College basketball is clearly in decline. Many factors contribute. It is the checkers to the chess of the NBA. There is no spacing, the shot clock is too long, there are too many teams generally, and there are far too many teams in the tournament.
As for players, the highest level talent is concentrated on about 5 rosters, the high-mid player talent may languish on teams with no other talent, the whole AAU system completely fails to develop talent that makes it to college into anything other than prima donnas.
Further, cable TV is a dying medium and the broadcasters for college games are, on balance, complete morons (often composed of one unathletic stat focused white guy, with an incomprehensible former college star, often staggeringly dimwitted, as a color commentator). The ads have gotten so pathetic, I can’t believe they continue to get made, much less get aired. There are maybe 5-10 advertisers per game, recycling the same ad (ad nauseum) in every commercial break. There is no way that makes people want to buy their products.
What are the odds, given the rise of the g-league and lifting of the one and done rule, that college basketball is headed for college baseball levels of obscurity in the next 5-10 years?