Syracuse Basketball: Amid sea of college sports change, let Big Dance be

I have so many fond memories of my beloved Syracuse basketball program in March Madness. Too many to count or name. Yes, some heartache, too, but a lot of excitement and exhilaration.

These days in collegiate athletics, and particularly in football and hoops, a new era has begun, and what that new era will ultimately evolve into is anybody’s guess at this juncture.

But NCAA officials are pondering their future structure, name, image and likeness opportunities are in place, the transfer portal has exploded due to the NCAA’s new one-time exception policy, and conference shifting and reshaping are likely ahead of us.

I have written many times about how I think the NCAA is an incompetent organization that needs to go away. We even had a recent column noting comments from Orange head coach Jim Boeheim, in which he wondered whether there is a need for this governing body.

Yet if the NCAA eventually withers away, what does that mean for the NCAA Tournament, which for my money is the best sporting event (albeit over several weeks) that transpires in our country?

The long and short, at least for me, is that I sincerely hope no matter what the future holds for the NCAA and the existing collegiate athletics model, nothing happens to March Madness. It’s simply the best.

Syracuse basketball and its peers, I assume, want the Big Dance to remain intact.

Of course, there could be tweaks to the NCAA Tournament. Understandably, some mid-majors might have some words about the selection criteria and the selection process. In a larger context, however, I believe that March Madness is about as good as it gets in the sporting world.

College sports are never going to prove the same. Oklahoma and Texas are headed to the Southeastern Conference. The Big 12 Conference is likely to break apart, fold or merge with another league.

The Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big Ten Conference and the Pac-12 Conference have announced an alliance. More developments along the conference realignment lines, I’m sure, will follow.

At the end of July, the NCAA’s board of governors put out an announcement saying that it will “convene a special constitutional convention in November, with action expected to be taken at the NCAA’s scheduled Convention in January.”

"A 22-person constitution committee, the NCAA press release said, is charged with proposing “a new system of governance and rules enforcement that further contemplates the role of national oversight and places appropriate responsibility at the school and conference levels.”"

In other words, the NCAA is likely to look a whole lot different down the road. And that’s fine. It’s appropriate. Frankly, a bunch of commentators in recent weeks have opined that the NCAA is done, its fate is sealed, and this often-criticized governing body is, to put it bluntly, toast.

If that’s the case, I’m good with it. So long as the Big Dance carries on, indefinitely.

Like I said at the onset, I have a boatload of memories associated with my alma mater and March Madness. The 2003 national title. Final Four trips in 2013 and 2016. Unexpected Sweet 16 runs in 2018 and 2021.

There is also heart-break city for Syracuse basketball, like 1987, 1996, the 2010 regional semifinals and the 2012 Elite Eight. And we can’t forget about Richmond, Vermont and Dayton, among others.

I’d like to forget those games. But I can’t. It’s still a part of March Madness. And, whether your team wins or loses, the Big Dance as a whole is magnificent.