The second-biggest college basketball weekend of the year is in the books. From Friday to Sunday, the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments held 18 games that put the sport on full display, warts and all. The NBA cleared out and didn’t schedule a single primetime game on national television, allowing the “student athletes” to take center stage. And everything we’ve come to love and loathe about the sport showed up, from controversial officiating and games where neither team cracked 60 points to high-level hoops artistry and only-in-college triumphs of the human spirit.
Let’s start with the bad.
In the men’s South Region final (which, as an Elite Eight showdown, is supposed to be a game between two of the eight best teams in the field), Creighton and San Diego State combined for a collective 16% three-point percentage. The game ended with a walk-off free throw from San Diego State’s Darrion Trammell after a foul call that nobody felt great about. And just like that, a thrilling one-point game between two schools vying for their first-ever trip to the Final Four finished not with a bang but a whistle.
Creighton-SDSU served as a reminder that men’s college basketball has changed massively over the last 20 years, when it was far less common for players to bolt early for the NBA, fostering a real sense of year-over-year continuity. It’ll become even less recognizable—and more starved for shot-making and star power—if the world’s best teenage basketball boys continue to opt for the myriad alternatives to the NCAA, like the NBA G League and Overtime Elite League, which allow high schoolers to forego their college eligibility and get paid right away. The NCAA’s Name, Image, and Likeness policy now allows college players to get paid, too, striking deals with brands big (Jordan) and small (local car dealership). Further down the roster, you’re playing for the love of the game. And, as the last weekend proved, the game itself can be hard to love.
Every now and then, though, the tournament delivers on everything it’s supposed to be. Perhaps the platonic ideal of college basketball in March is a competitive contest at Madison Square Garden, even more so if the underdog emerges victorious. Florida Atlantic University, come on down! The ninth-seeded Owls were already one of the darlings of the tournament, but after their men’s team vanquished the third seed from Kansas State under the bright lights of MSG, they moved beyond plucky unknown status. There are now only four teams remaining, and FAU is one of them. An institution that had never previously won a single tournament game could very well win the whole thing. That’s what this zany three weeks of endless missed jumpers and devastating fan reaction shots is all about.
As the men’s bracket kept forcing America to learn about new people and programs, the women’s side gave us two heavyweights in a prize fight. Caitlin Clark of Iowa and Hailey Van Lith of Louisville are both cold-blooded killers who will go in the top five of the 2024 WNBA Draft. Pitting them against each other was a dream come true for the real hoop heads, who watched as Clark casually put together the first 40-point triple-double in the history of the NCAA Tournament, men’s or women’s edition, to send her team to the Final Four. Van Lith left with 27 points after playing every minute of the game, something that her mentor Kobe Bryant would have saluted. Bryant famously made the trip to Cashmere, Washington (population 3,200) just two weeks before his death to watch Van Lith play a high school game up close, and for good reason.
Matthew Roberson
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