In this, the most improbable, impossible and unpredictable of pandemic-plagued college basketball seasons, perhaps the biggest head-scratcher of all is the disappearance of the blue bloods.
Think Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas.
Between those four schools, there are 68 Final Four appearances and 22 NCAA tournament championships. Since 1991, one of those four programs has won the national title 13 times. In that time, the 300-plus other teams in the country have managed 16 championships. That’s a lot of banners hanging from the rafters of four schools.
And yet, for the first time since 1961, Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas are all unranked in the Associated Press poll.
The 2020-21 college basketball season has been one of topsy-turvy results, ever-changing schedules and relocating tournaments. As the final month of the regular season ticks by, this season’s juggernauts remain as sturdy as ever — No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 Baylor are both undefeated. There’s less certainty elsewhere.
Howard University, for instance, opted to cancel the rest of its basketball season on Tuesday, citing health and safety concerns during the pandemic. The Bison had played all of five games up to that point, and they last took the floor Dec. 18.
Other programs have felt the coronavirus’s effects, too. George Washington hasn’t played since Jan. 17. Memphis and East Carolina paused their basketball activities Wednesday, and Florida Gulf Coast called a two-week pause Tuesday.
No. 3 Michigan hasn’t played since Jan. 22, missing five games because of a campus-wide halt implemented by the state’s health department after the UK variant of the coronavirus was discovered within the athletic department.
But the instability goes beyond individual teams. There was a debate whether conference tournaments would take place at all this season, considering the tight schedule. The NCAA tournament selection show is on March 14.
Most conference tournaments begin that week and conclude hours before the show.
Should a coronavirus interruption occur during a conference tournament, the entire college basketball schedule could be thrown off.
That fear led the Big Ten to move its men’s conference tournament from Chicago to Indianapolis, running from March 10 to March 14 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“Hosting both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in the same city allows for cohesive testing and medical protocols for both events, as well as centralized accommodations surrounding the competition venues,” the Big Ten’s release read.
March Madness might take on a deeper meaning this year, too, with all 68 teams playing games in the Indianapolis area instead of rounds occurring across the country.
“This is going to be complicated and difficult; there’s no question about that,” NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt said in a statement. “The 2021 version of March Madness will be one to remember, if for no other reason than the uniqueness of the event. With the direction of the Men’s Basketball Committee, we are making the most of the circumstances the global pandemic has presented.”
As to which teams will make that tournament, there’s no certainty surrounding the usual subjects.
Georgetown, once a Big East power, is stumbling its way to another losing season. Maryland, coming off a Big Ten title last season, could sneak into the tournament field despite a .500 record — buoyed by the strength of the Big Ten. The conference has 11 teams listed within the top 52 schools on the NET rankings.
Duke, at 7-8, sits at No. 75 nationally in NET rankings, just outside the tournament bubble.
Kansas and North Carolina could make the tournament, even with poorer records than normal, but Kentucky (5-13) seems destined to miss out on the big dance for the first time since 2013.
All four of those teams are out of the top-25 rankings together for the first time since Bobby Lewis’ “Tossin’ and Turnin’” topped Billboard’s charts. This season has been just as up-and-down and side-to-side, leaving some of the biggest programs to channel Lewis’ sleepless nights, deep in thought.
• Andy Kostka can be reached at akostka@washingtontimes.com.
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