The Hoops HD Selection Committee – Friday, March 11th

Tonight was the second night of meetings of the Hoops HD Selection Committee that took place via Zoom conference call. We had two goals in mind tonight – add four more teams into our field (after most of the night games went final) and begin the seeding process for the top 8 lines of the field.

We began by starting with the top two lines of the field. We debated and each individual member selected their top twelve teams. After the top 12 teams were placed on the voting board, each committee member ranked the teams 1-12 and submitted the votes to committee chair Chad Sherwood. The top 8 vote-getters went on the top two lines.

The next step was for each committee member to again select their top 12 teams.  The top eight vote-getters were then added to the four carryover teams from the last round of voting. Again, each committee member ranked the teams 1 through 12 and the top 8 vote-getters were placed on the 3 and 4 lines. This process would be repeated two more times to get the top 8 lines. (Keep in mind we did 2 lines at a time as a time-saving measure; the real committee would have gone one line at a time and voted in groups of 8 teams instead of 12.)

Based on the results of tonight’s games, at-large spots were assured of opening in the Big 12, Pac-12 and the Mountain West. After we got the first 6 lines seeded, we resumed debate on the next 4 at-large spots for the field. Each committee member would ultimately send Chad a list of 8 teams from the remaining teams Under Consideration (except Davidson, Miami, Michigan and Memphis since they were carryovers from the previous round of voting). Indiana (thanks to their win against Illinois), Wyoming, Rutgers and Texas A&M (thanks to their win against Auburn) were nominated and added to the 4 carryover teams. These teams were ranked 1 through 8 and the next 4 at-large teams added were Miami, Davidson, Memphis and Indiana. Since Michigan could not carry over twice in a row, they were sent back to the Under Consideration board and the three remaining carryovers for tomorrow would be Rutgers, Texas A&M and Wyoming. Indiana’s inclusion in the field guaranteed that a Big 10 spot would open up; this means that at a minimum there will be 2 more at-large spots to fill tomorrow along with any other contingencies that could arise tomorrow and Saturday.

At this point, we resumed building the seed list and the #7/#8 lines were added. Here is our current board:

Of the teams remaining Under Consideration, only Dayton, SMU, Texas A&M, UAB and Virginia Tech are still playing. Both UAB and Virginia Tech could potentially win auto-bids on Saturday; the others would be looking to win their respective tournaments on Sunday.

Tomorrow’s plan will be to fill the remaining at-large and contingency spots as well as to build the remainder of the seed list. Our next step would be to do an initial scrub of the seed list and move teams up and down the list based on oral motions and a majority vote for each motion. Tune in tomorrow night to see where your favorite team stands!