THE DAILY DIVERSION

Well, I had something happen last night that usually doesn't happen to me. I couldn't remember any of my dreams. I don't know if I actually even had any. I watched the women's NCAA tournament selection show and then went out for a few beers with a couple of friends. I ended up having 2 more than I probably needed, so that's probably the reason I couldn't recall my dreams.

Song of the day: "Vermilion: Part 2" by Slipknot, from Vol 3: The Subliminal Verses

Also, my song of the day isn't necessarily what it was supposed to be. It was actually cheated in, so I almost don't count it. The reason I say that is because I woke up a little earlier than I had planned and called my fiancée. I was half out of it and she could tell so the conversation was short. However, half an hour later she called me back to talk about something else. Here's where the song comes into play. I have mp3's set up as my ringtones for specific people, and she, of course, has her very own, which has a meaning to me.

"She is everything to me,
The unrequited dream,
A song that no one sings,
The unattainable.
She's a myth that I have to believe in,
All I need to make it real is one more reason.

I don't know what to do,
I don't know what to do when she makes me sad."

That's the part of the song I have for her. So, technically, there's not a whole lot to the song of the day.

Now, onto a topic that has really had me torn up these last couple of days. Basketball.

I try not to let my emotions about a silly game get the best of me, but when I see injustice I must speak up. Of course, I'm talking about in relation to Western Kentucky University's men's and women's programs.

First of all, I have ZERO problem with the men not making the NCAA tournament. Yes, they had some good wins, and a couple of bad losses, but, being in the Sun Belt, you can't expect to be in the "Big Dance" unless you win the conference tournament. Winning the regular season conference title means absolutely nothing. Winning 23 game means nothing. That's the way it is. I don't like it, because they are supposed to have the 65 best teams in the nation playing in the big one, but I'll live with it.

However, there is a "runner-up" tournament, if you want to call it that. It's called the National Invitational Tournament. There is no prestige in playing in this tournament. No glamour. No glitz. It is what it is, and that's basically a glorified exhibition. Prior to the NCAA's purchase of this tournament, it gave the little guys an opportunity to prove they deserved to be in the big dance, if they could make a little noise in the NIT.

However, now, that has even been stripped away. The NCAA has allowed the NIT to accept teams with losing records, but has also decided that they will automatically take any team that won their regular season conference championship and not the conference tournament. That actually doesn't sound bad, does it? Well, it's not all it's cracked up to be.

Many Western fans believed that, since we weren't going to be in the NCAA and had a good record, we would be given at least a home game or two to showcase our team, and probably a nice, low seed (1-4) with the potential to play well and advance to Madison Square Garden for the important part of the tournament. (the first couple rounds are played at the school's home courts, if seeded high enough)

Well, that too was taken from us. Instead of a seed where we might get a home game or two, we end up seeded 6th (out of 10 possible. Which means we were one seed away from playing the "opening round" AKA "play-in game") and playing on the road against South Carolina (whom made a run all the way to the SEC championship game and has been playing really well lately, not to mention they are the defending NIT champs). The thing that makes this so absurd is that WKU has the 2nd best record in the entire tournament. Only Hofstra has a better overall record at 24-6, and they were seeded a 3.

The #1 seeds for the tournament are Maryland (18-10), Michigan (18-10), Louisville (18-12), and Cincinnati (19-12). Do you see anything that sticks out there? Yes, they are all from the Big 6 conferences, who seem to always get the preferential treatment. To be exact, 13 of the top 20 seeds come from B6 conferences. Four of which barely having winning records. The average seed for the B6 teams is 4 (rounded down from 4.2), whereas, for the little guys, it's 7 (rounded up from 6.67). Any team seeded 5th or worse (exluding the opening round games) will not have a home game. The B6 take up 11 of the 16 1-4 seeds, thus giving them nearly 70% of the home games, and a “slight” advantage to get to the Big Apple.

What absolutely dwarfs all of the above is what is beating me up inside right now. Yes, I'm upset about the men getting a 6 seed in the NIT. I thought we'd get a little more respect than that, but shit happens.

However, I still had the Lady Toppers to fall back on, right? With a record of 24-6, and wins over 3 tournament teams (and losses to 2 others), we all felt like the Lady Toppers were a "lock" for the NCAA tournament. The only question that remained was how bad of a seed would we get, since we didn't win the conference tournament championship (MTSU won it on their home court), but won the regular season championship by at least 2 games. All of the bracket projectors had us at a 10 seed, as the worst case scenario.

The girls had worked hard all season, had played a tough out of conference schedule (like the NCAA supposedly wanted, but you have to understand that being in the position WKU is, we cannot schedule Tennessee, UConn, Duke, North Carolina, etc. It just won't and can't happen), and did everything, sans winning the conference tournament, that they need to do in order to dance with the "big boys".

I went to the basement to workout at 5:45. I intentionally turned on ESPN in order to watch the women's selection show. I saw the first 2 full brackets announced before I headed back upstairs. I completely missed the 3rd bracket, so I didn't know who was in it. Then I heard them announce the final bracket. I had yet to hear Western Kentucky, so I just though they were in that 3rd bracket that I didn't see. I quickly went over to my laptop to check the internet, and to my astonishment, they were not anywhere in the bracket.

At first I was just surprised, then I became infuriated. There is no logical reason anyone can give for snubbing this team. None! Yet, the selection committee chair said we didn't play a tough enough schedule. Umm, tramp, see above, and compare that with the Mighty Golden Bears of Cal-Berkley, whom you actually let in, with a 10 seed.

I feel absolutely horrible for our girls. They worked so hard, played so well, and they get this for their hard work? 26 wins? 4 losses against tourney teams, at Arizona State (4 seed) , at Vanderbilt (8 seed), and 2 to MTSU (both at their place)? One bad loss, at UAB, by 5, and they leave us out?

Something just reeks about this whole thing. I know what it is too...

MONEY! GREENBACKS! DINERO! JACKOLA! COIN!

Whatever you call it, that's what the NCAA is about. They do not care about 2/3rds of their member institutions and it has been made abundantly clear by this year's NCAA tournament (both men's and women's), and the seeding process in the NIT. They are predominantly worried about taking care of the 73 member institutions of the Big 6 conferences (ACC, SEC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, and PAC 10).

These teams are their cash cows, because that's the way the media has made them out. You can't turn on ESPN or CBS (the main carriers of college basketball) without being bombarded with the teams from these conferences. As a matter of fact, the only non B6 game shown this season by CBS was the Conference USA championship. ESPN actually makes a little effort to throws some crumbs to the "little guys" just so they can say they're providing equal opportunity.

One day sticks out in my mind this season that fully demonstrates this. That day was March 4th. On a day when multiple smaller conference tournaments were in their quarterfinals or semifinals, ESPN decides to dedicate 3 channels (ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU) and their online channel (ESPN360) to the coverage of one single game. That game was North Carolina at Duke, in a regular season matchup.

Yes, I understand this is one of the biggest rivalries in all of sports, but really? Every single channel? Do we really need to see the game from on top of the backboard? Hell, I won't even play March Madness, the video game, from that camera angle! I certainly know I don't want to watch from the Cameron Crazy cam!

Do the little guys not deserve to at least be seen during this time of year? The games they were playing actually meant life or death (metaphorically speaking of course) to those teams. They were playing for the honor of getting to play on the grandest of stages. UNC and Duke were playing for bragging rights.

Duke had every single one of their games nationally televised this season. That means they had nearly 30 opportunities to have people watch them. Teams like Delaware, Georgia State, Virginia Commonwealth, Butler, UW-Green Bay, Illinois-Chicago, Siena, Canisius, Marist, Appalachian State, and Elon get ONE shot. ONE! Yet, ESPN couldn't have the common courtesy to provide that opportunity. Believe me, the kids at those schools live for the chance to be seen on ESPN, hell, even ESPNU, and the rest of their student body does too.

You might as well not worry about it though, because it's not going to change anytime soon, so just go back into the lull you're in and relax, because you'll get to hear Big 6 hypists Vitale, Packer, and the like from here to eternity. Unless, of course, there is a revolt.

Like I said before, there are only 73 teams in the B6 conferences. That leaves 230 something teams in the other 25 conferences. I've always thought of this country being a democracy. Where the little guy could have a say in what goes on. I always thought that the masses were supposed to rule (via the election process). I guess I'm wrong. The few do not represent the masses. They represent themselves. Period.

There must be something done to change that. Someone must make a stand, for all of the little guys out there that have been trampled underfoot by the proverbial "Elephant" that the NCAA and media outlets have created in the form of the Big 6 conferences. In football they call it the BCS. For the most part, only the teams from the B6 conferences are invited to share in the loot (and we’re talking mega-millions being split 73 ways), leaving mere crumbs for all of the other division 1 schools to share. Many of the non-BCS teams can barely run a football program like this, and the rest of their athletics suffer accordingly. However, I'm not going into the BCS. I'm talking about what used to be the purest of games, where it seemed like anyone could make a run for the national title.

The media, as allowed by the NCAA, has segregated the "haves" from the "have nots". They've systematically weeded out the weak (so they think) and put them in their place. These also-rans are commonly called "mid-majors" in this day and age.

If you don't compete in one of the Big 6 conferences, then this is your fate (with a few minor exceptions). Hope is lost, and the only possibility you have of gaining any prominence is winning a conference tournament (usually 3 or 4 games in just a few days) and making the NCAA tournament field. From there fate is not on your side. You will not receive favorable treatment. You will have to knock off a B6 conference team, just to get the right to play an even better one.

That, or you can lose the conference tournament and play in the NIT. Also known as "The Loser’s Bracket". However, even this deck is stacked against you, because if you come from a non-B6 conference, you won't be rewarded for any hard work during the season. You won't get the opportunity to play in front of your home crowd one more time. You'll get to travel to a half-full arena that seats 3 times the capacity of yours, just because the team you're playing is one of the good ol’ boys.

Here's one possible solution (with much respect to my friend David from Hilltopper Haven):

Talk to the other 230 something members of the NCAA and join together. Tell the NCAA that we are no longer interested in playing in their tournament. We're tired of always being the underdog. In other words, “take our ball and go home”. Revolt.

"We" should purchase the NIT outright from the NCAA, or, if that isn't possible, create our own tournament, completely disassociated with the NCAA's tournament. That way the NCAA can have their 73 team tourney and all of the hoopla they want.

Sooner or later they'll see that the people want to see the little guys. Believe it or not, there are more fans of 230 something teams, than 73. I know that's hard to fathom.

Our Tournament could be started from scratch. I don't know how many teams would be in it. But at least every single regular season champion and tournament champion would be in it (if they aren't the same team). The rest would come from at large selections, chosen by a true panel of individuals who study the teams throughout the season and understand how RPI, SOS, and all the other acronyms work. No longer will a few people who "like what they see" out of certain teams be in charge of deciding who is the most qualified to compete for national prominence.

This new tournament will have it's own television deal. Screw ESPN/ABC, CBS, and the lot. Find an edgy network (Fox, FX, WB, etc) who will work to make sure everyone looks good and gets some equal opportunity. Fox has started this with Fox College Sports. FCS are 3 channels devoted to college athletics. The Pac 10 dominates one of the channels, but the other 2 are predominantly smaller conferences or teams (including Western Kentucky).

I'm sure there is a lot more to it, but these are some fundamentals. Please, let me know what you think by posting comments. I may be crazy, I know that. I'm just fed up with the NCAA and the beast they've let the national media create.