With Only Top-Notch Teams Left, NCAA Tournament Can Now Take Off

The NCAA Tournament can now really begin.
The Radford’s, Morgan State’s and Binghamton’s of the world can take their amateur players and amateur uniforms back to their respective campuses and watch the big boys play, cherishing the fact that they took a small program like theirs’ to the tournament (And in the case of Morgan State’s Ameer Ali, relish the fact that he body slammed Blake Griffin, putting him up there with Chris Webber for biggest idiot in the history of the tournament).
The disappointments of the tournament, like Wake Forest, Illinois, Ohio State and Tennessee can spend the rest of March and early April watching the action and the rest of their off-season from now until the fall thinking about how they can get better (And in the case of Wake Forest point guard Jeff Teague if he doesn’t declare for the NBA Draft, try to fly out of the Bermuda Triangle that he’s been stuck in since January).
The Cleveland State’s of the world can enjoy the fact that they won their first NCAA Tournament game since 1986 and use the win to sell more tickets and bring in better recruits to the Mistake by the Lake, Western Kentucky can continue to try to become the Gonzaga of the southeast after reaching the round of 32 for the second straight year, and Oklahoma State can build off of the momentum of making the tournament for the first time since 2005.
But now it is time for the elite programs from elite conferences with elite players to play. Time for well-known programs like Duke, North Carolina, Connecticut and Memphis to take center stage.
Time for coaches that have been at the top of their profession for years to show people why they make more than their universities’ president and states’ governor. Time for Mike Krzyzewski to develop a defensive gameplan that will allow the Blue Devils to play enough inside defense against Villanova to get a win if they don’t shoot well from the perimeter (their bread-and-butter), time for Brian Zoubek (the only center that Duke has) to grab enough rebounds to limit Villanova’s second chance opportunities, and time for Greg Paulus, Jon Scheyer and Gerald Henderson to be more lights out from the perimeter than a Mexican hotel room in order for Duke to advance to the elite eight.
Time for Jim Boeheim to figure out a way for the ‘Cuse to contain Griffin when they play the Sooners, and time for Paul Harris to block shots, Eric Devendorf to hit threes and Jonny Flynn to prove to America that he’s the best point guard in the country so that the Orangemen can have a shot against OU.
Time for John Calipari to continue to tell his Memphis team that the world is against them, then gel up his hair, put on his $1,000 Armani suit and $500 custom-made Robert Talbot Italian shoes and watch as Tyreke Evans executes all of his offensive plays to perfection and Shawn Taggert and Robert Dozier shut down Demarre Carroll and Leo Lyons on the other end on their way to a smooth victory over Missouri.
Time to see if Mark Few and Gonzaga can catch North Carolina playing poor defense, and then get enough points from Matt Bouldin, Jeremy Pargo, Austin Daye and Josh Heytvelt while limiting the point totals of the nine-deep Tar Heels on the other end on their way to an upset of the Tar Heels.
Time to see if Nic Wise, Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger can continue their stellar play for Arizona against a great defensive team in Louisville and whether it will be enough for the Wildcats to beat the Cardinals.
Time to see if Xavier can catch Pittsburgh sleeping like they were against East Tennessee State last week and make them pay and if Sherron Collins can light up Michigan State when his Kansas team faces the defensive minded Spartans, and time to see if JaJuan Johnson, Robbie Hummel and Purdue will be able to draw the Cameroon hitman Hasheem Thabeet away from the basket or whether he’ll just stand around the block and swipe away Boilermaker shot after shot as Connecticut slaughters them like a fat cow at the Harris Ranch.
Time to see if all of the one and two seeds in the tournament will play each other in the elite eight (which would mean a Griffin-Tyler Hansbrough matchup in Memphis and an Evans-A.J. Price showdown in Glendale), and if all number one seeds can advance to the Final for the second time in two years (up until 2008 an NCAA Tournament had never featured four number one seeds in the Final Four since the seeding system was implemented in 1979).
This is what college basketball is all about; big-time programs, big-time players, big-time coaches, big-time fan bases. Not mid majors who may win one or two games but can’t finish, and not watching a sixteen seed get pummeled. The Radford’s, Binghamton’s and Wake Forest’s of the world have gone home. Now it's time for the prime time players to take the spotlight. We couldn’t ask for more as college basketball fans.