All-College: Don’t give up on Bedlam
The 2010 All-College matchups have been announced, and it’s a solid doubleheader: OSU-Alabama and OU-Cincinnati. Could be a lot worse and has been.
But it still would have been fun to have made the 75th All-College a total Bedlam affair. OU-OSU women, followed by OSU-OU men. A non-conference Bedlam showdown remains an idea whose time has come, for all the reasons I’ve listed before.
A December Bedlam game in Oklahoma City would jumpstart college basketball interest in a state that historically, even in the best of hoop times, hasn’t reached high gear until January. In these days of beleaguered OU basketball, an extra Bedlam game is even more needed.
A December Bedlam game would be a good early-season pressure test for players who are mostly pampered by the pre-New Year’s schedule. Abundant home games against pushover teams, mixed in with only occasional tough matchups.
Cincinnati and Alabama certainly qualify as legitimate foes, but a game against your arch-rival would add even more atmosphere to the Ford Center. College basketball is suffering from a dearth of meaningful games. The rousing success of the NCAA Tournament comes at a cost; it dwarfs the regular season. And the dumbed-down scheduling practices of almost every major school means that the conference schedule overshadows the non-conference.
College basketball’s November and December has become a virtual exhibition season. A Bedlam All-College would go a long way to changing that.
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