"All love affairs end. Eventually the girl is gonna put curlers in her hair."

Could this be the beginning of the end for the NCAA Tournament as we know it? This week a court will consider whether or not the NCAA is an 'illegal monopoly', and whether or not institutions should have the option of playing in any tournament they so choose. The plaintiff in this skirmish is the once-proud NIT. Currently, the NCAA mandates that any institution invited to their championship tournament is required to accepth the bid.

The genesis of this long-running feud? Marquette's own Al McGuire. Here's an excerpt from today's article in the Winston-Salem Journal:

'In 1970, Marquette's men's basketball team withdrew from the NCAA Tournament and went to the NIT instead, to the embarrassment of the NCAA.

The NIT says that Marquette's decision prompted the start of illegal, anti-competitive behavior by the NCAA, which then passed a "commitment-to-participate" rule, making it mandatory for all schools that qualified for postseason play in all sports but Division I football to participate.'

The NCAA's record in anti-trust cases? 2-2.