Tulsa and Michigan Represent the Poor Quality of Play in Men's College Basketball

A visual representation of the Tulsa - Michigan basketball game

Yes, the tournament has started and yes, I'm spending time inside watching when it's in the mid 60's and sunny outside today and yes, I've already talked about the tournament at great length, but last nights Tulsa-Michigan game was the epitome of how terrible men's college basketball has been all year.

Tulsa and Michigan were two teams that had at least 20 wins, they both had double digit losses, but they also had 20 plus wins and they beat teams like Maryland, Purdue, Texas and SMU. By all accounts, those four teams are pretty good. They were all ranked for most of the season and three of the four are higher seeds in the tournament, with SMU being the lone team not in, but that's because they gave themselves a post season ban and have been recruiting illegally for years. SMU is a good basketball team. My point is that Tulsa and Michigan belong in the tournament. It is too bad that their game was total garbage.

 Tuning into that game last night was a mistake and painful to watch, but this whole season has been like that. I mean, I'm a humongous Michigan fan as you all know very well by now, but man, they looked downright awful last night, and they won the game. I knew it was going to be bad when I turned it on, saw Michigan had a 3-0 lead very early in the first half, then Zak Irvin put up a wide open three and missed everything badly. I was on my treadmill and I said out loud, "it's going to be a long, painful game to watch". From there on out, this was a very poorly played game by two teams that got at large bids.

Neither won their regular season conference title and neither won their conference tournament, but the selection committee deemed their resumes good enough to be part of the 68 team field. I don't think I could say that I agree with them after that game. I lobbied hard to friends and family, basically anyone that would listen, that after Michigan beat Indiana, they deserved to be in the field. Hell, I went on the mini podcast and told all the listeners I thought they could make the sweet sixteen. I was wrong. They will be lucky to keep their game against Notre Dame tomorrow night close. They were absolutely ice cold from the field, especially three point range, which is supposed to be their specialty. You'd think after going 4 of 18 from three in the first half, they'd stop shooting, but that was not the case at all. They kept firing away to the tune of 6 for 25 from three. Sure, Irvin hit a crucial three when they really needed it, but 6 of 25 is just ridiculous.

That's part of the problem currently in men's college basketball. No one shoots mid range shots or has an ability to drive for an uncontested layup. Everyone either wants to be a three point shooter or wants to have a dunk that makes it on ESPN's Top Ten plays. There is very little skill being possessed by most college players right now. They're all specialists and that's a big, big problem. The only player that looked halfway decent for the Wolverines last night was Muhammed Ali Abdur-Rahkman. He was the better option at point guard than Derrick Walton last night. He took some bad threes, but he also continued to drive to the basket all game long and he either finished, was fouled, or found an open shooter. Rahkman looked like a legit college basketball player. The rest of the players for Michigan looked rough. Well, their freshman center Moritz Wagner looked good, playing very good defense and protecting the rim, but everyone else did not look good. They won, but they looked bad doing it. 

Now, I'm not going to just rag on Michigan the whole time. As the old saying goes, "it takes two to tango", and Tulsa was more than willing to play equally terrible, pretty much unwatchable basketball. At one point in the first half, Tulsa had a 16-9 lead with about 10 minutes to go in the half. They looked like they may take control of the game, but they proceeded to score only 4 more points for the entire half. Let me say that again, THEY ONLY SCORED FOUR POINTS OVER THE NEXT 10 MINUTES! That's insane. It wasn't like Michigan was playing lock down defense and forcing turnovers, Tulsa was just missing everything they put up there. They missed open threes, open layups, free throws and many mid rage jumpers. It was appalling. This Tulsa team has 9 seniors and they couldn't hit the ocean in what turned out to be their last collegiate game. You'd think that they would have played with a bit more gusto and desire, but they just looked bad. Sure, they turned it on in the second half, but they could never pull away from Michigan, even though they shot less than 25 percent from three. Nine seniors and they played with no urgency and little to no desire.

This game was the equivalent of a junior varsity game. Put this game up against the Big Ten championship between Purdue and Michigan State and it's night and day. Purdue and MSU run offense that looks like a real offense and they play defense. They both can shoot mid range and they both feed their big men inside for hook shots and layups. Quite the opposite happened with Michigan and Tulsa. Tulsa had some big guys, but they were more concerned with trying to put spin moves on Michigan's big guys and tried circus shots and impossible dunks. Michigan totally disregarded their big men and just let their guards run everything on offense. It was atrocious.

I said this was going to be an exciting tournament, but I also said it would be painful to watch and last night just further hammered that point home for me. Both Tulsa and Michigan looked dreadful and I expect a lot of the same from the majority of this field and this tournament. There is going to be some very poorly played games that will be painful to watch at times. The fan in me was very happy that Michigan won and gets to continue their season, but the basketball player in me was appalled at what I watched last night. Gear up because this men's tournament is going to be rough.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor of SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Watching bad basketball does not make him happy, Brussels sprouts make him happy. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

5 Thoughts on the 2016 Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament

Gyms will start to fill up on Tuesday when the madness begins.

Instead of doing a NCAA men's tournament preview, since I've already picked two different winners in two previous blogs, I'm going to give you guys five predictions of things I think will happen in this years tournament. I will not pick a winner, but I will give you 4 or 5 or even 6 possibilities of who could win. I'm also not going to pick the player of the tournament or anything like that, I'm just going to give you five random things I think will happen in the coming weeks of games. On with the countdown.

At number 5, I don't see any ACC team making it to the final four. At first glance you might think, what about UNC or Duke or even Miami, but I think the ACC is very overrated this year. Their best team is UNC, but they've shown time and time again this year that they can choke at any time. Take their home loss against Duke earlier this year. They dominated that game, but they let Duke stick around and they got beat. UNC can't be trusted. Duke won't get out of the first weekend. If they win their first game, they will most likely play a much bigger and more experienced Baylor team that will crush them on the boards and throw around their guards like rag dolls. They will get rolled. And Miami, while they've had a great year, I just don't believe in their team. They'll get bounced quick.

My number 4 prediction, one of the 4 teams playing in the play in games for the 11 seed, be it Michigan, Tulsa, Vanderbilt or Wichita State, will get to the sweet sixteen. I have the most faith in Wichita State because they're experienced and they've gone deep in this tournament in years past. But, Vanderbilt and Michigan, if they win, could make some noise. Michigan has won some big games without their best player for most of the year, and if they're hitting their threes, they can beat almost anyone. Vandy has spent the majority of this year ranked and plays high level offense and, much like Michigan, if they're hitting shots, they will win. Tulsa is the only one of these teams I have no faith in. They don't belong in the tournament and if they beat Michigan, they will get crushed in their first round game. They lost to a very mediocre Memphis team twice this year, so that says everything I need to know about them.

My number 3 prediction, Kentucky doesn't make it out of round 2. They will win their first round game, but that would set up a showdown, most likely, with Indiana. I like Indiana in that game if it happens. Indiana has more experience and more depth and if they catch Kentucky on an off night, they will crush them. I really like Kentucky's point guard Ullis, but Yogi Ferrell is a much better and older and experienced version of him. Indiana's front court is better and could easily dominate Kentucky's young and very thin, in stature, front court. IU had better depth as well. I just don't see Kentucky beating them.

My number 2 prediction, this will be a wild and crazy and fun tournament to watch. I know that I've ragged on men's college basketball, and I still think it's borderline unwatchable, but the fact that this tournament is so wide open, while it may not be pleasing to watch, it will be interesting to see all the upsets that will happen and it will be exciting. I have no faith in a lot of the high seeds, especially Oregon as a number one, but, some lower seeded teams like Yale, Northern Iowa and Gonzaga can make some noise. I especially like Gonzaga as an 11 and I like them a lot in their first round game against Utah. Utah is good, but Gonzaga is bigger and deeper and has more tournament experience. If Northern Iowa can win their first round game, I believe they can make a run to the elite eight. And Yale, these Ivy League teams get in and they're always a tough out. Just ask our editor RD about his Princeton over UCLA pick a million years ago (ed note: Did you know that I picked #13 Princeton to beat #4 UCLA in 1996? I did.) . Or look at what Harvard did last year. Basically, this is a year where literally all 68 teams can win the whole thing if put in the right situation of get hot at the right time. Which will make this an exciting tournament.

Which brings me to my number one prediction, the Big 12 will make up 3/4 of the final four, but a Big 10 team will win. I fully believe that Kansas, Baylor, West Virginia and Oklahoma can get to the final four. KU has been lights out lately and they are the best team in all of men's college basketball. They should coast to the final four. I also believe in Oklahoma and Baylor a lot. They're both big, experienced and just flat out good. Baylor has a bunch of humongous guys in their front court that will punish smaller opponents. Oklahoma has one of, if not the, best players in Buddy Hield. That dude can put up 40 any given night and he will single handily win at least two games for the Sooners. I also like West Virginia's chances too. They play suffocating defense that frustrates teams into critical mistakes. They can do damage in the tournament. But, I believe that Michigan State has the best chance to come away with the title. They got screwed by not getting a one seed, but where they're seeded in their bracket, it's a cake walk for them. They have the best player, Denzel Valentine and they have experience and depth at all five positions. They can crush you inside and outside. They have it all. In a very weird season, they have been the one true consistent team, when at full strength.

Take these predictions as you will, but I fully believe this stuff will happen. Get ready for the tournament, fill out your brackets, and watch the craziness unfold.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The head editor is wondering where Ty put Xavier, and why he did not say the Musketeers will win it all. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.