There’s plenty of great in college basketball; but we’ll take more good

Sun, Feb 7, 2010

The talking point that has been consistently and insistently put forth this season is that college basketball lacks a great team.

All the analysts and sound-byte creators had their fingers on the button, ready to play the same loop of the same message when Colorado was one not-botched final play from taking down Kansas in the Jayhawks’ first game since their return to the No. 1 spot. Kansas would have been the third No. 1 in as many weeks to lose immediately upon grabbing the top spot in the polls, the sort of phenomenon that launches this meme that no great team exists.

Are Gani Lawal and Georgia Tech capable of making a big run in March?
But this time last year there were no great teams either, or at least teams that we were ready to acknowledge as great. There was even a similar madcap shuffling at No. 1 right around this time of year. And if last year’s great team, North Carolina (and the lament right now is that there’s no great North Carolina-like team), proved anything it’s that no one gives out trophies for being ‘great’ in January and February. The Tar Heels just needed to be great in March, and they were.

Exercise a little patience with the teams that were supposed to be great. Despite what Buffaloes fans think Kansas will get there. The Jayhawks are still solving rotations and roles and Sherron Collins is one of the most trusted late-game performers in the game. As good as Kentucky has looked, the whole John Wall/John Calipari non-story just served to show that the Wildcats are still maturing and still have lessons to learn before the Big Dance. Syracuse and Villanova have plenty of tests in the rugged Big East to toughen themselves up for March.

What should be discussed is not the lack of great teams, but a …