Even getting back to Sweet 16 isn't easy


No one will duplicate John Wooden's accomplishment of leading UCLA to 10 consecutive Final Fours from 1967-76. That's one of those Cal Ripken-esque records that should be in the vault forever.

However, it may also be a reality that no one will match Duke's run of nine straight Sweet 16 appearances, which ended when Coach K's team got knocked off by VCU in the first round a week ago.

The longest active Sweet 16 streak now stands at a laughable two years.

That's right. Two years.

It belongs to Florida, UCLA, Memphis and Georgetown.

It's difficult to sustain success these days. Parity hit college basketball hard shortly after Duke won consecutive national titles in 1991-92.

Sure, players have been bolting for the NBA early and it has made life tougher for the elite programs to stay on top year after year. Many of the best players never even opted to go to school and that put a wrinkle in the plans of Coach K, Roy Williams, Lute Olson and even guys like Mississippi State's Rick Stansbury (he had three signees go straight to the league).

It meant that the top half-dozen or so players didn't even make it on a college campus and many of the other McDonald's All-Americans were only in college for a year or two, while the mid-major programs and other lower-tier BCS schools were able to have more continuity and experience.

But that's not what has made it virtually impossible to gain any lasting momentum, especially in the NCAA tournament.

That move came in 1993 when the NCAA opted to reduce the scholarship limit from 15 to 13.

That made it impossible for the powerhouses to stockpile talent down at the end of the bench.

Take a look at Duke this season. After Eric Boateng transferred after last season and Jamal Boykin left earlier this year, the Blue Devils were left with just nine legitimate scholarship players capable of getting meaningful minutes. Four of them were freshmen.

North Carolina took a hit a year ago when its entire team bolted following the 2005 national championship campaign.

Big-time programs were able to take risks and make mistakes in the past. Now they can't take a shot on a guy like VCU's Eric Maynor.

The mid-major programs don't have to deal with all of the egos that plague the big boys. Instead, they can rely on guys like Maynor and A.J. Graves who haven't been coddled their entire lives.

Those players aren't talking to street agents or concerned with their NBA draft status. They just play hard and don't ask questions.

Florida may have a difficult time returning to the Sweet 16 next year because Billy Donovan will likely have to deal with the mass exodus of Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer and maybe even Taurean Green.

Memphis is certainly capable of getting back next season. Jeremy Hunt is the lone senior on the roster, but it's hard to imagine John Calipari's program putting together a run of Sweet 16 appearances that would get anywhere close to Duke's string from 1998-2006.

Georgetown has got it going lately with John Thompson III taking the reins, but the Hoyas may have to deal with the departure of either Jeff Green or Roy Hibbert to the NBA after the season — or maybe even both players.

Ben Howland certainly isn't Wooden — and he's not going to reel off double-digit Final Four berths — but it's not out of the question for the Bruins to put together a streak of double-digit Sweet 16s.

The Bruins don't have a senior on their roster, although Arron Afflalo could certainly leave for the NBA after this year. UCLA has a terrific recruiting base and with its tradition, Howland will always be able to battle for the best players on the west coast.

But even if the Bruins get to another Sweet 16 or Florida wins a national title, they'll still be far from a dynasty by any reasonable standard.

And certainly not by the standard established by Wooden and Coach K.

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