-
2 years ago
Big 12 / Pac 10 Hardwood Series
Can you feel the excitement? It’s almost tangible. It’s finally the day we’ve all been waiting for. The Big 12/Pac 10 hardwood series is here!!! Okay, so it actually started the other day, but today is the day! ESPN will have the cameras cranked up for this 48 hour battle for conference supremacy! What? It’s on ESPN2? Well that’s pretty good, basic cable baby!! Que? It’s not over a 48 hour span? It actually goes until December 22nd making it a virtual certainty that fans will not only not care any more, but will have even forgotten that game is part of the challenge? Well who cares, it’s not like that game is going to matter really, it’s all about today and Saturday! What’s that? Yes, yes, and Sunday. Nobody in Big 12/Pac 10 country watches pro football anyway, and who cares if the Pac 10 is a down league, they still have perennial powerhouse teams like USC and UCLA that will be squaring off with the Big 12’s best! Who? San Diego? AND Cal State Fullerton? Crap, well so what if Kansas plays UCLA. At least Texas gets to face off with USC and their talent laden squad. What’s that? Loyola-Marymount has a team? And they’ve already lost to Nebraska in the series? Well that makes sense. Of course. So who DOES the Pac 10 have? Okay, Cal and Washington, I can get on board with that. And no, I don’t care that Cal lost to New Mexico last night and is about to drop out of the rankings. So Washington, the Pac-10’s best team and a top 15 team in the country, that’ll be a headline game at least right? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THEY PLAY TEXAS TECH!?!
That’s the conversation I had with myself trying to sit down and write about this craptacular disaster that these two conferences have put together. Let’s run down a quick list of the problems.
#1 - This one is simple, there are more teams in the Big 12 than there are in the Pac 10. Okay, well there’s more in the ACC than in the Big 10(11), so if you suck in the ACC you have to sit out. That seems pretty simple. Dear Colora… err… “worst two Big 12 teams in a given year,” you don’t get to play, sorry, play better. Instead two Pac-10 teams get/have to play twice. This year it’s USC and Washington.
#2 - Why do it over two days when you can stretch this thing out to damn near Christmas? What would get Pac 10 and Big 12 fans more into this thing than leaving the grand finale (which this years A&M-Washington game clearly is, it’s the only matchup of ranked teams) for about three weeks after the rest of it.
#3 - Home and Home no matter what. Each team in the Big 12 and Pac 10 should have to keep two dates open for this tournament, but they don’t know their opponent until one month before the season. Then one month before the season you run down and match the teams up. We’re stuck with these same crap matchups for another year.
________________________________________
So you’re thinking, okay Mr. Big 12 Hoops Blog, you sure can complain, how would you fix it?
Well first off, I don’t think anyone who reads this doesn’t already know me, so why you’d call me “Mr. Big 12 Hoops Blog” instead of Aubrey is just weird, so stop.
Second, here’s how this thing should work.
Rule #1: If you stink, you don’t get to play. Sorry Colorado and Texas Tech, you’re out. We want a 10 vs 10 bloodbath.
Rule #2: Matchups are set one or two months before the season based on the previous years finish and where you played the year before. (if you were away, you’re at home, vice versa.) That way we don’t end up with the Best team in the country playing a team that can barely field a squad right now.
Rule #3: All 10 games take place within 48 hours.This four week thing is just stupid. If USC can play Nebraska and Texas in the same week, then Washington can play Tech and A&M in the same week.
Rule #4: NO TIES. For the 6 people that do pay attention to this dumb setup, you’re probably still upset that last years ended in a tie. Before the series starts, have the coaches vote on which matchup is the biggest. This years would clearly be the A&M/Washington game. If the series is tied at 6-6 (or 5-5) after the twelve games, the winner of the “marquee matchup” wins the series.
Those are the four basic rules, but do you think I’m done? Of course not.
I think we can all agree that the Big 12/Pac 10 is football country. And that most of our friends don’t even fully realize basketball season has started. So how about this to get more fans to these games and increase the excitement level. Have multiple games in central locations. make sure that Texas, A&M, and Baylor are all home at the same time and play in Houston or Dallas or even in Austin on ONE EPIC DAY OF BASKETBALL. Put UCLA and USC at Staples, Arizona and Arizona state in Phoenix, Oregon and Oregon State in Portland, you get the idea. How much fun would that be? Then the fans can show up, cheer on their teams, and IT WOULD BE LIKE A REAL LIFE SHOWDOWN.
Notes
Following
