Championship Week Woes- Or Why I Miss The Big East

So by now everyone knows that my alma mater, Syracuse, is in a wee bit of trouble with the NCAA.  As it is, they are banned from both the ACC and NCAA (or more realistically the NIT) tournaments this year.  The postseason ban has put quite a damper on my mood to watch college basketball, knowing that no matter what I won't be able to see my boys try to fight their way into March Madness.  Instead, I am watching a lot of spring training and following NFL free agency more than I am Championship Week.  The biggest effect is that it makes me pine for the days of the single best NCAA conference tournament ever, the old Big East tournament in Madison Square Garden.

We all remember that I was against the move to the ACC, and how I still wish the old Big East existed.  I have a feeling a majority of sports fans feel the same way.  Just watch ESPN's 30 for 30 "Requiem for the Big East", and tell me you don't miss seeing Boeheim, Calhoun, Big and Little John, and Pitino pacing up and down the sidelines in front of a raucous NYC crowd.  It was, in many ways, more enjoyable for me than the NCAA tournament (mainly cause Syracuse won the Big East more).  Just getting to see Hall of Fame coaches and intense school rivalries play out on the grandest stage of them all was an honor.  It got daytime and prime time play on ESPN, with their #1 broadcast teams.  There are so many memorable moments, my favorites of course being Gerry McNamara carrying Cuse to a tournament title, and beating UConn in the greatest basketball game ever played- the 6OT marathon.

It just isn't the same for me without that excitement.  I know that the ACC has some amazing teams.  Hell, just look at the standings.  But I don't dislike those teams the way I did UConn, Georgetown or St. Johns.  I have no great history with them.  I am sure that UNC, UVA and Clemson fans feel the same way about us yankee carpetbaggers coming into their conference.  Duke, of course, has already become a rival, but everybody dislikes them.  Plus, it always seems like the ACC tournament is a foregone conclusion.  Yes, I know that neither Duke nor UNC has won the past three years.  But they have won 14 of the previous 20. Teams from outside of North Carolina have only won the ACC tournament 11 times, and its been going on since 1954!  It is a relief that UVA and Louisville are good, even if I dislike Pitino and UVA's brand of basketball is borderline unwatchable.  The All-Carolina Conference doesn't have the same flavor that the old Big East had.

The smaller conference tournaments can be fun, for sure.  But I have no emotional investment in most of them.  I'm glad Coastal Carolina made the tournament again, but I bet most people don't even know what a Chanticleer is.  I'll watch a few of the title games and be happy for the kids that get to go dancing, but my interest in them is quickly gone.

The point is, watching a game on the "ACC Network" live from Greensboro just isn't the same, and never will be.  It makes me sad.  I've got the Championship Week blues.