Right and Left

I remember when I was a kid my dad had a sign that hung in his office that read "War never determines who is right. It only determines who is left." Over the years, I've consistently thought that that was a profound statement that certainly applies to violence and warfare ... and, for that matter, sports ...

And so, with that in mind, the Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team defeated Utah by a score of 84-71 Friday evening and that surely fuels many to suggest that that "proves" that Arizona belongs in the tournament, despite the debate that has gone on about that since their selection to the field this past Sunday (though, I appreciate the counterview to that offered by Gary Parrish on CBS Sportsline). As Gary points out, this doesn't "prove" anything. Many teams not included in the field could have beaten Utah and Arizona happened to do so as well. And, of course, if they defeat Cleveland State on Sunday, which isn't a foregone conclusion, but is certainly a definite possibility, then Arizona will be in the Final 16 and that will just provide more light under the fire for those arguing that this "proves" that they deserve to be there. Again, it doesn't "prove" anything, but it does show that the matchup worked for Arizona to advance and it could do so again on Sunday. Put them against one of the other 5 seeds from the tournament (Illinois, Purdue, and Florida State) and perhaps Arizona doesn't win.

This is about more than Arizona, though. It's about the whole idea that the tournament decides who is the national champion, the best, etc. It only decides who the champion is because we have agreed to allow it to do so, but it doesn't necessarily mean that team was the best. It just means that that team won 6 games in row, whether by luck, by outperforming 6 other teams (if even by small margins), or simply because a team received the matchups that allowed it them to advance.

And, so, the NCAA tournament doesn't necessarily determine who is right (read: best). It only determines who is left.