March is always an exciting time for me, being a huge fan of college basketball. The NCAA Tournament is probably my favorite sporting event of the year, even toping the Superbowl (The Olympics and World Cup are up there too, but they are only every 2 and 4 years, respectively.) College basketball, to me, is unadulterated, passionate sports. It’s great to be able to watch college athletes playing for pride rather than a paycheck.

The term March Madness (I hope you know this already) refers to the craziness of the NCAA Tournament where the top 65 teams compete to earn the title of National Champion. There are always incredible upsets and intense finishes, in a large amount of games, packed into a small time frame, which is why the term March Madness is used. This year, however, there is something being introduced which I think also could be referred to as madness. I am referring to the CBI (College Basketball Invitational), which is now the THIRD college basketball tournament at the end of the regular season.

As if the NCAA Tournament (top 65 teams) and the NIT (next 32 teams) weren’t enough, there is now the CBI, which will include the next 16 best teams to compete for the title of 98th best team in the nation. I think that this seriously ridiculous, on a couple of levels.

Who’s Playing again?

When the top 97 teams are already playing in other tournaments, who is there left to choose from? Even teams like Cincinnati, with a 13-18 record after loosing their last 6 games, have a chance to play in the CBI. A lot of the other teams in the tournament also have poor records, some finishing with only a .500 winning percentage, or worse.

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing for teams to get a chance to play in a tournament at the end of the year, but in many cases it seems to me that these teams, with such poor performances in the regular season, don’t deserve a chance to play in a tournament, even if they are fighting for 98th place.

Where can I see those games?

The CBI is being broadcasted on the Fox College Sports network. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have this channel. PTI’s Michael Wilbon even admitted that he didn’t have this channel included in his satellite plan. Even if I did have this channel, I wouldn’t watch any of the games (I rarely watch any of the NIT as it is.) I’m not saying that these games aren’t important, but it just seems like overkill to me when so many good college games and match-ups (that I can actually watch on television) are already taking place.

Concluding Thoughts

My intention in all this criticism is not to bash college players. Like I said, I think that it’s a great opportunity for a college team to be able to play a couple more games and gain some experience in a tournament setting. However, I am questioning the motives of the Gazelle Group, which is running the tournament. Even if their motives are pure, and I hope that they are, I don’t understand why the top 116 college teams have earned the right to play in a postseason tournament. To me, the NCAA tournament is enough, but I guess that the NIT can be considered beneficial to those teams who barely missed the cut.

However, the CBI? I really think that at this point it’s worthless to have another tournament. It seems to be just a waste a time, and doesn’t prove anything. If these teams had done well during the regular college season, I could understand, but here it just seems like a group of mediocre basketball teams competing for a worthless title.

So, how do you feel about the CBI? Do you agree that this tournament is a bit overkill, especially considering the other major tournaments? Have some other opinions about why the CBI is a good thing, or about March Madness in general? I would love to hear them. Let me know in the comments.

Also, if you’re interested in joining a college basketball bracket group, check out Jusin Cady’s Bracket Challenge 2008, and earn a chance to win a $20 iTunes gift card (also sponsored by Ben Mahtani.)