? If you want to base on the past few years- sure, huge upset. But I am talking about this year. And who knows just how good either one of these teams are? Now if in month UCLA is 9-1 and Michigan 2-9, sure- looks like a big upset. But I am not sure any game this early in the season deserves to called a "stunning upset" - short of a 1AA opponent conquering a division 1A foe. I just don't buy it.

As I said with college football, a lot of this could amended if they just do away with preseason rankings. Wait about 4 or 5 weeks into the season, and then vote based on where the teams stand at that point. At least with college basketball, there is a tournament at the end of the year, so ranking aren't truly the be-all and end-all, but it is still stupid to me- born of media hype and TV ratings.

Let them play. Let the players decide for us who are the contenders and pretenders.

Don't quit your Knight job

As a fan, I have always loved Bobby Knight. His intensity, his biting sarcasm, and his passion for college basketball are unsurpassed in the coaching ranks. After resigning a few weeks back from his job as Head Coach at Texas Tech, Knight has joined ESPN as a studio analyst for their college basketball programming. And as analyst, he is one hell of a coach. Get back on the floor Bob, soon!

I would have thought he'd be a natural for the analyst's job. His press conferences are stuff of legend- his commanding presence and quick wit have always made for good TV. He obvious knows what he's talking about, and has a lot of good stuff to say, but he seems uncomfortable-directing much of his analysis downward to the desk, never connecting the with the camera. Any colorful phrases he does come out with are understated, and it makes me wonder where the real Bobby Knight is.

And I'm not sure whose idea this was, but they have him dressed in his signature v-neck sweater, with the collared shirt peaking out from underneath- what he has worn the past couple of decades on the sideline. Problem is, he's not surrouned by guys in uniforms and warm-ups. The sharply dressed, suit and tie-clad co-hosts that appear with him make him look like a schlep, to say the least, and doesn't help him in the overall polish department.

I say keep the sweater Bobby- ditch the analyst gig. Get back on the court, and get back behind the post-game press conference microphones where you shine.