The CBI's Championship Series ? a best-of-three set which tips off tonight ?�is proof that March's best storylines aren't just reserved for the NCAA tournament.
The most intriguing aspect of tonight's game between Oregon and Creighton is the return to Omaha of first-year Ducks coach Dana Altman.
Fortunately, for Altman, even if the series goes the distance, he'll only have to take his team to his old stomping grounds once.
The QWest Center typically draws strong crowds for Creighton hoops, and Altman's welcome back tonight should be a mixed bag.
"I'll be disappointed if a majority of our fans don't recognize what Dana has meant to our program," Creighton athletic director Bruce Rasmussen said. "What I would hope is that when Dana and Oregon are introduced, our fans will thank him in the right way for 16 years he spent here. Then, while the game is going on, they'll root like hell for us.
"Think about where our program was when he came and where it was when he left. Certainly, our program would not be where it is today if it wasn't for what Dana did for us."
But we all know that fans aren't always that kind, no matter what you did for them.
In 16 years, Altman took what at the time of his hiring was a dead program to 327 wins, at least a piece of nine Missouri Valley titles and seven NCAA tournament appearances.
Still, in the same way that guys are always resentful towards the girls that leave them, a good portion of fans can never forgive beloved coaches who take off for greener pastures. Altman lost a handful of fans in Omaha in 2007 after accepting the Arkansas job, only to return a day later, promising to retire at Creighton.
The reasonable portion of that fan base likely realizes that, sometimes, it's just time for a change of scenery. He was offered a job at a Pac-10 school with nearly unlimited resources, a new arena and a $2 million-per-year contract over seven years.
On top of it, Creighton wound up with a sound replacement in Greg McDermott, who jumped back down to the Missouri Valley from Iowa State and took the Jays to 22 wins so far this season. With a successful run at Northern Iowa prior to his days in Ames, McDermott knows how to win in the league and also is less likely to jump, having already struggled mightily in a power conference role.
What Altman's done so far this season at Oregon is nothing short of amazing. With a limited roster, he somehow managed to go 7-11 in conference play, and the Ducks enter Monday's championship series opener having won five of their last six.
One area where Oregon has remained weak, though, is it's play away from Eugene, making Altman's return to the midwest even tougher.
And you thought this tournament couldn't possibly be interesting …
Ryan Greene also covers UNLV and the Mountain West Conference for the Las Vegas Sun. Read his Rebels coverage and follow him on Twitter.
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