2026 NCAA Tournament

[AkronAlumnus]

[clarkwgriswold]

Interesting article here about the causes of the death of the Cinderella-

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/mens-college-basketball/article/ncaa-tournament-if-cinderella-is-dead-who-or-what-is-to-blame-here-are-the-biggest-culprits-183114570.html

[ZipForNow]

1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Interesting article here about the causes of the death of the Cinderella-

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/mens-college-basketball/article/ncaa-tournament-if-cinderella-is-dead-who-or-what-is-to-blame-here-are-the-biggest-culprits-183114570.html

Conference realignment was the eye-opener for me. 

[kreed5120]

I don't think there is anything that can alter the path we're heading down. The only hope is the continued globalization of the sport. That way the gap between the 1000 best player and 100 best player continues to shrink. That's the long game though.

[Illini Zip]

11 minutes ago, ZipForNow said:

Conference realignment was the eye-opener for me. 

There is no reason a conference needs to be that big other than to consolidate power. And logistically it doesn’t even make sense for USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington be in the Big Ten. Not a fan. 

[ZipForNow]

1 hour ago, Illini Zip said:

There is no reason a conference needs to be that big other than to consolidate power. And logistically it doesn’t even make sense for USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington be in the Big Ten. Not a fan. 

Absolutely. That’s what I am saying. The article points out how awful conference realignment has been.

[Illini Zip]

Good news. Bad news. Good news, I haven’t heard anything more about over-inflated basketball balls. Bad news, the horn was stuck for a long time during the Illinois vs Iowa game. 🙄