Wow, look at all the smaller schools that the committee rewarded: Utah State, Air Force, George Mason, Bradley, Wichita State.

I love it! :)

Missouri State got hosed. :(

Tough luck to Hofstra.

I was surprised to see Air Force instead of either of these two.

http://www.bracketography.com/selectioncommittee.htm

Here are the ten members of the NCAA selection committee.

This is just an FYI. By posting this, I'm not making any kind of comment on the field they chose.

I just think that it is interesting to see who these people are, where they come from, what kinds of backgrounds they have, etc.

7 of the 10 are from the non-power conferences.

If the Committee feels that teams from the power conferences have to play stronger schedules, why doesn't that apply to schools like Air Force and George Mason? :confused:

They should award spots based on the nicknames. If so, the Chanticleers would get in every year.

The biggest surprise to me was Boston College at a #4. They should be a #2, but I think they will get to the final four in any event.

I have to agree, and it is all the more annoying since Nevada is the #5 in that region and could have to face BC in the 2nd round. That's a tough draw.

Personally, I didn't care for Tennessee being seeded as a #2. yes, I would like to have seen Carolina seeded #2 and be placed in Greensboro for the first two games. But I'm not unhappy with the #3 seed. I just feel that #2 should be better than #3 and they're not.

LSU at a #4 is strange as well. Michigan State is the strongest #6, perhaps ever, in the tournament.

They didn't play each other, so how do you know?

Lunardi had Tennessee as a #5. This is clearly his worst year ever.

I believe that is the committee, and not Lunardi, who had a bad year. His job is to make predictions based on a reasonable tournament selection process; I don't think this year's version fits the bill.

----------------

Tony,

I share your sentiments totally, though I can't say that I'm disappointed that our guys won't have to share the Coliseum with you and your bretheren:) I haven't really looked closely yet, but wouldn't everything have been okay had the committee flipped UNC and UT? There wouldn't be nearly so many questions about UNC being a 2 as there are with UT being a 2.

[Edited by jbduke on Mar 13th, 2006 at 12:03 AM]

Who will pull the shocker of the tournament or will there be one? Any 12 seed or lower teams that you feel have a legit chance? How about A&M or Iona?

The Grizzlies will beat Nevada by 4.

We're talking men's here, right? Anyone care to check in on "the other side"?

Iowa got hosed.

Won the Big Ten, beat Ohio State twice and got a lower seed than the Buckeyes, and have Texas and Duke in their region.

This year was the worst job of seeding in recent memory, IMO.

Hey this is my thread! And that's about enough of that kind of talk. :)
Now shoo, back to big sky country, back...

No.

They don't select until tonight.

I have a new DVD burner. I am thinking about burning the games to DVD. Are there ever two games being played at once? I've been thinking about recording March Madness ever year.

I guy I used to work with has recorded the Stanley Cup finals every year since like 1985. It was awesome to go back and watch them - again. Twenty years from now when I have over a thousand basketball games recorded, it could be quite a collection.

When BC beats UNC & takes Duke to the wire and was rated 11th going into the ACC tournament and gets put into the 13-16 bucket, something's not right. Maybe they should give it another hour to analyze the Sunday results before final seeding. Tennessee a 2? The most likely 2 to say 'See ya later' first. And GW who was 6th nationally getting an 8 was a surprise--although a 5 or 6 would have been justified. I was surprised by Air Force but also by Seton Hall over Cincinnati.

But in any event, it should be a fun tournament....unless Duke wins.

Iona. Take Iona.

Beware the teams that are the "last teams in." They get abused by the media all week long. Many times they end up winning because they have such huge motivation. Beware Utah St. and Air Force. I will take one of them to win.

You want a stacked bracket of teams who are hot late in the season? One bracket contains 4 of the 6 major conference tournament champions:

Duke-ACC
Texas-Big 12
Syracuse-Big East
Iowa-Big 10

Also the champion of the Valley (So. Ill.) and the champion of the Colonial (UNCW), both conferences with multiple bids. Not to mention GW who was ranked in the top 10 for the latter half of the year.

Tough to pick a 15 over a 2, but take a hard look at the Tennessee-Winthrop game.

Trigger,
Kansas won the Big XII. I agree with you on Tennessee. I think they beat Winthrop, but goodnight vs Wichita State.

They are the first '2' out and they won't be around for the 2nd weekend.

Good point. Having graduated from a Big XII school (ISU), I will thwap myself for not remembering that.

Can't do that til the bracket comes out in 20 minutes. I'm thinking of entering ever women's bracket contest I can this year, and just filling it out according to the seeds. In women't basketball, that's usually how it all plays out anyhow.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Texas LOST to Kansas in the Big 12. Not to mention the fact that Duke manhandled them in Dec or early January when they were ranked 1 and 2.

Here is a good article on the Packer-Nantz mugging of Littlepage

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/colum...pat&id=2366077

Are you talking about the NIT?

I like Minnesota.

And a follow-up article with some response by Littlepage.

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/5393548

Great follow-up article. Of course, Littlepage could have directly told Packer on air how big a moron he is but Packer would have thought he was referring to Nantz. Unfortunately, it'll be a pine box resignation for Packer. I would like to see one or two more teams so that Cincy & Maryland could have a play-in game and then face Duke or UConn. That would get steam coming out of Packer's ears. :D

I've been saying for years that since you already have one play in game why not more?

Seeds 1-12 are set, have eight each of 13-16 and have them play on Tuesday.

Move the NIT back one or two days to allow them to give bids to any losers of the play in games, that they might want.

Have the best 64 teams you can.

Have a much greater chance of upsets in the first round.

Knock out the .500 conference tournament upset champs.

Knock out those tiny automatic bids that get beat by 40 by the #1 seeds every year.

You said it better than I would have, but I agree with you completely. Instead of all this controversy about really good teams (Cincinnati) being left out and marginal teams being taken over roughly equal teams that they lost to (Hofstra), expand the brackets by a few teams and make sure that everybody who should be in gets in. Yeah, you'll probably get some "bubble" teams that shouldn't be in, but that already happens with the automatic bids.

How do you expand the brackets only "a little" and include every team which "should" be in? Who decides who "should" be in?
In other words, where is the cut off point? If you take 68 then why not 69? If 75, why not 76?
Seems like an argument for having to take every D1 team!

I would rather see a qualifying system over the course of the season. Set it up so that a certain number of teams out of each conference qualify from their conference regular season. (How many could be based on a formula from the conference's RPI. The numbers need to be set up prior to the season though.) Then give the conference tournament champion an automatic berth.
Additionally, give the champion of some preseason and in-season tournaments a bid. The bracket buster idea should evolve into a mini tournament in Feb from which a mid major or two can earn a berth.

All discretion from a selection committee should be taken out of it. You either qualify or you don't.

There's always going to be some committee exercising judgment, b/c even if the participants are pre-determined, they still have to be seeded, and you'll still get stupid results like Tennessee at #2.

Well, at least both committees were consist with Tennessee. Men & women are both #2 seeds.

Except that one won't get beat by a 7.

Are you absolutely, guaranteed, positively sure about that? If you know this for a fact, please send me the winning lottery ticket numbers for Friday's MegaMillion drawing.:D

I disagree. Then the discussion centers around bubble teams that were denied a chance to play the play-in games. There's no way to win. The committee does the best they can (although I think this is the poorest job they've ever done) with what they're given.

Isn't it ironic that Pat Summit is 8itching about the Lady Vols being seeded as a #2 while everybody else is 8itching about the UT men being seated #2? :)

But we already have that problem. So why not just let a whole lot more of those bubble teams in and them sort it out in prelim games? Yes, you may still leave out a bubble team, but it will be a team with an RPI of 120, instead of 32. I forget which team it was, but this year a team was left out with an RPI in the 20's. Highest RPI ever not to be in the tourney. Stupid. That team should be in. And if it means letting in a few teams that have absolutely no shot at winning, so be it. We already do that, too.

Yes, let's expand the tournament.

Start it right after Valentine's Day, end it around Memorial Day.

Nah, not necessary. Play the play-in games on Tues, just like they already do.

How many more play-in games?

1? 2? 11?

I think that every D1 team should be invited to the tournament.

That's only.....fair.

And seed them alphabetically by name.

Within 5 years evey schoole will want to call themselves AAA Acme Airplane Academy.

7 more. Two play-in games for each region. That probably will allow the rest of the teams that really should be in to be in. And there are certainly 8 teams that have no shot of winning for those play-in games.


I actually heard this proposed on TV, and I think the guy was serious. He said you choose 32 teams to have byes, and let everybody else in the country fight it out for the other 32 spots. Never going to happen, but I think he meant it.

How about picking 63 teams then, and putting every one of the other D1 teams in the NIT? Whoever wins the NIT then gets to go in May Madness.

On second thought, that's really not fair to the D2 and D3 teams, is it? Maybe the D2 and D3 teams can playdown their tournaments first, and then their winners get to go into the NIT. Thoughts?

That should be fun. A 2 round mini-tournament on the Tuesday/Wednesday prior to the start of the real tournament. Eight 25 point blowouts over 2 days. And the eventual winners each gets a chance to <s>get blown out by</s> play the legitimate 1 seed in their region...hmmm...yeah, let's do it...I wonder what's on the History Channel...? Almost as ridiculous as having 8 play-in games.

Now we're getting somewhere.

And the eventual winner of the combined NCAA D1/D2/D3 tournament plays the NIT winner & THAT winner plays the NBA champion. Sometime in late August.

Hmmm...need a way to work in FIBA, AAU & CYO but we are definitiely on the right track...

No, the play-in games won't be 25 point blow-outs b/c it will be the 8 lowest seeds playing each other. They'll be competitive, even if their fans are the only ones watching.

I think it's much more ridiculous, personally.

Right, just like last night's game.

I think it's much more ridiculous, personally. [/B][/QUOTE]

Well, at least we agree it's ridiculous.

I don't play the lottery, but the only people that think Tennesee's men's team deserved anything near a 2 likely went there or live there. But I am sure the Wichita State fans are happy that BC did not get that seed instead. ;)

The lottery is simply a tax on people who can't do math.

Exactly. So your plan doesn't solve anything. :)

BTW, Monmouth beat the crap out of Hampton last night.

Well, my plan gets Cincinnati into the tournament, since they clearly are better than several of the at-large teams that were taken. You will have other "bubble" teams that are left out; but as I said, those teams will have RPI's in the 100's instead of in the 20's. And it's very difficult to make the case that a team with an RPI of 120 should be in the tournament.

My plan gets Cinci in too.

My plan solves everything.

Bah. My plan gets EVERYBODY in, including the Japan all-stars and the St Stanislaus 7th grade CYO girl's travel B team.

Horizon over Big 12

MVC over Big East

Big West takes ACC into double OT

This is why Billy Packer needs to STFU

St. Stan's recruits more heavily than Duke.

Actually when Wichita State handles Tennessee will be the time.

What is your beef with Tennessee? 7 losses, 2 wins against Florida, and a win against Texas. They stumbled a bit at the end, sure, and should've been a 4 seed, but it's not like they suck or anything. They're 22-7.

I was way off since the Grizzlies handled the Wolfpack all game and won by 9. They will give BC all they can handle if the Eagles prepare for the next game as poorly as against Pacific. Go Griz

Bump back to the top so that we can all enjoy how wrong or right we were two weeks ago. :D