College basketball will crown its champion in our fair city April 8, but that could be a gross case of overdressing.  A more suitable choice of headwear for this season’s winner might be a fool’s cap.

Put bluntly, college basketball stinks. It has been getting worse since Kevin Garnett’s 1995 leap from high school to the NBA showed the world that a collegiate career wasn’t necessary to succeed in his chosen vocation, and after nearly two decades of descent the sport has hit bottom. Which isn’t to be confused with hitting nylon, which not many collegians can do anymore.

Example: Tennessee scored 19 points in the first half against Alabama on Saturday – and won the game. This meager output wasn’t a one-off. It marked the fourth time this season Tennessee had managed fewer than 20 points in a first half, the most (or least, depending on your slant) memorable coming against Georgetown on Nov. 30 in a game the Hoyas won 37-36.

Example: Vanderbilt scored 11 points in a first half against Arkansas on Jan. 12, which was only slightly worse than Vandy’s showing against Marist on Nov. 23. Halftime score of that lollapalooza: Red Foxes 27, Commodores 14.

Example: Northern Illinois managed four points – one basket, two free throws – in the first half against Eastern Michigan on Saturday, which was the worst showing by any team since the shot clock was introduced in 1986. But it only just trumped, if that’s the word, Northern Illinois’ yield against Dayton on Dec. 1, when it mustered five points in the opening 20 minutes. And now you’re thinking, “Northern Illinois probably hasn’t won a game.” Wrong. Somehow the Huskies have won four.

Example: Proving that scoring isn’t a snap even when you’re ranked No. 1 and the greatest coach since Wooden is seated on your bench, Duke went to Coral Gables last week and trailed Miami 42-19 at the half. The 90-63 loss was Duke’s worst in a regular-season game since January 1984, and it prompted ESPN’s Dick Vitaleto rip his beloved Dukies.

(Speaking of the Worldwide Leader: On Jan. 10, ESPN Insider asked five of its experts to pick a national champion. All five picked Louisville. The Cardinals lost three of their next four games.)

UCLA, owner of 11 NCAA titles, started the season ranked No. 13 in the Associated Press poll. Kentucky, owner of eight NCAA titles and the reigning champ, was No. 3. North Carolina, owner of five NCAA titles, was No. 11. None of the three was included in last week’s Top 25, and with an RPI of 61, there’s no guarantee the Wildcats will be invited to defend their title.

If you’re wondering why college basketball has lost its luster, the mediocrity of those three Brand Names serves as a handy tutorial. Kentucky and Carolina were the two best teams in the land last season, but both lost nearly everyone of consequence to the NBA. Between them, Kentucky and Carolina produced eight first-round draftees – seven of them early entries.

No news there, right? In the era of the one-and-done, the path to glory is simply to sign another passel of McDonald’s All-Americans and keep winning. Trouble is, not all McDonald’s men are created equal. According to Rivals.com, Kentucky (No. 1 yet again), UCLA (No. 2) and Carolina (No. 9) landed three of the top 10 signing classes – and none of those teams has been anything special.

After his Wildcats saw a 55-game home winning streak ended by unranked Baylor on Dec. 1, coach John Calipari – the maestro of the one-and-done – told reporters: “That’s what happens when you put a bunch of freshmen on the floor.”

One-and-dones have cheapened the college game to the point that it’s worth pennies on the dollar. If you’re a freshman and you’re really good, everyone knows you’ll be gone soon. If you’re a sophomore All-American, everyone wonders why you’re not in the NBA. There’s no carry-over from year to year – just try naming 10 big-time college players – and the regular season has been so devalued that, on Dec. 15, more people watched the New Mexico Bowl (pairing those grid powers Arizona and Nevada) on ESPN than viewed Butler’s double-overtime upset of No. 1 Indiana on CBS.

Ah, well, you’re saying. There’s always March Madness. And there is. But how much longer will the doings of March/April resonate if we only start paying attention on Selection Sunday? Will a VCU knocking off a Kansas continue to stir the soul if we have no concept of how good the Jayhawks are supposed to be? (By the way, Kansas again appears to be the nation’s best team. But VCU is good, too.)

On April 6, the Final Four will congregate beneath the Georgia Dome, and lots of folks figure to gather ‘round their TVs to watch – provided some enterprising outlet doesn’t schedule another cruddy bowl for that Saturday. Yes, that’s a joke. When all else fails, college basketball will still have the Big Dance to prop it up. But that’s the point: All else? It’s failing.