You won’t find too many people saddened by the end of Billy Packer’s 34-year run as color commentator for the Final Four at the men’s college basketball Tournament. For all his hoops credentials, as both an analyst and a former guard at Wake Forest, Packer was considered a grouch behind the microphone.

Packer has a long history of rubbing people the wrong way. When asked to show his press pass at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium in 2000, Packer shot back, “Since when do we let women control who gets into a men’s basketball game?” He also made this comment during a Charlie Rose interview. Not good.

In the end, Packer will probably be remembered most for his animosity toward the smaller programs in the NCAA. He was critical of St. Joseph’s getting a No. 1 seed in the 2004 Tournament, and he was even angrier two years later when the MVC and CAA got six bids between them. Two words in parting: George Mason.

Brandon Jennings (above photo) is boldly going where no basketball prodigy has gone before: straight to Europe, bypassing the Arizona Wildcats to sign a pro contract with Virtus Roma of Italy’s Serie A.

Is this the end for college basketball? Jacob Leibenluft pondered that question for Slate; in his view, a lot will depend on how well Jennings performs in his new environment. Other youngsters should keep their fingers crossed. As basketball spreads across the globe, opportunities open up for skilled players - opportunities that don’t involve taking sham college courses and not getting paid.

College basketball will continue to flourish even if the top high school and AAU players go elsewhere, as Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and LeBron James were allowed to do before the NBA put restrictions on its draft. Ultimately, fans of college sports are rooting for laundry. But maybe the Jennings experiment will give young players the chance to make a powerful fashion statement.

We’ve had another contentious offseason in American college sports, and it’s still only June. Crimson Tide LB Jimmy Johns was let go after his arrest on five charges for selling cocaine; would-be Arizona point guard Brandon Jennings might go play in Europe if he doesn’t pass his SAT exams.

The NCAA has a checkered history when it comes to cranking out student-athletes. According to this year’s Academic Progress Rate report, 36 member schools face penalties after their football programs failed to meet minimum standards. That jumps to 53 for men’s basketball, although there are also many more member institutions with basketball programs: 1,026 across all three divisions, compared to 627 for football.

Based purely on those numbers, you could draw the conclusion that basketball players are smarter. But it’s common knowledge now that the student part of the student-athlete’s college experience is a secondary consideration. Even Steve Nash skated by as a sociology major at Santa Clara.

Although there’s nothing but chalk left in the Final Four, this year’s March Madness wasn’t lacking in significant upsets. Those poolies who picked the right upset victims will be rewarded next week when the new champions are crowned.

But which Cinderellas did you pick? Again, I don’t have the numbers right in front of me, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was throwing heavy objects around the room after No. 12 Villanova beat No. 5 Clemson in the opening round. I also can’t say I saw No. 10 Davidson upsetting both No. 2 Georgetown and No. 3 Wisconsin to get into the Elite Eight.

No, I had No. 10 South Alabama going to the Sweet 16. And they didn’t even put a dent in No. 7 Butler in the first round, losing 81-61. That’s the problem with filling out brackets – you don’t get to enjoy other people’s Cinderella stories when yours turns into a pumpkin.

Basketball may be tumbling in popularity, at least according to this year’s Harris Poll on sports, but March Madness makes up for it with an orgiastic 65-team Tournament featuring the best programs in the nation. Millions of brackets will be filled in and busted. Teams at the NBA Draft will overvalue strong performances, especially by players from Duke.

We’ll know some of the Tournament teams this week – it’s called Championship Week, although the conference tourneys won’t be finished until Mar. 16. Not every conference has a tourney, mind you. Cornell (20-5 SU, 10-6 ATS) is the first team in the big dance after clinching the Ivy League.

The next three automatic bids will come from the Horizon League, the Big South and the OVC. All three tipped off their conference tourneys on Tuesday. The No. 12 Butler Bulldogs (who have a tourney bye until the weekend) are the pick of this litter at 27-3 SU and 14-13-2 ATS.

They can’t all win the Tournament, can they? Look at how many teams there are clustered together at the top of the March Madness odds list. UCLA (4-1) was the favorite at press time, while Kansas, Memphis and North Carolina were all 5-1. Tennessee and UConn were 7-1. How about Louisville at 8-1 or Duke at 9-1? That really doesn’t leave room for anyone else in Division I to win the title.

In this kind of marketplace, the value is a rung or two lower on the price list. Why are the Wisconsin Badgers 40-1? Is it because they’re from the “small market” of Wisconsin, and their name is the Badgers? This is the No. 9 team in the coaches’ poll and No. 5 in efficiency, so the betting public must have something against them. Vanderbilt was a more deserving 40-1 heading into Monday’s action at No. 48 in team efficiency – that was before the Commodores beat Tennessee.

Memphis is the first No. 1 team outside of the major conferences since St. Joe’s back in 2004. To get that top billing, the Tigers had to wait for the North Carolina Tar Heels to lose – which they finally did two weeks ago to Maryland (+18).

The Heels weren’t the only victims that week. The UCLA Bruins (-12) lost to USC, while Texas A&M (-9) was stunned by Baylor in five overtimes. Bad things do happen to good teams sometimes. It has taken the Aggies some time to jell under Mark Turgeon, but he says their big 59-56 win at Oklahoma State (+1.5) was a unifying moment in his first year at College Station.

UNC happened to run into one of the best defenses in the nation, shooting 38 percent against the stingy Terps; UCLA just seemed to fall apart at the end against the Trojans. Mistakes were made, and even the best make them.

Todd Lickliter made his coaching debut for Iowa last night in a bittersweet victory over Simpson College 56-30 at
Caver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa shot 19-of-47 from the field and committed 20 turnovers, but the bigger question after the game was about the status of junior guard Tony Freeman. Freeman, Iowa’s leading returning scorer from last season, limped off the floor in the first half with what appeared to be an injury to his left foot. Lickliter was uncertain about Freeman’s status Thursday night.

Justin Johnson led Iowa with 16 points. Freshman Jake Kelly came off the bench to score 10 points.
Iowa opens the season next Friday against Idaho State, coached by former Southeastern Community College coach Joe O’Brien.