* Good thing this has been the Year of the Gators in basketball. UF suffered through that beyond-awful 4-8 football season and was embarrassed on its home field by FSU. Now U.S. News & World Report has released its annual law school rankings, and FSU (No. 45) was ranked ahead of UF (No. 49). You can bet that UF’s Levin College of Law will be filing an appeal.
* Yeah, it’s March Madness and I’ve been all in for the Florida Gators. The number-one ranked team in the nation won both the Southeastern Conference and the SEC Tournament. But 67 other teams, the majority of whom won neither a conference nor a post-season tournament, were also invited to the “Big Dance.”
Frankly, I liked the NCAA Basketball Tournament better back when it was 24 teams. Every team, whether from a major conference or not, had won something. And for those conferences, such as the Southern and the Atlantic Coast, who held post-season tournaments, it was all or nothing at the end.
That’s why, in a given year, Davidson or VMI–not West Virginia–represented the Southern Conference, or why Clemson or Wake Forest–not Duke or North Carolina–represented the ACC. Nobody went to the “Big Dance” by being the sixth best team in a power conference.
* Richie Incognito: Has there ever been a more ironic name for one of the more highly publicized, notorious people in our pro sports culture?
* A quick check of the ATP World Tour Rankings in tennis yielded this reminder of America’s erstwhile male dominance. There is one American, Tampa’s own John Isner, in the top 25. He’s ranked 13th. Spain and France lead the way with four players each. There are as many Latvians and Bulgarians as Americans–one.