Column: Familiar Four prove NCAA tourney is not ‘Hoosiers’
Associated PressFor all the talk of college basketball’s brave new world, it suddenly looks a lot like the old one. So anyone asking why the same dozen programs are still playing musical chairs at the Final Four every year — Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and Villanova this time around — would do well to recall how Willie Sutton answered the feds when they asked why he kept robbing banks: “Because that’s where the money is.” Grit and gumption are great, but as the Saint Peter’s Peacocks were reminded in a hurry Sunday, they take you only so far. The rosters at Duke, North Carolina and Kansas are loaded with the kind of prospects, practice facilities and support staffs that would turn any NBA G League team green with envy, and they spend two to three times as much money — without paying players’ salaries. “I’ve thought all along that this was a possibility,” coach Bill Self said afterward, referring to a fourth Final Four in his 19 seasons at Kansas. “But I’ve also thought all along that the margin for error wasn’t such where we could get loose and have it be a probability.” Speaking of probability, that the Jayhawks return to the Final Four as the only top seed left in the field is more than a good omen.
History of this topic
North Carolina’s NCAA Tournament hopes died for very familiar reasons
New York Times
Carolina crushes Saint Peter’s, will meet Duke in Final Four
Associated Press
North Carolina ousts Peacocks, sets up Final Four Duke clash
Associated Press
Column: Saint Peter’s boils Purdue; Is mighty Carolina next?
Associated Press
No. 2 NC State women pull away late to beat No. 6 Indiana
Associated PressDiscover Related
