The Final Bore
There has been much ado (at least by me) regarding the ratings drop for the NCAA Tournament this year. My curiosity on the subject caused me to dig a little deeper into the issue. There were initial attempts by some to declare the first week’s rating decline as simply a function of Easter Weekend (because of all the avid catholic roundball fans I guess). However when the trend continued into week two that seemed a bit of a stretch (a weeklong Easter Hangover?). But then in the face of those lukewarm first two weekends the 2008 NCAA Tournament revealed to us a dream Final Four . . . a compilation where all four number one seeds had reached the final weekend. But that was not all as it also included three of the most storied college basketball programs in UCLA, North Carolina and Kansas. I mean what could be better than that, right?
Well, I’ll tell you something that could have been better – CLOSE, WATCHABLE games. It’s true, I fell into the trap thinking that this compelling matchup of titans (which also included recent power Memphis who had held the #1 spot in the polls for most of the season) would make for some exciting and dynamic games. Unfortunately nothing could have been further from the truth. The results of last weekends contests between UCLA and Memphis and North Carolina and Kansas were two truly ANTI-CLIMATIC blowouts of 15 and 18 points respectively. Oooooh, what gripping television . . . is that going to boost ratings?
According to the overnight ratings - apparently not. Last weekend’s overnight showed that while the marquee evening matchup of Kansas and North Carolina approximated last years UCLA vs Florida late semifinal game (at least it probably will after the ratings are expanded in the next few days), the preceding game (UCLA vs Memphis) was down almost 14% from last years matchup of Ohio State and Georgetown. Okay so what gives? Why is it that this tournament could end up becoming the second lowest rated Tournament in the past 3 decades? Only the 2003 Tournament will have lower ratings than 2008 and that tournament has the excuse of being played at the beginning of the Iraqi War. (more…)
It’s the height of recruiting season and the attention of many college football fans turns to which high school all-americans will choose to go to their respective schools. A good coach can do many things well. One of those things is to lure the top blue chip recruits to his school. Recruiting is the life-blood of a program. Yet as great as the exuberance may be on signing day, it might never translate into success on the field. History is riddled with great signing classes that either never lived up to their billing or ended up being decimated by grades, transfers and early declarations. What makes a coach great cannot be limited to the talent of his kids so what is it that makes a coach successful?
I’m fairly certain that no one in Tuscaloosa is especially pleased with this draw, but at least they did make a bowl game in Mike Shula’s final season as Tide Head Coach. Oklahoma State’s record matches Alabama’s at 6-6. OSU’s best win was over #20 Nebraska, their worst loss was at Houston, and the toughest game to swallow for the Pokes was likely their 27-21 loss against rival Oklahoma. They came within one point of tying #23 Texas A&M, but lost badly to #4 Texas, 36-10.














