Don't get me wrong, I love college basketball, March Madness, and especially all the attention that is put on this tournament. I'm a huge fan of the game entirely. The level of competition with its exclusion of cash-based incentive makes the sport a lot more exciting than professional basketball. However, where did this tradition of full attention of the final
four start? Why not the final
two, or the actual championship?
After four rounds of games already played, there is a long and much needed break for the players before the start of the national semifinals. This round is obviously extremely important and much anticipated by almost all of America. Then again, two of the teams in this round aren't even going to be competing in the national championship. There is tons of media coverage, interviews, and analysis solely based on these final four teams for about a week's span. By the start of the national semifinals, you almost get sick of hearing anyone debate about who is going to win. Even before the tournament, when everyone is filling out all their brackets crazily, the most common question I hear among any group has to be, "Who's your final four?" Again, when it comes down to it, two of these teams will not even be competing in the national championship, so why don't we let all the excessive predictions and analysis come once we actually know who is playing in the finals?
I fully expect many people to disagree with my point, but it is kind of an interesting topic to debate when you take a closer look. One of the most renown sports tournaments in the country has put so much emphasis and is even titled
The Final Four aka The Semi-Finals. I just don't get why we all, including myself, anticipate the national
semi-finals of such a great tournament, rather than the actual finals. I also am not implying that the national championship does not receive enough coverage, which I am positive that it does get its fair share. I'm merely suggesting to maybe get rid of the famous title
The Final Four and start recognizing it simply as
The NCAA Championship, as it should be.
I actually agree a lot with this post, it is weird that people take a weekend off to go see the Final Four, when many spectators who claim they were so into NCAA don't even watch the finals. Maybe it's the idea that the Final Four gives hope to all four teams and those whose brackets are still alive for a chance at victory? Maybe for many their team, bracket has been done for such a long time that by the end of March (beginning of April) they are ready to stop watching basketball and start to focus on other sports that are just starting, like Baseball. I know that personally I come from a family who's die-hard baseball fans and that the Final Four for us always meant our yearly ritual of attending opening day at Shea Stadium (now Citi Field) is only days away. Do you think that people just get bored of such a long tournament? Or for so many the reasons they pay attention (bracket, their team) are no longer keeping them engaged?
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of interesting points raised in this post. First off, I agree with the idea that we "over recognize" the semi-finals. In every other sport the semi-finals are called just that, and then there is The National Championship. In these sports the National Championship are highly covered, talked about, and have an incredible amount of anticipation leading up to the event. On the other hand, I disagree with the idea that we should get rid of the The Final Four and call it The National Championship. The final four is much more than just one game, it is an event that millions of people look forward too. People want to see all three games, not just the finals. Also, the reason the title "The Final Four" makes sense is that all three games take place in one location. Therefore, the final four entails all three games played at that one location, not just the finals. Overall, I agree with the idea that the semi-finals get a lot of attention, but to be honest I think that credit is fully deserved. These four teams outlasted the other 341 teams in Division 1 basketball, and for this they deserve all the recognition that they currently receive.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the championship game is very important but the FInal Four emphasizes what the tournament is all about. The tournament brings teams of all kinds from all over the country from national power houses to small league champion to that mid major who was on the bubble. The Final Four are the champions of all of the different regions (Midwest, South, East, West). So the reason I think it gets more attention (other than its catchy name which is good for endorsements, but that's another topic) is because the Final Four celebrates those four teams being the best of the best from all over. The Final Four is the final tournament within the overall tournament.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do agree with the notion that the NCAA Championship should deserve the most attention from all games in the tournament, I think the Final Four will always have that over the top coverage because of what the tournament stands for. Why is this tournament so exciting? Because its unlike any other. It starts with over 120 teams in NCAA Division 1 and the field is cut in half. Rather than simply 8 playoff teams like they do in the pros, there are 4 different 16 team brackets; and if that isn't difficult enough facing 16 teams of the top talent in the world, you then must go on to play 2 other teams in order to win it all, not to mention they won their region also. The fact that this tournament is essentially 4 different tournaments combined makes the Final Four so exciting. It brings together the 4 best and hottest teams in the country for one day of the greatest basketball of the year. Back to back games of tremendous basketball EVERY SINGLE YEAR. We've seen NCAA Championship blowouts, but I can't tell you the last time we didn't get a great Final Four moment. That's why the Final Four will remain the focal point of the tournament forever.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but I disagree with your proposition to change the title of the tournement from the Final Four to the National Championship. The reason why the NCAA tournement is exciting is because it is diffrent from anything else in sports. Simply having a bid to compete is enough for most schools, and its round robbin style is something that is unique to college basketball. The title "National Championship" belongs to college football, where "March madness" represents college basketball. Another great part about the Final Four is the games are played on the same day, in the same arena, back to back. This is an amazing expeirence my friends shared in New Orleans this year. Watching two of the most important games of the year for the price of one ticket is what makes the Final Four so unique and exciting. There is nothing like watching both teams punch their tickets to a chance to play for it all. It's unique and gives college basketball a certain swagger to it, that is why it has so much hype.
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