I think the portal and NIL are great for the sport. I think it helps with parity, although a bit ironic to say right now given we just had the first back to back champion in almost 20 years. I think it’s good for the players. I think it’s good for the coaches. I think it’s good for team chemistry. I think it’s good for team flexibility and filling holes. I think it’s good for year to year variance. I really don’t see much downside from an overall sport perspective.

I can understand how some fans don’t like the landscape, due to lack of player continuity. But I think it’s shortsighted if the only argument is players not staying committed to schollys to grow and develop at a school they committed to between the ages of 15-18.

jayhawks reply doesn't refute my point

KU certainly has owned UNC in the F4 games during my lifetime. that's for sure. UNC won the most historic F4 match-up tho when most of us weren't alive

thx for posting tho bc i could've sworn the halftime lead was 14 pts (not 15 pts). need to get that right when i talk about the game in the future. no telling how that game ends if it wasn't for the faulty court

KU 72 - 69 UNC.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I would be curious what the numbers would have looked like if the time slots were reversed. I watched a little of the women's final because it was the weekend, but none of the men's final, **** off with 9:30 pm ET Monday tips.

Good question. For comparison, last year's mens final had basically the same ratings as this year while the women's 2023 final averaged 9.9mil viewers. The 2022 women's final (South Carolina vs. Uconn) averaged 4.8mil viewers which at that time was the highest number since 2004. So they doubled the number in 2023 and almost doubled it again in 2024.

FWIW, KU vs. UNC for the men's title in 2022 averaged 17mil viewers. Last time the mens got above 20mil was UNC - Gonzaga in 2017. The 14.6 mil average last year was the lowest ever.

Sounds like the betting favorite is UK is going to make UConn pay to keep Hurley, but then hire Scott Drew. The happiest person that Calipari left has to be Dan Hurley's agent.

They were def on the negative side in the decade prior. Laettner throwing up one from his waist, Donyell Marshall clanking 2 FTs to ice, etc. Several of those teams had the talent to win it all.

I'm on the fence. I definitely don't think it's as big a negative as most, but maybe neutral.

I'll miss the player continuity, but like that each new year seems more exciting b/c there's so much variance with each new team. When you're a fan of middling bball schools like Creighton and FSU, in the old days, the down cycles could last an eternity, but with the portal you could possibly bink a couple players and end the cycle earlier.

It kinda sucks for old fossil coaches like Leonard Hamilton. He has his defensive system, which relies on players sticking around for 3+ years to learn, but it simply doesn't work anymore. Those guys are just gonna jump ship and Leonard hasn't been able to adjust. Luckily he'll be gone soon, but for smarter coaches, I think there's more chance to really show out compared to your peers. An underwhelming HS recruiting class or 2 won't sink you as you can plug holes via portal as needed.

I would've guessed that a school like Creighton would have a very low NIL budget to play with, but they've actually done surprisingly well in the portal. So it seems like it's not just only the haves that will benefit whereas in football, I think it might be trending that way. The dollars those big money schools can throw around are crazy.

It's also fair and just, assuming the schools aren't going to pay the players directly.

The only way this gets changed significantly imo, is with the players being paid and signing contracts. The entire system was completely disingenuous and untenable with the only mystery being that it managed to remain the status quo for as long as it did.

Chattel slavery capitalism lasted hundreds of years. Our current system wage slavery capitalism is still going but thankfully the end is in sight as the institutional imperative to prioritize profit maximization over everything else is rapidly destroying the planet and leading the human species to extinction.

Cliffs: These things take time.

They don’t?

When I first heard of the portal, I thought it would absolutely destroy the mid-majors. Anybody who showed that they could play at a higher level, would blast out to the big time.

However, what I've seen is that the mid-majors can take advantage, too. The guy that is better talent, but not getting minutes, comes "down" to a smaller school and is a starter, improving that team.

So far, I'm pleasantly surprised. I may be giving the portal more credit than it's due for Drake becoming competitive again, though.

At the end of the day, the players just want to play. There are only so many minutes available at the top schools. And instead of being recruited over or not being good enough, guys can go elsewhere.

I think the portal and free transfer ability has been a big net negative for Football and a slight positive for Basketball.

Football is definitely a different animal.

1 Caliparians from the King James Naismith bible
modern day translation:
for as far as i can saw
faith and evil favors he who picks whooo pig sooie as his calling

The fun of having a fanbase like UK having a completely open coach search

That's wild. I would have bet big and lost that he'd take the job given the family flying there. Maybe the Lexington megachurch wasn't big enough for them.

Feels like this ends up with Will Wade at UK

Good for Scott Drew. He’s built something at Baylor and is going to see it through. You don’t see that often these days.

Wade would have been a perfect fit at Louisville.