College basketball

College basketball most often refers to the American basketball league organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA.

Division I Men's Basketball

As of the 2004-05 season, there are currently 330 colleges and universities fielding Division I Men's Basketball teams. 47 states boast at least one Division I Men's Basketball program; only Alaska, North Dakota, and South Dakota have none. (However, North Dakota State University and South Dakota State University are currently in the process of transitioning to Division I.)

Related Topics:
2004 - 05 - Colleges - Universities - Alaska - North Dakota - South Dakota - North Dakota State University - South Dakota State University - Division I

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Conferences

These teams play in 31 different conferences, which are classified as either major or mid-major conferences. The distinction is unofficial; indeed, the winners of all 31 conferences receive an automatic bid to play in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament alongside 34 at-large selections. However, the teams from "major" conferences are the traditional powers and continue to dominate the game to this day, thanks in part to the relative ease they have in attracting blue-chip high school recruits. The major-conference teams also have the benefit of playing a tougher schedule, more easily garnering respect. Accordingly, most of the 34 at-large selections on Selection Sunday go to major-conference teams. The following are currently considered to be the major conferences in college basketball:

Related Topics:
Major - Mid-major - NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament - High school - Selection Sunday

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The six conferences that are members of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in college football:

Related Topics:
Bowl Championship Series - College football

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• ACC
• Big East
• Big Ten
• Big 12
• Pac-10
• SEC

Two other non-BCS conferences that play Division I-A college football:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Mountain West
• WAC

One conference whose football members play in Division I-AA:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Atlantic 10 (aka "A-10")

(It should be noted that some teams play in different conferences in different sports. For example, Temple University plays football in the Mid-American Conference and basketball in the A-10, while local rival Villanova University plays A-10 football and Big East basketball. Many of the A-10 football teams play in mid-major conferences in basketball.

Related Topics:
Temple University - Villanova University

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The current members of the six BCS conferences and the Mountain West Conference have won every NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship since 1967, although some teams' championships predate their memberships in their current conferences.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Conference USA effectively lost its "major" status in July 2005 when 8 of its 14 basketball members left for other conferences, five to the Big East alone. Of the schools that left C-USA, three that left for the Big East (Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette) were responsible for all of the national championships won by schools that were C-USA members in 2004-05. Louisville made the Final Four in its last season in C-USA. Two other departing schools (DePaul, which joined the Big East, and Charlotte, which joined the A-10) have past Final Four appearances, though not recently (1979 for DePaul, 1977 for Charlotte). The Mountain West and Atlantic 10, which also gained members from Conference USA, are more secure in their "major" status at this time.

Related Topics:
Conference USA - 2005 - Cincinnati - Louisville - Marquette - DePaul - Charlotte

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Only three of the 22 mid-major basketball conferences play Division I-A football: Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference and the Sun Belt Conference. Of the remaining conferences, some play in Division I-AA (e.g. the Ivy League) and the others don't compete in football at all (e.g. the West Coast Conference). The following are considered mid-major conferences in college basketball:

Related Topics:
Division I-A - Mid-American Conference - Sun Belt Conference - Division I-AA - Ivy League - West Coast Conference

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• America East Conference
• Atlantic Sun Conference
• Big Sky Conference
• Big South Conference
• Big West Conference
• Colonial Athletic Association
• Conference USA
• Horizon League
• Ivy League
• Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
• Mid-American Conference
• Mid-Continent Conference
• Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
• Missouri Valley Conference
• Northeast Conference
• Ohio Valley Conference
• Patriot League
• Southern Conference
• Southland Conference
• Southwestern Athletic Conference
• Sun Belt Conference
• West Coast Conference

No mid-major team has made it to the Final Four since 1979, when Penn and a Larry Bird-led Indiana State both made it to the semifinals, each losing to Magic Johnson's Michigan State team (Penn in the semifinals, and Indiana State in the final). However, the trend in recent years has been towards parity among all the schools in Division I, and practically every year a perennial major-conference power loses to an unheralded mid-major team in the tournament. In recent years, Gonzaga has become the closest thing to a power in mid-major basketball, having made it as far as the quarterfinals in 1999 and in the years since ranking highly in the influential AP Top 25 Poll and the Ratings Percentage Index throughout the basketball season. Increasingly, basketball analysts are considering Gonzaga to be a major program that happens to play in a mid-major conference.

Related Topics:
Final Four - Penn - Larry Bird - Indiana State - Magic Johnson's - Michigan State - Division I - The tournament - Gonzaga - AP - Ratings Percentage Index

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Finally, a small number of teams (currently eight) compete in Division I basketball as so-called "Independents", without belonging to any conference. Typically, these teams have just moved up to Division I from a lower division, and compete independently while hoping to eventually secure a spot in a conference. They are generally among the least-competitive teams in college basketball.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Relationship to Professional Basketball

In past decades, the NBA only drafted college graduates. This was a mutually beneficial relationship for the NBA and colleges—the colleges held onto players who would otherwise go professional, and the NBA did not have to fund a minor league. For the most part, players benefited from the college education. As the college game became commercialized, though, it became increasingly difficult for "student athletes" to be students. Specifically, a growing number of poor (usually black), under-educated, highly talented teenage basketball players found the system exploitative—they brought in funds to schools where they learned little and played without income. In 1974, Moses Malone joined the Utah Stars of the ABA (now merged with the NBA) straight out of high school and went on to a Hall of Fame career. The past 30 years have seen a remarkable change in the college game. The best international players routinely skip college entirely, many American stars skip college (Kobe Bryant and LeBron James) or only play one year (Carmelo Anthony), and only a dozen or so college graduates are now among the 60 players selected in the annual NBA Draft.

Related Topics:
NBA - Black - 1974 - Moses Malone - Utah Stars - ABA - Hall of Fame - Kobe Bryant - LeBron James - Carmelo Anthony - NBA Draft

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The pervasiveness of college basketball throughout the nation, the large population of graduates from "major conference" universities, and the NCAA's brilliant marketing of "March Madness" (officially the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship), have kept the college game alive and well. Some commentators have argued that the higher turnover of players has increased the importance of good coaches. Many teams have been highly successful, for instance, by emphasizing personality in their recruiting efforts, with the goal of creating a cohesive group that, while lacking stars, plays together for all 4 years and thus develops a higher level of sophistication than less stable teams could achieve.

Related Topics:
March Madness - NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~