Cannon Firing Line
True Madness
By Ellis G. Cannon
PSR Publisher

March is here and so is the Madness.

It's not a stretch to suggest the month of college basketball that lies ahead should be as mad, unpredictable and unnerving as any most of us can remember.

For years we heard the drive for a men's NCAA Division I college hoops championship was "wide open." It wasn't and we all knew it. Unless the bus found a ditch on the way to the arena, Duke was going to win it. Or North Carolina. Or fill in the blank of the annual top teams across the nation.

And while it's just as predictable to suggest three of the four teams that will make it to Atlanta will be from power conferences, you have a feeling more than ever the road there will be as bumpy - or thrilling - as any other recent trip.

Witness the teams reaching the top polling positions through the season. Five different teams have held the coveted No. 1 spot this season. Heck, that type of turnover was sacrilegious just a few years ago. Admittedly, those teams were replaced by other power teams, but that they were being replaced is as indicative of what we're raising as anything.

At the very least, it has that feeling going into March. And if you've been following along since those preseason tournaments they played out west months ago, you should feel it too. There are simply more programs with a real shot to advance a couple of rounds than in the past.

Statistics, regular season games and the emergence of not just mid-majors but also middling programs in the top conferences support this view. But consider this: We're at a point where those first weekend upsets are no longer really "shocking." If anything, they're "surprising." The way games unfold, the drama, last second heroics or mistakes may be shocking, but nearly all the results would not be considered as such.

In effect, more teams can play with each other than in the past. Also critical is more teams can play more styles than before. At the end of the process, the elite teams-which have been narrowed-and their superior talent and depth go the furthest. But, regardless of seeding or pedigree, there simply are more teams which have more athletes to take advantage of match-ups.

Ultimately, those match-ups favor teams from those power conferences, but players and teams from the Big East, Big Ten, Pac 10 and others that don't recognize their vulnerability will end up watching a lot of the tournament from the same spot as you and me - the couch.

Locally, Pitt has the tools to finally get the Sweet 16 monkey off their backs, to the extent that's a problem. There are at least 200 programs around the country that would like to have to contend with that issue, and that's probably light. The Panthers have the depth and range of play and have displayed the necessary mental toughness at times this season, including on the road, to do just that. But they certainly have to know that just as they can beat so many teams in the tournament, they can be just as easily beaten by so many teams in the tournament.

That may not be a good thing for them, or other teams like them, but it surely is for us.

Enjoy the Madness. It really is wide open this year.

Ellis Cannon's SportsLine Pittsburgh" airs weeknights, 6-8 p.m., on FM NewsTalk 104.7. Ellis is also a regular contributor on the "#1 Cochran Sports Showdown" aired Sundays at 11:35 on KDKA-TV.