Saluki-Insider NCAA Tournament Discussion 

I’m actually trying to not be lazy and contribute around here. I have to make those premium subscriptions worth the price.  

Transfer Portal 

This situation is long past out of control.  Think of poor Bobber trying to figure out who has a Covid year, a graduate year and teams just adding 13 new guys.  Maybe we are just old but this is ruining the game. Mid- and low-majors have become the free agent pool. Money talks so this is not going to get better.  Just wait until the super conferences break off and they can just poach a kid mid-year because of injuries.  Sadly, I think the only thing to slow this down is taking away the one free transfer. Make a transfer sit a year. Try to fairly give waivers for extreme situations or coaching changes. We all know the NCAA would screw that up anyway, so the whole things seems pretty hopeless. 

NCAA Tournament 

Surprisingly, a mid-major was given the last at-large bid over a mid-power 6 team. The entire P6 has been crying since Sunday. This is one time we will applaud the committee. Rewarding teams that win two big games in 12 chances is comical. 

This weekend also brought up the topic of expansion. As I looked in to this it gets worse and worse. Of the 28 added teams this year  12 would have probably been mid-majors.  That actually seems ok. When you look at the format it changes. Just guessing all the top 32 seeds get a bye. Then there would basically be 32 play-in games to play them. These games are mostly mid vs. mid. The Power 6 keep their money and there are less Cinderellas. This is another situation that seems quite gloomy. 

This year’s tournament could be fun. There could be a whole lot of first round stunners.  We do like Drake to win a game. Possibly two depending on if Kent State can stop the Trace Jackson Davis train. Memphis is a mid that may make noise. We have Kansas or Alabama cutting down the nets. Only because neither of us ever pick it right and we want to curse those two wretched programs. Just keep that in mind when filling out your Saluki-Insider Bracket. 

News and notes from Salukiland 

We still have not heard who is staying and who is not. Hopefully we are intact again and ready to roll next year. We all know some changes need to be made and I’m sure the staff does too. I like the direction this program is going. Producing Academic All-Americans is something to be proud of. The offense will get better. As we navigate away from Covid we are at the end of six-year players. Mullins had mostly held on to his key pieces and kept them from hitting the portal. Hopefully that continues. No more 41-year-old Garrett Sturtz. Bryan will add a piece or two and has a very good recruit incoming. Attendance is coming back and the ball is rolling. Post-season play is coming soon. 

In closing we at Saluki-Insider wish great success to Indiana State and Drake in their post-season play. Make the Valley proud!