Colleges Experiencing Changing of the Guard

How the mighty have fallen! Or maybe they simply were pushed off their pedestals by the previously downtrodden. What has happened in the Big East Conference this season may be nothing more than a reflection of college basketball dynamics throughout the country in 2001-2002.

After all, what could be more surprising than the utter collapse of North Carolina, which will miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1974, unless it’s the implosion of the Arkansas program and the departure of Coach Nolan Richardson? Well, look to the west where the top team in a region generally dominated by the likes of Arizona, UCLA or Stanford is none other than the big spoke of Spokane, Gonzaga.

Compared to that kind of upheaval, the shifting fortunes of the Big East appear relatively tame.

Nonetheless, it is noteworthy the schools that once comprised the backbone of the wildly successful basketball union, that accounted not only for its first two national championships but for its television networking--Georgetown, Syracuse, St. John’s and Villanova--have been commanded to appear today at Madison Square Garden for the initial games of the Big East postseason championship. Meanwhile, former have-nots Pittsburgh, Miami and Notre Dame, along with a Connecticut program that Jim Calhoun has built into a powerhouse in his 16 years on the job, have earned first-round byes. Consider it a triumph of meritocracy.

And it mirrors the transformation that has taken place across the land. Is there a better example of parity than the Big Ten where four schools--Illinois, Ohio State, Indiana and Wisconsin--finished the regular season in a tie for first place, relegating Michigan State, a participant in the Final Four in the previous three seasons, to fifth? And what about the goings-on in the Pac-10, where Oregon clambered past Arizona, Stanford, USC, California and UCLA to claim the top spot for the first time in memory? Then again, those perennial SEC powers Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas all wound up trailing Alabama.

In that context, it’s perfectly understandable that Pitt, with one winning season in the conference in the previous 10 years, would zoom to the top of the conference’s West Division after being relegated to sixth place in a preseason vote of the league coaches. Or that Rutgers would rise from a history of futility in the conference to beat four ranked teams at home and achieve a .500 mark in the Big East. For the Scarlet Knights, a first-round game against defending champion Boston College is infinitely preferable to no game at all, which was their postseason fate a year ago.

The times they are a-changing almost everywhere. Duke continues to rule in the ACC, of course, but even there the Blue Devils face a severe challenge from Maryland. And Kansas, as usual, is the top bird in the Big 12, where Oklahoma presents a pretense of a chase. As for the other major conferences, however, the Big East, SEC, Pac-10 and Big Ten are represented by only one member in the AP Top 10. And none of the four--No. 7 Pitt, No. 8 Alabama, No. 9 Oregon and No. 10 Illinois--appears to be a significant threat to win a championship.

Conversely, the lack of a heavy favorite appears to give added significance to conference tournaments that exist mainly to pad the general funds of the member institutions. The presence of Georgetown, Syracuse, St. John’s and Villanova on the first day is reason enough to believe each needs to win a minimum of one game to justify a berth in the NCAA Tournament field that will be selected Sunday. Any guarantees have been claimed by the four teams with byes.

It’s an interesting position in which to find the former Big Four. Dick Vitale gushed over the coaching trinity of John Thompson, Lou Carnesecca and Rollie Massimino, never more so than in 1985 when their teams all reached the Final Four. Two years later, Jim Boeheim’s Syracuse Orangemen achieved the first of their two appearances in a championship game.

Calhoun has become a coaching star but the names showcased at the Garden this week include Ben Howland, Mike Brey, Perry Clark, Mike Jarvis, Craig Esherick, Jay Wright and Gary Waters.

The old order changeth. Those who think of the Big East in conjunction with the fierce battles for supremacy among Georgetown, Syracuse, St. John’s and Villanova may stand accused of living in the wrong century.