There is a long-standing debate to which sport has the most parity in terms of which markets win the most often, but Jim Boeheim believes college basketball has the NBA, NFL and MLB all beaten.
Speaking on ESPN's "Mike and Mike" morning radio show, the Syracuse head basketball coach said college hoops' talent parity is the best it has been in a long time. He said teams like Butler, VCU and George Mason are emerging out of nowhere but are sometimes sticking around as competitive teams for several years.
"I think it's the best place it's ever been when you consider what's best for college basketball: A few really strong dominant teams or a lot of really good teams?" Boeheim said. "I think you see that a little bit in the NFL where you go from top to bottom. You've got a lot of balance. Virtually every region has good teams. It's almost every state. You can have a team in your state that can make the Final Four. We've seen that with a Butler making it, a VCU, with a George Mason."
Boeheim does however happen to be one of the game's most successful coaches. His Syracuse team; Mike Krzyzewski and Duke; Tom Izzo and Michigan State; and Bill Self and Kansas are teams that seem to be nationally ranked every week of every season.
Still, when teams like Wichita State and Saint Louis can stick around for an entire season among the top teams, college basketball's parity is hard to argue against.
"We've got a lot of good players and a lot of good teams," Boeheim said. "I think that kind of balance makes the tournament which is what we all kind of wait for more exciting than it's ever been."
The only problem with college hoops is that the game's best players leave after two years in school at the most. That does lead to years like this that feature an outstanding freshman class.
