College Basketball Has Lost Its Soul

6 minute read

What are we doing here?

It’s Friday afternoon in Brooklyn, just days before the annual “Selection Sunday” that will decide the layout of the NCAA tournament. The Barclays Center, home of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, is hosting the conference tournament quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10, a hoop-centric group of schools whose core geographical imprint stretches from Philadelphia, through Washington, D.C. down to Richmond, Virginia, while hitting a few places in the midwest: Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Dayton. Yet the Atlantic 10 hosts its conference tournament in New York City, home to Fordham University—one of the league’s northern outliers and worst basketball teams.

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the University of Richmond, two schools separated by five miles in the Virginia capital, are playing a tight, tough game, which VCU will eventually win, 70-67. But the whole thing still feels a bit out of place. The Atlantic 10 moved its tournament to Brooklyn back in 2013 because, more than anything, college athletic conferences have become marketing entities. Let’s bring the show to the big city, baby, no matter the convenience for the “student-athletes,” whose time spent traveling extra miles could be spent, you know, studying.

This rivalry game sparked some electricity. Fans of VCU, which made a surprising run to the Final Four back in 2011, travel well, and as VCU finishes off the Spiders, the place is loud and moderately rocking. Still, the building is only a little more than a third full, according to the official attendance figures. Empty seats dot prime areas behind the basket. Most of the fans are wearing yellow (for VCU) or red (for Richmond), but very few locals seem to be there. The Big Apple hasn’t exactly caught A-10 fever.

Which comes as no shock. Across the country, people seem to be falling out of love with college basketball. Attendance for Division I men’s games has fallen for seven straight seasons, according to the Associated Press. TV ratings for CBS and ESPN are down.

A well-documented drop in scoring, which is near historically low levels, has been blamed for college basketball’s struggles. Ugly play has certainly contributed. Controlling coaches drain the fun and flow out of the game. Players are stronger—and more physical, which tends to hurt, more than help, offense. Technology has made scouting an opponent’s tendencies easier. When you know what your foe is about to do, he’s easier to defend.

These trends have surely contributed to college basketball’s struggles. So have some forces beyond the sport’s control. More than ever, Americans want appointment television, whether it’s a must-see football game or even an international soccer game we can all chirp about on Twitter, or a favorite show on the DVR. We have so many entertainment options: Our investment in a two-hour regular season college basketball game better pay off. Too often, it doesn’t.

In football, the regular season games really matter. In baseball, a fraction of the teams make the post-season, so even the early April games have something at stake. In college basketball, if teams struggle in the regular season, they can earn a March Madness spot by doing well in a conference tournament. Does any one regular season game really matter that much?

True, you can say the same thing about NBA regular season games. But if you like basketball, and can choose between watching the best players in the world in the NBA, or a bunch of college kids throwing up bricks and college coaches calling a million timeouts, and calling for a million fouls at the end of close games… it’s an easy call.

When pitted against football, college hoops is almost helpless. College football is a juggernaut, and college basketball starts its season in mid-November—just as the playoff and bowl chases are coming down the stretch. Into December and through the Super Bowl, the NFL is going strong. Even the NFL off-season overshadows college hoops. This past week, major free agent moves—and in particular, coach Chip Kelly’s casino gambling with the future of the Philadelphia Eagles—stole tons of attention from conference basketball tournaments.

College basketball is in danger of becoming a one-month sport, capturing buzz only during March Madness. The sport’s relevance problem even sparked Pac-12 deputy commissioner Jamie Zaninovich to propose on SI.com that the start of the regular season be pushed back to mid-December, and the Final Four to take place in early May—to help college basketball escape football’s shadow.

Officials can tinker with the game. But some of the optics of this week’s conference tournaments also suggest that, because schools have been chasing the lushest revenue streams, the sport has also just lost its way. On Thursday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City, for example, Butler, from Indianapolis, and Xavier, from Cincinnati, met in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. Why are schools from two Midwestern cities, connected by I-74 through Indiana, playing in New York? As part of something with “East” in the name?

All the conference reshuffling of the past few years destroyed many regional rivalries. Out of this rubble rose a new entity called American Athletic Conference (AAC). ESPN showed highlights from an exciting AAC quarterfinal game between East Carolina and the University of Central Florida that went into overtime. East Carolina won 81-80. The game was played in Hartford, Conn. On TV, the stands looked empty.

College hoops is still thriving in many places. And as we gear up for Sunday night’s selection show, a drab regular season will be forgotten. We’ll fill out our March Madness brackets, root for Cinderella, see if Kentucky can become the first team to finish undefeated in almost 40 years. It’ll be a blast.

But the question is still worth asking: What are we doing here?

Read next: The Case for Sports Gambling in America

LIFE Shoots Old-School College Hoops

Pete Maravich (LSU) fires off a fade-away jumper against Alabama in 1969.
Pete Maravich (LSU) fires off a fade-away jumper against Alabama in 1969.Art Rickerby—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain (Kansas) soars in 1957.George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Burke Scott (above, with ball) was a starter on Indiana's 1953 NCAA championship team, the second of Indiana's five title winners.
Burke Scott (above, with ball) was a starter on Indiana's 1953 NCAA championship team, the second of Indiana's five title winners. Francis Miller—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Seven-foot, two-inch Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, here being fitted for trousers with a 51-inch inseam in 1967) left his native New York for UCLA, where he helped the Bruins win a record 88 games in a row and three national titles.
Seven-foot, two-inch Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, here being fitted for trousers with a 51-inch inseam in 1967) left his native New York for UCLA, where he helped the Bruins win a record 88 games in a row and three national titles.Bill Ray—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Long Island Univ. Blackbirds practice in 1940. Under Hall of Fame coach Clair Bee, the Blackbirds were a powerhouse in the 1930s and '40s, winning two NIT titles.
Long Island Univ. Blackbirds practice in 1940. Under Hall of Fame coach Clair Bee, the Blackbirds were a powerhouse in the 1930s and '40s, winning two NIT titles.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Oregon State Beavers travel by train, 1953.
Oregon State Beavers travel by train, 1953.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Yale basketball star Tony Lavelli playing the accordion
Yale basketball star Tony Lavelli plays his accordion, circa 1948.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
The 6' 8" Jerry Lucas (above, in 1960) is still regarded as one of the best big men in the history of the game. In three college seasons with Ohio State he averaged 24.3 points and 17.2 rebounds and led the Buckeyes to three NCAA title games. They won it all in 1960.
The 6' 8" Jerry Lucas (above, in 1960) is still regarded as one of the best big men in the history of the game. In three college seasons with Ohio State he averaged 24.3 points and 17.2 rebounds and led the Buckeyes to three NCAA title games. They won it all in 1960.George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Mixing basketball and boxing at UCLA, 1945.
Mixing basketball and boxing at UCLA, 1945.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Bradley vs. St. John's, Madison Square Garden, New York, in 1951.
Bradley vs. St. John's, Madison Square Garden, New York, in 1951.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
New York's Madison Square Garden (the old Garden, built in 1925 and razed in '68) was the mecca of college basketball, hosting every round of the NIT for 40 years and home to the Final Four for much of the 1940s. Above: Bradley vs. St. John's (in white, still the seventh-winningest program in NCAA history), 1951.
New York's Madison Square Garden (the old Garden, built in 1925 and razed in '68) was the mecca of college basketball, hosting every round of the NIT for 40 years and home to the Final Four for much of the 1940s. Above: Bradley vs. St. John's (in white, still the seventh-winningest program in NCAA history), 1951.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
The legendary Kansas coach Forrest Allen, nicknamed "Phog," is often referred to as the "Father of Basketball Coaching," although these days not too many people mention him when discussing the greatest college coaches in history. Allen (here demonstrating some sort of funky move in 1957) coached Dean Smith; he recruited Wilt Chamberlain to Kansas; the Jayhawks' famous Allen Fieldhouse is named for him, and a banner hanging in the fieldhouse reads, "Pay heed all who enter, beware of the Phog."
The legendary Kansas coach Forrest Allen, nicknamed "Phog," is often referred to as the "Father of Basketball Coaching," although these days not too many people mention him when discussing the greatest college coaches in history. Allen (here demonstrating some sort of funky move in 1957) coached Dean Smith; he recruited Wilt Chamberlain to Kansas; the Jayhawks' famous Allen Fieldhouse is named for him, and a banner hanging in the fieldhouse reads, "Pay heed all who enter, beware of the Phog."George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Yes, they play basketball at MIT, but success has been fleeting: In 2005-06 the Division III Engineers won 20 games for the first time in school history. Dimitry Vergun (above, in 1956, the year he graduated) is now an expert on designing buildings to withstand earthquakes.
Yes, they play basketball at MIT, but success has been fleeting: In 2005-06 the Division III Engineers won 20 games for the first time in school history. Dimitry Vergun (above, in 1956, the year he graduated) is now an expert on designing buildings to withstand earthquakes.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
One of the first big guards in basketball, 6' 5", 220-pound Oscar Robertson (above, in 1959) led the nation in scoring in each of his three seasons at Cincinnati and left school as the top scorer in college history. His 33.8-point career average is still the third-highest in NCAA history. The Big O was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 1980 and in 1996 was voted one of The 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.
One of the first big guards in basketball, 6' 5", 220-pound Oscar Robertson (above, in 1959) led the nation in scoring in each of his three seasons at Cincinnati and left school as the top scorer in college history. His 33.8-point career average is still the third-highest in NCAA history. The Big O was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 1980 and in 1996 was voted one of The 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.Yale Joel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
La Salle's Tom Gola (above, driving to the hoop in 1954) was one of the college game's earliest superstars, a do-it-all forward who still holds the Division I record for career rebounds (2,201). The four-time All-American also scored 2,462 points, for career averages of 20.9 points and 18.7 rebounds.
La Salle's Tom Gola (above, driving to the hoop in 1954) was one of the college game's earliest superstars, a do-it-all forward who still holds the Division I record for career rebounds (2,201). The four-time All-American also scored 2,462 points, for career averages of 20.9 points and 18.7 rebounds.Hank Walker—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
In the eight-team 1958 Dixie Classic, the Michigan State Spartans (in the dark uniforms) made it all the way to the final before falling to host North Carolina State (in white). At the end of the season, N.C. State was ranked sixth and Michigan State seventh in the final AP poll.
In the eight-team 1958 Dixie Classic, the Michigan State Spartans (in the dark uniforms) made it all the way to the final before falling to host North Carolina State (in white). At the end of the season, N.C. State was ranked sixth and Michigan State seventh in the final AP poll.Hank Walker—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Bob Cousy (above, at right, in 1950 when he was with Holy Cross) brought a showman's flair to the sport before it was an accepted part of the game, regularly dribbling behind his back and throwing no-look passes. Known as the Houdini of the Hardwood, he was basketball's first great pure playmaker.
Bob Cousy (above, at right, in 1950 when he was with Holy Cross) brought a showman's flair to the sport before it was an accepted part of the game, regularly dribbling behind his back and throwing no-look passes. Known as the Houdini of the Hardwood, he was basketball's first great pure playmaker.Yale Joel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Legendary North Carolina State Wolfpack coach Everett "The Gray Fox" Case cuts down the net after winning the Dixie Classic title in 1959.
Legendary North Carolina State Wolfpack coach Everett "The Gray Fox" Case cuts down the net after winning the Dixie Classic title in 1959.Hank Walker—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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