Introduction to the College Basketball Champions League

(AP/Pat Sullivan) It’s perfectly reasonable for someone to adopt the approach of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” with college basketball. The sport’s popularity continues to grow, and that growth has helped college athletics in general. There are complaints, but the big issues being debated (amateurism, academics, eligibility, enforcement, etc.) are not parts of the basic format of the competition. The issues with the competition itself are smaller, like the use of the RPI in selection or the possibility of a modest reduction in the number of games. That doesn’t mean calls for major changes to basketball’s format are unheard of. One of the constants is the call to move men’s basketball to a single semester sport. Dan Wolken took up the issue, and I went into some of the tactical challenges with such a move. Even that is not a major change to the way we crown a champion, it just moves the competition around. The main problem with college basketball is that 345 schools are fighting ...