Kansas' hard-fought win proves flaws of tourney expansion
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Good luck with that whole 96-team tournament thing, NCAA. You don't know a good thing when you have it. Based on what we saw Friday night in the Big 12 tournament it all goes downhill from here.
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| Would the kind of emotion shown by Sherron Collins survive an expansion? (Getty Images) |
Pass the remote and wait for next week.
Then something like Kansas-Texas A&M breaks out reminding us, under the proper conditions, all of this matters to somebody. On Friday, it was the Aggies and Jayhawks in pure grudge mode. Kansas is No. 1 and someone needed to knock the Jayhawks off. A&M, minus two significant players to injury, almost did the knocking.
For about 30 minutes -- and that's why Friday night was so wonderful. What is ahead, the Big Dance, is more important than what they were playing for, the conference tournament title.
Just don't tell the two teams.
It was that wonderful, this 79-66 Kansas victory, for the exact opposite reason why bracket expansion would suck. It would drain what little emotion there is left in some of these money-making glorified major-conference exhibitions.
Friday was important because the Jayhawks won or the Aggies lost, because they cared. The fans cared. The nation would have cared if No. 1 got knocked off.
A&M coach Mark Turgeon said before the game that he was "sick" of losing to KU. That's the same Mark Turgeon who used to play guard for Roy Williams.
"KU has been dominant for so long. We win a lot here," Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor said. "I can understand how he feels. They came out like they were tired of losing to us."
| Conference tournaments |
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Recap: Kansas 79, Texas A&M 66 Dates, sites for all tournaments |
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The Aggies played wonderfully for about 30 minutes, dodging foul trouble, making most of their shots and leading by four. Then Kansas does what Kansas usually does. One 21-2 run later, they advanced to Saturday's tournament championship.
The NCAA, in its financial wisdom, is about to choke off scenes like Friday by adding 31 more teams. It's not official, but it is inevitable some day. So what would be left for tournaments like this one? The Big 12 would have maybe 10 teams already in the bracket.
Already, Kansas is being judged not by wins but the quality of those wins. KU coach Bill Self reminded the media that the semifinals of the Big 12 featured four teams in the top 12 of the RPI. At least the RPI he was seeing.
"That doesn't happen anywhere else," Self said.
True, this season. But Friday's teams weren't playing for ranking or seeding. They were playing for real. A double technical in the second half featured Kansas' Markieff Morris yapping at Texas A&M's Bryan Davis.
"We don't want to have that image of bad guys, but we don't back down," Morris said.
"We're a tough team," Davis said. "We don't back down for anybody."
Twin emotions from different camps. In the last meeting in College Station the teams staged a slugfest. Kansas won 59-54, held to its lowest point total in the Big 12 this season. KU's Sherron Collins was inconsistent, to put it lightly. On Friday, he stepped up scoring 26 points, proving again that No. 1 still had its focus. The challenger proved that the result could easily be different if the two somehow meet again for a third time in the next three weeks.
Whether it takes until next season or it takes until Indianapolis, this isn't over. Not by a long shot. Kansas advanced to the championship game but it probably made a new enemy in the process.
There is clear animosity between these two teams but it was great watching it turn to hate. Things got so rough that one of the officials didn't make it to the end. Steve Olson had to be replaced in the first half because of a twisted ankle.
For most of Friday, what Texas A&M and Kansas basically did was trade one makes-you-want-to-puke moment for another.
It was advantage Aggies if only that they had their stomach-turner months ago. The gruesome video of No. 2 scorer Derrick Roland breaking his leg is still bumping around the Internet. (Caution: Here it is again)
Guard Dash Harris also missed the game with an injured wrist.
But there is no telling the upset stomachs that would be caused in these parts if Kansas had lost what amounted to its latest tune-up game before the NCAA tournament.
The Jayhawks already own the Sprint Center, the town and the region. A former KU guard, Class of '87, used to be part of it. As of Friday night, he was still sick.
"I say silly things. I'm used to winning," Turgeon said, now 0-5 against his alma mater. "I'd like to beat Kansas some time. They've been pretty good.
"Our time, you know, [may come] some time."
