-For starters, if you’d like to enter the BEAT THE PUPPET BRACKET CHALLENGE that Chad Sherwood has cooked up….don’t bother!! You won’t beat me!! It’s not even worth trying!! The only way anyone can beat me is if they cheat!!
SELECTIONS AND SEEDINGS:
-We shared our thoughts on the selections and seedings and then collectively filled out a bracket last night. You can watch us do that on the latest HOOPS HD REPORT – NCAA TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
-In terms of the Selection Committee, it seems as though every year there is a controversial selection and/or omission that has people screaming and yelling and taking to the streets in protest. This year’s selection of North Carolina looks particularly sketch considering that Bubba Cunningham was the committee chairman and is also the Athletic Director at UNC. I’m not going to deny that I don’t understand why the optics of that are questionable.
Having said that, though…
While very few “experts” were projecting UNC to get in, almost all of them had them within the next four teams of making it. Or…first four out. Or…last four out. Or…however they phrase it. They were the next in line!!! As I understand it, a bracketologist who gets a team correct and gets them within one of the actual seedline considers that good for their “score.” Well, had it been a 72 team tournament, all would have had UNC in the field and within one of their actual seedline, and no one would have been complaining. So, it wasn’t as if they selected Seton Hall, or South Carolina, or someone that was so far away from the bubble that they needed a telescope to see it.
Also…
The selection committee has 12 members on it and has a broad range of ties. Conspiracy theorists will always be able to find a conspiracy. The Big Ten had someone on the committee. The Big 12 had someone on the committee. The Big East had someone on the committee. Every team that was on the bubble, whether they were in our out, had ties to someone that was on the committee that would have personally benefited from their selection. So, EVERY YEAR we have these “A HA!!!” moments among the conspiracy theorists. THAT’S why UNC got in and West Virginia didn’t!!!
Something that I think gets lost in all of this is that the selection committee is just that. It’s a COMMITTEE. I think a lot of bracketologists get caught up in looking at team-sheets, and thinking of them as scorecards, and adding up all the different things on there to determine the value of that scorecard, and then ranking the teams that way. I love what bracketologists do. I think they make the sport a lot more exciting for fans and that they make the season a lot easier to put into context as it plays out than it otherwise would be without them. But what they do and how they do it is procedurally not the same as what the committee does. If you’ve ever been on any sort of a committee, be it a hiring committee, a rules committee, a party planning committee, or whatever, you know that committees are not unanimous in their decisions and that no one ever agrees with everything. The Selection Committee really isn’t any different.
And, it’s also worth noting that there are multiple NCAA Staffers in the room throughout the process. I’m not saying they are monitored for 96 straight hours throughout the whole week, but a committee member just can’t brazenly say “Hey! Do me a solid! Select my team!”
After all that, let me say this. I DID NOT agree with all of the selections and seedings. I never do. I thought the inclusion of North Carolina and Texas were a little ridiculous and that West Virginia clearly appeared to have a better team sheet and be better on the court than both of those teams.
I also feel that UC Irvine was/is both better and more deserving than all four teams in the First Four. I didn’t think they’d actually get selected, but had I been on the committee I would have absolutely argued for them. They won 14 true road games and a total of 18 away from home, and while almost none of those were ‘tier 1’ some of them were still games that were very hard to win. I don’t think any of the four bubble teams would have had as good of a record against UC Irvine’s schedule as UC Irvine did.
And, seeding Drake and UC San Diego as low as they did was wrong. Those teams played a lot of games away from home that were not easy to win and should have been seeded better. In fact, for seemingly the 20th straight year, I’m looking at the 12-line and thinking all of these 12 seeds would beat all the teams on the 9, 10, and 11 lines! Sucks for the 5 seeds, I guess! But, those are just my personal thoughts. Someone else who is just as informed may see it entirely differently.
We at Hoops HD replicate the process every year in our mock committee. The final bracket can be seen HERE. I didn’t agree with all of our selections and seedings either. I never do. No one from Hoops HD who participated agreed with everything. They never do. I mean…have you WATCHED our shows?? We start evaluating teams on the first night of the season and have two to three weekly shows throughout the season. We are unanimous on almost nothing!! And neither is the real committee. Almost no type of committee on the planet ever is.
But…
Just because I don’t agree with everything the committee did does not necessarily mean I think they were dishonest or uninformed. Quite frankly, as often as they meet, and as much as they go over, it is impossible for them to not be informed. They are far more informed than most of the media. The media spends well over 90 percent of their time covering less than 10 percent of the teams. The committee literally watches everyone. And I think suggesting that bracketologists take over the process is a silly suggestion. As much as I love what they do, they grade themselves on how close they come to guessing the real committee. Replacing the real committee with a group of people who gauge their success based on how accurate their guesses are is just illogical. It’s like suggesting court room reporters replace the juries. It’s the kind of thing I would suggest as a joke. I love what bracketologists do, but am totally against turning them into administrators.
As far as whether or not the committee is the fairest way to do it?? It’s a fair question. I’m open to other ideas and suggestions. And I totally get how frustrating it can be that the committee changes from year to year, and as the committee changes the points of emphasis change right along with that. Having said that, 31 teams get in via auto-bid. At least another 31 are absolute no brainers. They’d be in regardless of who is on the committee or what the points of emphasis are. That’s 62 out of 68 teams. Every single team, ESPECIALLY those from the nine mutli-bid leagues, has the chance to play their way into being one of those 62 teams. So, while I don’t agree with North Carolina and Texas getting in, I don’t feel THAT sorry for the teams that were left out either. They had chances to be one of the 62 no-brainers.
NIT:
-A lot of fun games tonight! If these games were regular season games we’d be highlighting pretty much all of them. Arkansas State had a great year and gets to host Saint Louis, Cal State Northridge was good in the Big West and gets to go to Stanford, UC Riverside v Santa Clara is another really fun game, Chattanooga was the 1st place team in the SoCon and was really playing well down the stretch and it will be fun to see them play against a Middle Tennessee tea that was also good down the stretch. All the games tonight are good!
NCAA FIRST FOUR:
-Saint Francis and Alabama State finished down the standings in weak conferences, but got hot in the conference tournaments and won the auto-bids. Saint Francis’s win at Central Connecticut in the NEC final may have been one of the biggest upsets during all of championship week. Alabama State finished just 4th in the SWAC, but they were really good in the latter part of the season and that momentum carried over into the SWAC Tournament. I’m actually looking forward to this one!
-San Diego State also squares off against North Carolina, who we now know was the last team into the field and would not have made it at all had UAB beaten Memphis. It could be that in 13 hours this horribly selected team is out of the field!
