Monte Poole: The NCAA Tournament that might have been

The NBA Players Association hopes to use the upcoming collective bargaining agreement to rescind the age restriction. It's accepted that the vast majority won't duplicate the success of Kobe or LeBron or KG or Durantula. It's also accepted that 18 is the age of consent, freeing people to choose their own path.

Abolishing the age restriction would diminish the level of pure talent in college, but it would be offset by much greater continuity.

Rather than relying on rentals to be replaced after the tournament, coaches could actually build programs. Annual development could beget overall improvement, begetting depth and quality.

We'd have more teams like Duke, led by seniors Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. And Purdue, led by seniors JuJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore.

We'd have a deeper pool of seniors and juniors, players such as BYU's Jimmer Fredette, Kansas State's Jacob Pullen and Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor.

Folks like me, not knowing or caring what's missing, could simply enjoy what we have.

Here's hoping those flashing across our TV screens the next 2 1/2 weeks can make us forget what might have been.

(c) 2011, The Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Calif.). Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services