From the sunny shores of Maui to the frozen courts of Anchorage. From the first dribbles in November until the last loop of the net is cut down on Monday night inside the RCA Dome.
Every game counts.
That's the pitch from those wonderfully camp lounge-lizard ads by Robert Goulet about college basketball. But every game does not count, and for that we can only be thankful. Because Kansas was rightfully crowned king of the cornfield for its strength, consistency and durability over the entire season and then was bounced out on its ear in one agonizing, upsetting night. Because a seniorless team from Arizona went up and down in a way you'd expect from kids on a seesaw all through the regular season and then became stronger than forged steel in the course of one weekend in an iron town called Birmingham. We know for sure now that every game does not count.