NCAA Basketball
You would never believe UCLA’s record
We got a Mick Cronin masterclass in how to get fired last night. Whether you want to start with his team getting getting wiped by 25 by Michigan State, or Tom Izzo making fun of his own ejection of his player, or getting sassy with the media last night (which I enjoyed), or last week, when he asked his GM for a vodka-drinking Eastern European, or in the beginning of the season telling the media to take responsibility for his players being bad because he recruited them, which is respectable.
But through all of this, as not an avid follower of UCLA, I would think they are a .500 team with no shot to make the tournament. They’re 17-9 with a legit chance to make the tournament with a big win over Purdue and a couple of close losses versus good teams. That being said, they do have Nebraska and Illinois left, but win one of those two and win the rest of the games you're supposed to, and you’re in, but he’s out here acting like Jerome Tang. All in all, weird stuff coming out of Westwood.
The Maui Invitational might be back
According to Sportico, the Players Era tournament is in absolute shambles. They are reporting that they are shopping their TV rights for 50 million. All sounds good, right? Wrong. They still haven’t paid teams for playing in the tournament, and no one is biting on their 50 million dollar offer. If you follow college basketball and have common sense, you immediately could see where this event was headed. It took away from the strength of the field from the greatest feast week tournament ever, the Maui Invitational. This year was the first that really showed how diluted the tournament was, with only one top-25 team, NC State, especially compared to last year's field, which included teams like UConn, UNC, Auburn, Iowa State, and Michigan State. Now, for the most part, the field is set for both tournaments, but in 2027 Maui needs to strike. One, they need to find a sponsor that will put up cash for the event, cause trust me those players don’t care about the Southwest care package; they just want cash. Even if they can’t put up quite the money the Players Era can, they have one thing the Players Era will never have: Aura. Think of your favorite Players Era game. You probably don’t have one. Now think of your favorite Maui game; it’s probably 2005 Gonzaga-Michigan State, 2019 Duke-Gonzaga, or just the whole opening day of 2004. The Maui was quite literally founded on what sports are about, when Chaminade beat Virginia on that fateful December night in 1982.