Seth Davis' Saturday reactions: Ending court storms, expanding the NCAA tournament, where to rank Houston?

Plus reactions to Kentucky, Virginia, Gonzaga, San Diego State, and lots more.

It would be great to lead this column with a basketball only perspective, but the events in Winston-Salem compel me to start with a declaration that by now should be nearing a consensus:

Enough with the court storms.

Wake Forest secured a very important victory over Duke on Saturday, one that significantly enhanced the Demon Deacons’ chances of making the NCAA tournament. (By the way, I invite you to check out this free story I wrote about Wake coach Steve Forbes’ wife Johnetta, who is recovering from a stroke she suffered last summer.) As soon as the game was over, the Wake students rushed the court en masse. There was no semblance of security anywhere to be seen. As a result, Duke sophomore forward Kyle Filipowski collided with a fan and had to be helped off the court. The issue was Filipowski’s right knee, although there was no indication that the injury was serious.

The scene was similar to the one that unspooled in Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 21, when Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark also collided with a fan following Ohio State’s upset of the Hawkeyes, and had to be helped off the floor. Over the years, there have been multiple instances of fans, players and coaching getting injured during storms, the vast majority of which don’t get any attention. There have been several other occasions when a court storm ignited an ugly confrontation.

Look, I understand the fun of rushing the court. For many years I railed against court storms, largely because of my belief that something bad was bound to happen. That has become even more likely because court storms are so frequent. On any given night, there’s at least one, and on most nights there are several. Over time I modified that stance to say that we can allow fans to storm the court, so long as there is property security in place to protect the opposing players and coaches.

But now it's clear that even that scenario is not feasible. Wake Forest knew that if the Deacs won there would be a court storm, and apparently rehearsed for just such a contingency. Whatever they did, it didn’t work. The danger, by the way, isn’t just for the players. The fan who collided with Filipowski ended up on the floor while hundreds of students continued their stampede. That was really scary.

There’s a basic principle in play here: That court is sacred. The players, coaches and officials have earned their places. The fans have not. And don’t tell me it’s impossible to keep students off the court. Put enough security in place, and let everyone know that if they step on the court they will be arrested and prosecuted. Levy enormous fines, assess forfeits if you have to. It’s actually not that hard. The hard part is making the decision in the first place. That should be easy by now.

* Before I get to the games, let me also address the comments made this week by NCAA president Charlie Baker indicating that expansion of the men’s basketball tournament was nigh, so long as it’s “done with care.” It’s clear based on my reporting