The Hlog

No One's Championship

Rule #1 about a championship competition in college sports: It has to be announced before a season starts.

Rule #2: It must be something the NCAA, a conference, or memeber schools devise on their own.

It was announced this week by KFXA-TV that a Big Four Championship trophy will go to the winner of Saturday night's Northern Iowa-Drake men's basketball game at Drake. UNI and Drake were both 2-0 against Iowa and Iowa State, something that has never before happened, by the way.

The TV station just happens to be airing the UNI-Drake game. And, it holds broadcast television rights to both UNI and Drake games.

"We recognized the unique opportunity to stage a championship game after Drake and UNI each swept their respective games with Iowa and Iowa St.," said KFXA general manager Joe Denk. This is a meaningful mid-season game in the Valley race."

That would be truer if Drake didn't have a 2-8 record in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Here's the deal: Had there been a Big Four Championship competition in place before the season began, this might mean something. But waiting until all the results favored the two teams you broadcast before coming up with such a championship is bogus.

Making matters less credible is the fact that Drake and UNI play each other twice. The Bulldogs still have to visit Cedar Falls. Why is the game at Des Moines the one that matters in this Big Four hoop-de-doo, but not the one at UNI?

So if you watch the game Saturday night, enjoy. But don't take that Big Four championship stuff seriously. It's a game UNI needs to win to maintain hope of winning the Missouri Valley title, and it's one Drake needs to win to stop skidding. That's all it is, and that's plenty.

Now, if one of the two teams sweeps the other, then it can be called the state champion. And we won't need a television station to tell us.

 

 

 

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