A Matter of Ethics

I'm no opponent of playing lower-division schools. I mean, you have to do it, right? Get reps for guys that normally don't get playing time, tinker with the lineup, balance out a tough D-I schedule, and walk away with an easy win. Don't do it too much, but once or twice a year (maybe more for some schools) is fine and dandy.

But there is a point at which playing a lower-division school (or non-NCAA, for that matter) becomes unethical and frankly unhelpful for either team. I think we saw this last night. And to put into perspective how much of a bottom feeder Johnson U. athletics really are, consider this list of all organized athletic associations in the United States (in order of superiority):

NCAA – Division I (VMI)
NCAA – Division II
NCAA – Division III
NAIA – Division I
NAIA – Division II
USCAA
NCCAA – Division I
NCCAA – Division II (Johnson)

These guys aren't even in Division I in their own league. So you can see that their is a massive disparity in terms of talent. How much of a disparity are we talking about? Consider a December 2013 basketball game between D-I Southern University and Champion Baptist, a member of the Association of Christian College Athletics (ACCA). Not the NCCAA, no - even lower (imagine that!). But at that level, the quality of basketball is essentially the same. Southern went on to win that game 116–12, a narrow 104 point margin. The Jaguars bursted out to a 44-0 start (NCAA record) and held Champion Baptist to six points in both halves (and remember that Southern competes in one of the worst conferences in D-1 basketball).

More recently, Duke defeated Presbyterian last Friday by 69 points. So Duke is great, and Presbyterian sucks. Sure. But is it too much to ask that these schools consider at least a slight challenge in the schools they play? Is this what college basketball is coming to? I realize that low-major teams have trouble getting other D-I schools to play in their gym, but there's no reason to schedule the absolute doormat of collegiate basketball. This is one thing that NCAA football gets right: FBS schools cannot (or at least do not) schedule lower-division opponents of any kind, and FCS schools never schedule D-III. It allows for "gimme" games yet at the same time keeps the score within reason.

With all respect to Johnson University, their players are nothing close to what the average fan would consider quality basketball talent. Their average height is 6'1. These are guys that may have barely played in high school and if they did, were probably not any good. This is the nature of athletics at non-NCAA universities: there is no such thing as recruiting, so you invite anyone who wishes to play at your institution, provided that they have some athletic ability (you know, the ability to walk, not deaf or blind).

Last year, Bridgewater (DIII) lost to VMI by a respectable 26. We defeated DII-Bluefield State by 41. Virginia-Lynchburg of the USCAA put up a good showing (110-78 win). In fairly recent memory, VMI put up a school-record 156 points in a game twice - in 2007, against Columbia Union, and in 2006, against Virginia Intermont. Both are NAIA schools. Both games were blowouts, but only because of our ridiculously fast pace, and neither to the extent of last night's game.

I love competitive college basketball. At the same time, I recognize that not every game is going to be competitive. Early in the year, teams of all sizes need to work out the kinks of their roster and schedule inferior teams. I get that. I'm just saying that athletic directors should consider ethics when filling out the calendar for their respective team. I don't like to turn on the TV and see scores of 28-0, 55-8, and 100-20. It's cute for the stats, but makes for a boring contest and disrespects the game of basketball. Sometimes you don't even try to win that big; it just happens. But make it so that it happens less.

I'm not fond of telling anyone that my team won by 82 points last night. Smarten up, AD's.