The Real NCAA Tournament

Past the stroke of midnight, with Sunday melting into a puddle of Monday, the CBS/Turner studio crew looked tired. As they wrapped their fourth consecutive day of March Madness coverage, they tried to make sense of a 48-game blur like a hung-over college junior auditing the wad of bar receipts in the previous night's jeans. And like our fictional bar hero, Greg Gumbel, Charles Barkley, and the rest were unable to make much out of a weekend full of shots, Boilermakers, and Cougars.

To a mistaken many, the chaos of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament is its most charming hour. By repeating David vs. Goliath in enough trials, the early rounds of the tournament almost always give college basketball populists some nourishment for their underdog-loving hearts. But if the tournament exists to tell a champion's story, these supposedly great moments are merely prologue to more important chapters.

Do not confuse close with quality. Butler and Pitt served a perfect example Saturday night in their Third (think second) Round tilt. In the game's final two seconds, the Bulldogs and Panthers traded inexplicable game-surrendering fouls a middle school coach would have lost sleep over. Exciting? Of course. Grade A hoops? Only by the most generous curve.

Still think the early tournament matters? Consider some of more mystical species that inhabit that part of the bracket. Gonzaga, for all of its hype, has never returned to the Elite Eight after its run in 1999. And Butler, the mid-major usurpers from last year, traded in their Cinderella slippers when they tried on a five-seed.

That is why the real NCAA tournament will tip off this weekend. The 16 teams still playing have a few days to realize the weight of what they are about to attempt. In the first rounds, they were one of several dozen teams trying to plan itineraries, schedule practice time, and adjust to the tournament's bizarre schedule and obscure opponents. They survived their abbreviated spring breaks; now the rest is a business trip.

By the second weekend, the field has been boiled down to a concentration. For most of the teams playing from here on, a four-win run over tournament-caliber competition is conceivable. We could not have said the same a week ago for six consecutive Texas-San Antonio or Boston University wins.

At this point in the tournament, the nonsense of Selection Sunday is well forgotten. A week ago, VCU had to ford a river of Dick Vitale's tears just to get into the tournament. But when the Rams take the floor Friday, they will do so with the credibility of three eye-popping beatings of power conference teams under their belts. Keep your early round seeds; real respect is measured in wins.

Are Florida State and Richmond two of the best 16 teams in the country? Probably not. But that kind of matchup is the exception, not the rule, at this stage. After a coma-worthy onslaught of mismatches last weekend, the Sweet 16 finally brings us tradition-rich bouts like Ohio State/Kentucky and Duke/Arizona, as well as compelling matchups of gatekeepers versus newcomers like Connecticut/San Diego State and Florida/BYU.

At this point in the tournament, there is no more bluffing, no more growing left to do. These are good teams playing good teams, and there is no more time to get better. Shouldn't we hope to see this instead of good teams stumbling to lesser ones on a cold shooting night? Isn't this much more fun than seeing a team capable of more playing listlessly against a frenzied underdog in the early afternoon?

The appetizer plates have been cleared. Now it's time to enjoy the tournament's main courses.