Who's the best team in College Basketball?

Time out for a brief socio-political comment, plus some (hopefully) intriguing facts:

Until a few years ago, the notion of "parity" in the Women's NCAA Basketball Tourney was a bad joke. It seemed like every bracket was 1, 2, 3, 4 or 1, 2, 3, 5, going to the Sweet 16, and like the Final Four would have 3 #1 seeds and 1 #2 seed (if that). The men's tourney, meanwhile, was a constant source of the kind of thrilling upsets which originally gave rise to the term "March Madness." The madness perhaps reached its apogee last year, with George Mason impossibly making it to the Final Four.

And then there was this year. Below are the seeds which to date have survived each round of the men's and women's 2007 tourneys, respectively:


FIRST ROUND

MEN'S: East--1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9
WOMEN'S East--1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

MEN'S: Midwest--1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11
WMN'S: Midwest--1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13

MEN'S: South--1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9
WMN'S: South--1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9

MEN'S: West--1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11
WMN'S: West--1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11

Parity Edge: Women, narrowly



SECOND ROUND

MEN'S: East: 1, 2, 5, 6
WMN'S: East: 1, 3, 4, 7

MEN'S: Midwest: 1, 3, 5, 7
WMN'S: Midwest: 1, 3, 7, 13

MEN'S: South: 1, 2, 3, 5
WMN'S: South: 1, 2, 3, 5

MEN'S: West: 1, 2, 3, 4
WMN'S: West: 1, 3, 4, 10

Parity edge: Women, big


THIRD ROUND

MEN'S: East: 1, 2
WMN'S: East: 3, 4

MEN'S: Midwest: 1, 3
WMN'S: Midwest: 1, 7

MEN'S: South: 1, 2
WMN'S: South: 1, 2

MEN'S: West: 1, 2
WMN'S: West: 1, 3

Parity edge: Women, big


FOURTH ROUND (so far)

MEN'S: East: #2
WMN'S: East: #4

MEN'S: Midwest: #1
WMN'S: Midwest: #1 or #7

MEN'S: South: #1
WMN'S: South: #1 or #2

MEN'S: West: #2
WMN'S: West: #1 or #3

Parity edge: Women, slight-to-huge, depending on Tuesday night's games.

And for the 5 or 10 other forum users who, like me, have been closely watching both tourneys, I think you'll agree that for all of their turmoil stemming from the egregious misconduct of a head coach who'd have been strung up if she were male, the #4-seeded LSU Tigers from the Eastern Bracket look like the team to beat. They sure have the best player, from what I've seen. Moreover, though I sure don't expect it, the women's Final Four could come down to a #2 seed, a #3 seed, a #4 seed and a #7 seed. Makes the men's 1/1/2/2 look pretty jejune by comparison, no?

I think we are observing a sea change in women's hoops. For the past 12 years, I've watched all kinds of girls from age 10 to age 17 practice their games in their driveway, the way the more athletically gifted (not me) or taller (me) boys did, when I was young. One neighbor girl, who was 14 at the time and 5'5", blew right by me for a layup starting from 15 feet out, with me playing 3 feet off of her. Yeah, I'm a fat, middle-aged slob with no athleticism, but I'm also 6'2" and she got that shot up before I came close to blocking it.

The times they are a-changin'.

BHN

The Georgetown Hoyas over Florida Gators for the National title.

Their big men are going off.

Originally posted by Royal76
The Georgetown Hoyas over Florida Gators for the National title.

Their big men are going off.

Looks like another Buckeye - Gator showdown. I hope OSU's football coach can give the Basketball Coach some tips...

Go Gators Baby! :w:

Gators are in it for the second str8 time! Three titles in a year and a half would be too sweet! almost a legacy over here thanks billy and urban

IT'S GREAT - TO BE- A FLORIDA GATOR!!!

Wow, is there any question?

Now it's back on our football team again... and they weren't supposed to have their break-out year until the upcoming season! Woot!

3 titles in a row...wow....its great to be a florida gator! hey gatordone it IS supposed to be that breakout year at florida! kinda feel like opening that present on christmas eve and knowing your going to get even better stuff in the morning ;P

The Freakin Florida Gators.....AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

All they need to do is win baseball and we can just cancel all sports in the future...

[edit on 17-4-2007 by Royal76]