Though everyone is screaming for restraint, an orgy of college basketball is about to descend on the city.
All 16 teams in the Big East Conference – even DePaul, which tonight will try desperately to avoid being only the second school in league history to go winless in conference play – gets to come to the Big Apple for the tournament.
What’s next? General Motors announcing a new V-12 SUV that takes only premium fuel and is not available in California because it can’t pass emission standards?
What do we call this basketball Caligula, “So You Think You Can Win Five Straight?” Which is what a team that plays on Tuesday will have to do to win the tournament.
Everywhere you turn, advertisers are promoting products and services that leave a smaller footprint. The Big East arrives as Big Foot.
“When we started talking about expansion, the presidents asked me what was the upside and the downside,” Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese told The Post. “The downside was that we would lose the players’ banquet the night before the tournament starts, which has been a really special evening. And we’d lose the awards ceremony which has become a very popular PR event.
“The upside is that players from four more schools will have a chance to experience being a part of the conference tournament, which is great experience. I understand their decision, but I recommended we stay at 12.”
Beautiful. Tranghese – the man who took this league off life support when the ACC stole away Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech; the man who knows more basketball than all 16 presidents combined – makes a recommendation and it is ignored.
The same presidents who won’t move to a playoff in college football voted to expand the league tournament from 12 to 16 teams, thus eviscerating the last novelty that made the Big East special.
Once a tightly knit league comprised of eight schools from the Northeast, the Big East is now an awkward subcontinent that stretches from Syracuse to Tampa and New York to Milwaukee.
In years past, the players and coaches would enjoy a Tuesday night banquet. A highlight video of the year’s top plays, or the games that shaped the league was played. Often a person who behind the scenes had made a significant contribution to the growth of the league was recognized.
The players broke bread. For the next four days, they broke heads. That was a Northeast tournament.
Now we have the New York Life Big East Conference Tournament, presented by Verizon, Geico, XM, Gatorade, Oppenheimer Funds, Sunkist, Lincoln Mercury and Aeropostale.
Honest.
Several of the coaches I spoke to mock me. They said the real gripe is the media misses out on a free meal. But they know the media wasn’t invited to the banquet. It was the league’s night.
“I choose to look at this as a mini-Sweet 16,” said Villanova coach Jay Wright, whose team is the perfect sleeper this week. “You have all of the best players and coaches coming to New York City, the mecca of college basketball, playing in the Garden. I remember when I was an assistant at Hofstra coming in to watch the early rounds.
“The banquet is great, but you want every player in this league to experience the tournament. You see Georgetown fans and Notre Dame fans walking down the street saying hello to each other. It’s the best.”
Not anymore, because in this case, more is just more.