the best thing thus far about hte tournament is that it seems that skill is winning out over athleticism...
last year uconn was not the most skilled team, but they were by far the most athletic. duke was much more skilled then uconn, but uconn's athleticism simply won out in the end of their final four game.
it's always been the case in college basketball that teams are willing to take a chance on a guy who's 6'7" or who's 6'4" but can jump through the roof, but aren't willing to take the same chance on a 6'2" guy who can shoot the lights out but might be a little slow of foot. they assume they have a better chance at teaching the guy who can jump through the roof how to shoot then they do of teaching the 6'2" kid how to jump through the roof. so the 6'2" kid... the "unathletic" 6'7" kid ends up at vermont... at bucknell...etc. etc... and they are good... they're very good. and now they're winning...
the 6'7" average skilled yet highly athletic kid who spent his entire high school career dunking on people in AAU games where no one plays defense and no one coaches anyone and then jumps to the NBA after two mediocre seasons tops... this waters down the nba, while at the same time waters down the top D1 teams... the mid-major teams who actually get to keep and develop their kids for 4 years get better and better every year. they still have a small chance at overcomming the athleticism of the top D1 teams... the american game is tailored so that the athletic teams succeed... dunks put more butts in the seats than jumpers... but they're getting there... and if the trends continue, it's only a matter of time before we see a mid-major in the final four... a mid-major winning the whole thing.
it'll happen... sooner then later... it will. just look at gonzaga. 5 years ago they're a mid-major... now they're a perenial top 25 team and a 3 seed in the tourney.
despite having syracuse, i was rooting hard for vermont. taylor coppenrath... nasty 
