NCAA
Not only is college basketball untainted by the greed and lack of traveling calls of the NBA, but the history, rivalries and loyalty that comes along with each and every team is completely unparalleled by anything in the pros.
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about college hoops is obviously March Madness – a 64 team Battle Royal that never seems to disappoint fans.
But March Madness aside, college basketball even provides a better regular season than its high-dollar counterpart.
The NBA can run as many promos as they want trying to revive the classic Lakers-Celtics rivalry, but the bottom line is there still won’t be kids camped out for weeks in front of the box office to get a seat like you see for the Duke-North Carolina contests every year.
And the Cavaliers may be virtually untouchable at home, but there’s no way to equate traveling to Quicken Loans Arena to the sheer terror that comes over a team when they step into Cameron Indoor Stadium.
-D.J. Piehowski
NBA
The NBA is more interesting because of the higher intensity level the players give night-in and night-out.
The athleticism, skill and discipline of NBA players are far superior to those of players in college.
In addition to better players, the NBA is an international stage. The likes of Manu Ginobili, Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol are some of the top players in the NBA and they all came to the league internationally.
In college, there is a longer shot clock, a shorter 3-point line and the game is shorter than an NBA game.
Let’s face the facts – college basketball is the place where players are pampered and tutored. It is where coaches baby players and tell them how good they are.
Nowadays most of the elite players in college don’t want to be there, but have to because of the NBA’s new age rule. Most are out in a year.
Let us not forget Lebron James, Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett all skipped college ball, and went straight into the NBA.
If those names aren’t enough to draw your attention, I don’t know what will.
-Jeff DeChavez