Unemployed workers, John Kerry and the press have been up in arms over the increasingly popular business trend of outsourcing. If more college basketball players watched CNBC instead of ESPN, they might be inclined to hop on the bandwagon, because college b-ball is fast losing its status as the primary recruiting ground for the NBA and other professional basketball leagues.

Thanks to Dirk Nowitzki, Peja Stojakovic and Yao Ming, scouts are increasingly looking abroad for hot young talent. Thanks to Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Amare Stoudamire and LeBron James more high school players are opting to bypass college for the NBA. Thanks to Maurice Clarett, even the most naïve sports fans have come to the realization that the “college” part of “college sports” is a joke.

However, the NCAA tourney, with its single-elimination format, is proving to be the saving grace for an institution that should otherwise be languishing in relative obscurity (think Division I baseball or soccer). March Madness is a thing of singular beauty in the ugly, wretched cesspit that is college sports.

This March is proving to be madder than most. Who woulda thunk that neither Kentucky nor Stanford would survive the first week of the tournament? Or that Nevada, Xavier or UAB would be sticking around so long? Hell, if there is one thing I learned this week, it was that UAB stands for University of Alabama at Birmingham, not University of Alabama-Birmingham.

Perhaps it is the increasing competition from other recruiting grounds that is revitalizing the tournament. It is harder than ever before for a talented player to get the attention of NBA scouts. While established stars like Emeka Okafor, Jameer Nelson and Josh Childress are shoe-ins for the draft, players like Dee Brown, Kirk Snyder, Lionel Chalmers, Matt Freije and Romain Sato have lifted their games at just the right times. In the next two weeks future NBA stars will be born, while others with equal talent and potential will fall short.

The first week of the tournament has done the job of distinguishing the men from the boys, the budding pros from the talented amateurs, the Cinderellas from the also-rans. And there are still two more weeks to go.

The Sweet Sixteen match-ups

Phoenix sees pre-season favorite UConn face challenges from three mid-level teams, Vanderbilt, Alabama and Syracuse, for a spot in the Final Four. The Orangemen have plenty of talent, despite last season’s loss of Carmelo Anthony to the draft (NBA draft, that is), mostly in the forms of Hakim Warrick and Gerry McNamara. Vanderbilt and Bama are motivated and basking in their positions as underdogs. The Crimson Tide, however, lack consistency and have lost a number of really close games this season. The Commodores may have started the season 11-0, but proceeded to finish 8-8 in the SEC. The biggest obstacle for UConn this week remains star Okafor’s questionable back.

In St. Louis, Georgia Tech and Kansas find themselves taking on upstarts UAB and Nevada, upset victors over favorites Kentucky and Gonzaga respectively. Georgia Tech’s BJ Elder, Jarrett Jack and Isma’il Muhammed should bring Nevada’s dream run to an end unless Kirk Snyder’s hand becomes unbearably hot. UAB, meanwhile, might see themselves become this year’s Tulsa.

In Georgia, perennial powers Duke and Texas take on two very dangerous and talented teams in Illinois and Xavier. The Illini have won fourteen of their last fifteen, while Xavier played spoiler to St. Joe’s bid for an undefeated season. Despite the wealth of talent on this year’s Duke squad, they are not the team they were three or four years ago. J.J. Redick needs another year to mature into a truly great player. Chris Duhon is not a consistent offensive threat. Luol Deng is their biggest scorer but still can’t carry the entire team. Texas, meanwhile, has Brandon Mouton and Royal Ivey, but neither are prolific scorers, but still lacks a true point guard. When the Longhorns met Duke earlier this season, they found themselves on the receiving end of a blowout, with Mouton and Ivey combining for 7-of-25 in field goals. Expect at least one major upset from Atlanta.

The Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey remains a bastion of sanity in the sea of Madness. All four top seeds have, surprisingly, reached the Sweet Sixteen. Despite only one loss, and arguably the best backcourt in the tournament, St. Joseph’s will be lucky to survive Pittsburgh, Wake Forest and Oklahoma State. All four teams are closely matched, and the Final Four spot will be claimed by whoever finds its offensive rhythm and is able to withstand the pressure as the clock winds down.