The madness of March is upon us, and this tournament, unlike a year ago, should be unpredictable because there aren't many, if any, dominant teams in it. Basketball purists will point to the tournament bracket and say it is evidence of parity, but the fact is, there are no great teams like the one Carolina had last year, and there are few great players.
Power conferences like the Pacific Ten and the Southeastern Conference are down, and the best teams in the Big East, aside from Syracuse, aren't as good as they were a season ago.
Just look at Villanova. A Final Four team last year. Losers of five of its last seven heading into the tournament this year.
"People like to say there's parity," ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said last week. "There's no parity. That's laughable. Parity is an excuse for losing. . . . It's just one of those years where, at the end of the line, we're talking about pretty average teams at best."
That won't make this tournament boring. Quite the contrary. It's wide open. But if you love dominance, you won't get that this year. Not here.
Last year, everyone knew if the Tar Heels played up to their potential, no one could beat them, and sure enough, they breezed through the tournament, winning six games by an average of 20.5 points per game. If anything, the Tar Heels' tournament performance showed they probably were just bored during the regular season, when they lost three games.
Four players off that Carolina team were selected in the NBA draft, including two underclassmen, Ty Lawson (18th, by Minnesota) and Wayne Ellington (28th, by Minnesota).
And now? The Tar Heels went 16-15 in the regular season, including 5-11 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and lost in the first round of the ACC tournament. They are out of the NCAAs.
