The NCAA Tournament regularly takes a beating from NBA fans who scoff at a watered-down March Madness. Most of the best young talent is in the NBA, the critics say. It’s a fair point. It’s also one that misses the point.
The NBA can’t touch the hold the NCAA Tournament has on our country for three weeks every year. The NBA is a stretch limo of cool. The NCAA Tournament is a hands-in-the-air, heart-in-throat roller-coaster plunge. The coronavirus outbreak wiped out the Big Dance this year, leaving us devoid of thrills and spills and office pools. Remember a quainter time when economists would complain about lost productivity during the tournament?