March Madness Suplanted By March Musical Chairs

For the first time, in as long as I can remember, we've had a great NCAA basketball tournament being overshadowed.  Just two weeks ago, 65 teams embarked on a journey to become basketball elite and at noon on Thursday....sitting at a bar, in a friend’s media room, or game casting every second of the action at work, the madness ensued.

And as always, the madness ran wild.

Which conference would prove supreme?  Who would set themselves apart as a sure fire NBA superstar?  Who would be left standing when it was all over?

Think back....Pittsburgh, many's favorite and hope to win their office pool, taken to the wire by a 16 seed.

Cleveland State pulls the monumental 14 v. 3 shocker, Western Kentucky pulls the scheduled 12 v. 5 upset, and Dayton sent Huggins' guys home early. The barn burners down to the last shot between Florida State and Wisconsin, Purdue and Northern Iowa, and Oklahoma State and Tennessee.

The lackluster beginnings by Gonzaga and Villanova that were soon forgotten

The last game on the opening Friday night, in which Sienna made Ohio State look like they had never seen a full court press, that kept us all awake at the end of two long days.

Arizona proving many people wrong by winning two games in the tournament as, possibly, the last team in the field.

And the prohibitive favorites....Carolina and Connecticut proving that the injuries and distractions were not going to derail their Final Four aspirations.

What an opening weekend....I had to stop and catch my breath.

Then, right at the time the next round of excitement was to begin, college basketball got punched in the stomach.  Coaching vacancies, including Kentucky, started spinning the basketball news in a much different directions, and the Madness of March had been reduced to a report on the coaching carousel.

How could this happen?  How could our focus change from a last second lay up in a marvelous game between two beasts from the east to who would be manning the sidelines next year?

Well, it's a pretty easy answer.  One of the most storied programs with the most rabid fan base had decided to part ways with status quo and find the program's savior.

Reports started flying.  Fans blogged, reports surfaced, rumors milled.  Billy D is in Lexington....Rick Barnes is interested....Travis Ford and John Pelphrey would love to return to the Bluegrass state....Tom Izzo would be a great choice.

Stop the press....John Calipari says he's interested in the job, and after yesterday's press conference how could you wonder if Kentucky got the guy they wanted.

I think this is great.  This should make Kentucky relevant again, which is very important for college basketball.  Sports need dynasties.  Teams that have no middle ground.  Teams that you love or hate.  Kentucky, when the program they are supposed to be, is one of those teams, and we've missed them the past couple of years.

They seem to have the guy to get them to where they want to be.  Now, can we get back to March Madness?