Parity: College Basketball's Biggest Myth

This year was supposed to be different.

The 2009 NCAA tournament was ballyhooed for its balance. So many different teams were supposed to be dangerous. These teams were supposed to be legitimate threats for a trip to Ford Field.

One by one, first round games came and went with few upsets. The second round produced even fewer.

When all was said and done, college basketball's powers once again prevailed. Perennial powerhouses North Carolina, Connecticut, and Michigan State are joined by consistently successful Villanova in a Final Four that has a combined 10 national championships and 33 Final Fours.

Seven of the country's most historic basketball programs, Louisville, Arizona, Kansas, Michigan State, UConn, Duke and North Carolina, made the Sweet 16. The three biggest non-power conference schools, Memphis, Xavier, and Gonzaga, also survived their first two tournament games.

Even more, 14 of the tournament's top 16 seeds advanced to the regional semifinals. Only Washington, replaced by No. 5 seed Purdue, and Wake Forest, who was beaten by No. 12 seed Arizona, missed the sweetness of the tourney's second weekend.

And none of the tournament's top four seeds failed to make the regional finals.

What happened to the parity?

The death of parity began on Selection Sunday.

One mid-major, Butler, received an at-large bid, due in large part to their top-25 status for much of the season. Xavier and BYU, two non-power conference schools, earned at-large bids.

Power conference teams received 31 of the tournament's 34 at-large bids.

Parity's passing continued during the first weekend of the tournament. Discounting the No. 8 versus No. 9 and No. 7 versus No. 10 match-ups, which are not really upsets in the first place.

Only five upsets occurred in the first round. Four of the teams that pulled first-round upsets lost their second game.

The biggest second-round upset was No. 5 Purdue beating No. 4 Washington 76-74.

The biggest upset in the regional semis? A pair of No. 3 seeds, Missouri and Villanova, beating their No. 2 seed counterparts.

In fact, lower seeded teams have a 15-45 record heading into this weekend's Final Four in Detroit. A third of those wins, however, came by the No. 9 and No. 10 seeds in the first round.

This year's tournament follows last year's trend in developing truly dominant programs across the college basketball landscape. Will we see a George Mason-like run any time in the next five years? The next 10? 20?

Parity says yes. But first, that parity must actually exist. Until further notice, the kings of the college basketball world will continue their respective reigns uninterrupted.