Ron Modra has written an interesting profile of Leach in the Washington Post, which finds him in Key West as he waits for another opportunity to coach a major college football program. he had a shot at the Maryland job but they picked Randy Edsall from UConn instead.

I think he’ll get another shot eventually. My guess is you’ll see him at a BCS conference school that has hit rock bottom.

Dear NCAA Men’s Tournament Selection Committee,

This weekend, the Final Four will be played at Ford Field in Detroit, and I want to thank you for another lackluster tournament. The aristocrats of college basketball trampled their opponents en route to the Motor City. Your selection process favors the haves (30 of the 34 at-large bids went to schools from the six largest conferences) and discriminates against the have-nots (four at-large bids to mid-major conferences).

An alarming trend has shown that the number of at-large mid-major schools has dwindled from the high water mark of 12 in 2004 to a low of four schools (Xavier, Dayton, Butler and Brigham Young) playing in this year’s tournament. You’re slowly taking away the madness of March. Please don’t BCS the most anticipated playoff format in all sport.

Your chairman, Mike Slive, proclaimed, “It’s all about who you play, where you play, and how you do,” when describing the criteria for selecting the 65-team field. He added that the committee looks at schools individually and not at their conference affiliation. I beg to differ, as a bailout package was handed to a couple of major conference schools (Arizona and Wisconsin) to salvage their seasons, while the mid-major schools were left standing at the altar.

St. Mary’s had a 26-6 record (13 road victories) and played the final third of their season without All-American guard Patty Mills, who broke his hand against Gonzaga. I applaud you for not taking former national champions like Kentucky and Florida, but I roll my eyes with the selection of Maryland, who couldn’t even muster a .500 record in their conference. Why reward the larger schools that are able to pick and choose their opponents prior to their conference season, while the mid-major schools have to hope that a big conference school is willing to play them early in the season? The result? This year, the closest thing we had to a Cinderella was an underachieving Pac-10 team that has no fewer than three future NBA players on its roster.

I propose that the mid-major schools withdraw from your tournament and takeover the National Invitational Tournament to determine their champion. This will restore the status of the mid-major school and give college basketball a fighting chance to make March memorable again. We’re pleased that Gonzaga has turned their Cinderella runs of the past few years into an unofficial automatic bid. We want to relive the memories like the 1986 Sweet 16 matchup between unlikely foes Cleveland State and Navy, but that isn’t going to happen under the current selection process.

There are good reasons why coaches of mid-major schools cannot resist a call from a major conference school. Those teams that finish in the top half of those conferences have an excellent shot of receiving a NCAA at-large bid. Consider the alternative – finishing second in a mid-major conference and receiving a pat on the back for your efforts. Lobbying isn’t supposed to have an impact on who gets into the tournament…but it does. If Coach K wants to comment on the level of play in the ACC, he will be heard.

You promise us basketball’s best tournament. Instead, we receive a watered-down version of a classic. Stop turning March into a tournament of major conferences fighting it out for a national title. Please, no more third or sometimes fourth encounters between conference rivals on a neutral court. We want pressure-packed, unlikely matchups. That’s where the drama is.

Just give us our damn tournament back.

Signed,
Disgruntled Fan

All times ET…

NBA
Friday, 7:30 PM: Indiana Pacers @Atlanta Hawks (NBA TV)
Saturday, 9 PM: Los Angeles Clippers @ Denver Nuggets (NBA TV)
Sunday, 3:30 PM: Dallas Mavericks @ Los Angeles Lakers (ABC)
Sunday, 9 PM: Phoenix Suns @ Golden State Warriors (NBA TV)

NHL
Saturday, 3 PM: Ottawa Senators @ Pittsburgh Penguins (CBC)
Sunday, 12:30 PM: Philadelphia Flyers@ New York Rangers (NBC)

College Basketball
Friday, 7 PM: #13 Villanova vs. #5 Louisville (ESPN)
Friday, 7 PM: Maryland vs. #9 Wake Forest (ESPN2)
Friday, 9 PM: #23 Arizona State vs. #20 Washington (Fox Sports Net)
Friday, 9:30 PM: Boston College vs. #8 Duke (ESPN2)
Friday, 9:30 PM: #7 West Virginia vs. #20 Syracuse (ESPN)
Friday, 11:30 PM: USC vs. #14 UCLA (Fox Sports Net)
Saturday, 1:30 PM & 4 PM: ACC Semifinals (ESPN)
Saturday, 1 PM & 3:15 PM: SEC Semifinals (ESPN2)
Saturday, 1:40 PM & 4 PM: Big-10 Semifinals (CBS)
Saturday, 6 PM: Pac-10 Final (CBS)
Saturday, 6 PM: Big 12 Final (ESPN)
Saturday, 9 PM: Big East Final (ESPN)
Sunday, 1 PM: ACC Final (ESPN)
Sunday, 1 PM: SEC Final (CBS)
Sunday, 3:30 PM: Big-10 Final (CBS)
Sunday, 6 PM: NCAA Tournament Selection Show (CBS)

World Baseball Classic
Saturday, 8 PM: Puerto Rico vs. United States from Miami, FL. (MLB Network)

All times ET…

College Basketball
Saturday, 2 PM: #11 Marquette @ Georgetown (ESPN)
Saturday, 3:30 PM: #3 North Carolina @ Maryland (ABC)
Saturday, 9 PM: #2 Oklahoma @ Texas (ESPN)
Sunday, 1 PM: #14 Villanova @ #25 Syracuse (CBS)
Sunday, 3 PM: Wisconsin @ #5 Michigan State (ESPN)
Sunday, 7:45 PM: #8 Wake Forest @ #9 Duke (Fox Regional Sports)

NBA
Friday, 8 PM: Dallas Mavericks @ Houston Rockets (ESPN)
Friday, 10:30 PM: New Orleans Hornets @ Los Angeles Lakers (ESPN)
Saturday, 9 PM: New Orleans Hornets @ Utah Jazz (NBA TV)
Sunday, 2:30 PM: Boston Celtics @ Phoenix Suns (ABC)
Sunday, 5:30 PM: Miami Heat @ Orlando Magic (ESPN)
Sunday, 8 PM: Detroit Pistons @ Cleveland Cavaliers (ESPN)

NHL
Friday, 7:30 PM: Anaheim Ducks @ Detroit Red Wings
Saturday, 1 PM: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Philadelphia Flyers
Sunday, 3 PM: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Washington Capitals (NBC)

All times ET…

NBA
Friday, 7 PM: Dallas Mavericks @ Detroit Pistons (ESPN)
Saturday, 7:30 PM: Orlando Magic @ Miami Heat (NBA TV)
Sunday, 1 PM: Dallas Mavericks @ Boston Celtics (ABC)
Sunday, 3:30 PM: San Antonio Spurs @ Los Angeles Lakers (ABC)
Sunday, 6:30 PM: Houston Rockets @ Detroit Pistons (ESPN)

NHL
Sunday, 6 PM: The NHL All Star Game in Montreal (Versus)

College Basketball
Saturday, 12 PM: Maryland @ #2 Duke (ESPN)
Saturday, 3:30 PM: #24 Memphis @ Tennessee (CBS)
Saturday, 4 PM: #23 Baylor @ Oklahoma (ESPNU)
Saturday, 7 PM: #3 Connecticut @ #19 Notre Dame (ESPN)
Sunday, 12 PM: #12 Louisville @ #8 Syracuse (ESPN Full Court)
Sunday, 3:45 PM: #7 Michigan State @ Ohio State (CBS)

But Frank Beamer’s Hokies put an end to the ACC’s drought with their convincing 20-7 win over the Big East Champion Bearcats. Tech held Brian Kelly’s dynamic offense to just 239 passing yards and picked off Cincy quarterback Tony Pike four times.

Offensively, Hokie frosh running back Darren Evans did most of the damage, rushing for 153 yards and a touchdown, while sophomore quarterback Tyrod Taylor added 47 rushing yards and a score. As a team, Tech rushed for 259 yards, which was their third 250-yard rushing game of the year.

Maybe this win will breathe some life into the ACC, which certainly has some talented programs, but inconsistency seems to be the conference’s major drawback.

VA Tech always has one of the more talented defenses, but poor quarterback play doomed them for most of the year. Georgia Tech’s triple option was impossible to stop at times, but LSU’s 38-3 rout in the Chick-fil-A Bowl proved that the Jackets still have a long way to go to compete for a national title. Boston College, NC State and Maryland have some great young talent, but once again, inconsistency doomed those three programs throughout the year.

With players like Evans, Taylor, Da’Rel Scott and Russell Wilson, the ACC will feature some of the best young talent in college football heading into 2009. So hopefully the ACC can turn their BCS misfortunes around and produce a legit title contender next year, instead of being the conference that’s best known for its underachieving.

In another Top 25 matchup, #9 Purdue battles #13 Oklahoma for the NIT Season Tip-Off at 3:30 PM ET on ESPN2.